One of my favorite Ethiopian restaurants, Addis Ababa in Silver spring, issued a Groupon here.  With one more day to go, they will most likely sell 1,000 Groupons that can be redeemed at their restaurant.

I hate to say this but I don’t think they understand how hard they will get hit with the initial wave of Groupon redemption. In fact, I’m not even sure if they are properly staffed to handle it. If they are not staffed properly, they can suffer the same fate that another restaurant was faced with in the past; an avalanche of bad reviews that will bring down their yelp reviews, angry customers who will spread the word of the bad service, and loss of potential customers all the while operating at a loss for this Groupon cycle.

There are far better solutions than Groupon folks.

I am going to come back in a month and see how their Yelp review fares. Currently they have 47 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars.

Given that they’ve committed to this campaign, here are a few tips to handle the initial wave;

• Ensure that your staff is aware of the Groupon campaign
• Be properly staffed for the next 2 months especially during weekends.
• Find ways to funnel the initial customers into repeat business by using other online marketing tools. Develop an email marketing newsletter for them to sign up to, consider mobile text messaging service that lets customers know of a new special you have, and convert these customers into new fans of your Facebook page. Each new fan will receive a coupon or deal for liking the page.

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A restaurant which receives more store traffic on a weekly basis than another has an advantage. It means it can tap into a larger base of influencers and evangelists who can spread the word should it wish to implement a proper social media campaign. The business with a bigger social media army has a better chance of winning.

For example, a fast casual restaurant concept has more customers on a weekly basis than the high end restaurant. The fast casual concept sells a meal that averages $10. This, versus the high end concept who is focused more on the ‘experience’ whereby the average meal per customer is $75. As such, you would think this gives the fast casual restaurant an advantage if it were to create a social media campaign because its playing the ‘numbers game’.

But wait right there. The situation is not so black and white. Let’s add a new layer to this comparison.

That very same high end restaurant that receives less instore traffic isn’t necessarily at a disadvantage. Because they focus on the dining experience, that experience may be memorable enough to get customers talking and spreading word of their experience through the various social media platforms that the customer is on. Compare this to the fast casual restaurant. It may receive more instore traffic but perhaps it’s dining experience is more of a commodity. Commodities are unoriginal. Unoriginality doesn’t get people talking. Only remarkable concepts get people talking.

So you’re thinking that the high end restaurant may win. Wait just one second. Let’s add one more layer to this already complex situation.

While the high end restaurant offers a remarkable experience to its diners, perhaps its customers do not use social media enough to warrant the restaurant investing into a social media campaign. Whereas the demographics for the customers of the fast casual chain suggest that they tweet and check-in religiously. Any online marketing strategist would dream of having an audience base whose fingers are ready to Tweet at a moment’s notice.

Does this mean the fast casual restaurant should definitely implement a social media campaign? Does this mean the fast casual restaurant will have a more viable social media campaign relative to its more expensive counterpart?

Smart Social Media Marketing requires strategic thinking and understanding all the layers involved. As you have read from the above scenario, it is very rare to get a fair apples to apples comparison. And therein lies the problem. Most prospective clients come in and say, “Oh,well, Donnie’s Diner is doing great things with their social media campaign. Here at Sam’s Steakhouse, we want to do what Donnie is doing. We both are in the restaurant business so surely we can just copy what they are doing and get similar results. You can do that Dean, right?”

Donnie and Sam have two different concepts. So let’s treat it as such.

I don’t ever make the mistake of pigeonholing one business with the rest because I know there are many layers involved. Good strategic thinkers and consultants take into account all the layers involved before presenting the solution.

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It’s no secret that Groupon attracts many restaurants who want to use their service for increased customer traffic. However, below is a screenshot of multiple Yelp reviews from one restaurant that wasn’t ready for the influx of new customers that Groupon would bring. I blurred out the restaurant’s name as there is no point in causing more bad press.

These poor reviews were from customers who received poor service because the restaurant was not properly staffed from the influx of Groupon users. The last review sums it all up. It is from the waiter himself;

“”We are really slammed because of that groupon….”

Nuff said.

Before using Groupon to give your restaurant more exposure, ask yourself one simple question;  “Am I prepared to handle the large influx of customers who choose to redeem the Groupon vouchers simultaneously?”

If not, be prepared to face the following consequences;

1. Loss of a repeat customer
2. Angry customer who will tell her network and share her experience offline and online
3. Angry customer who will share her review on Yelp or any other review-driven portal for restaurants and drive away other potential diners.

Given that Yelp is the defacto site for foodies to do their homework before dining out, I know those list of reviews that shows up near the top will drive away a certain amount of potential new customers.

I know the owner of this restaurant and he is a marketing savvy restaurant owner. He works hard to build his business and pours 60+ hours into the business. He, like, many restaurant owners only consider the advantages to using Groupon. But as these Yelp reviews show, there is a major downside if you don’t prepare for it.

Related posts:

1. You Better Handle That Initial Groupon Redemption Wave

Broadcast marketing is the concept of promoting or putting something out there without encouraging a response. It’s the opposite of engagement marketing. Despite the availability of robust social media tools, most users of social media are still engaged in broadcasting rather than engaging with their users.

Here are a few examples of broadcasting:

1. Advertising an article you wrote to a Linkedin forum and hoping people will read it.
2. Tweeting a promotion you are running.
3. Updating your Facebook status that promotes your latest blog entry.

All of these are examples where the marketer is not engaged with his audience. He is simply putting it out there without the intention of soliciting an action by the audience. He may hope that he gets a reaction from the audience but he did not put enough forethought into how he crafted message to improve the odds of a reaction.

So why, despite all the powerful social media tools available, are most business, organizations, and do-it-yourselfers still engaged in broadcast marketing?  For most of us, it’s what we have always been used to. The medium to which we communicate maybe different, but it’s the same old boring messages. For many others, there is a lack of education on the strategic principles involved in getting past broadcasting and into engagement. And then for others, it’s considered cheap. It doesn’t cost you a lot to simply post to a forum or open a Twitter account and promote the heck out of your latest ventures.

If you engage in broadcast marketing, then you may as well just take out an ad in your local newspaper while you’re at it.

Not putting enough effort into creating a strategy can costs you alot.  You can lose out on opportunities to strengthen your brand, spread your message, and boost your bottom line.

Always ask yourself two things;

1. Will others spread the message I’m giving?
2. Will others engage with my message?

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If there was ever an audience that should consider social media as part of their marketing efforts, then it should be restaurants. Given the rushed nature of our society, restaurants have always been the glue that have kept us together. They are central to the social proclivities that we have as human beings.

Here are just a few social activities that we typically accomplish at a restaurant:

• Dating
• Socializing with friends
• Business meetings
• Developing family time
• Celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries

Restaurants are the defacto destination when it comes to these social activities. They allow us to sustain these real-world offline relationships despite the fact that we are spending more time online. They play an important role in our social experience.

By patronizing a restaurant, consumers develop a vested interest in wanting a restaurant to succeed. It is only natural that consumers would gravitate towards any online presence that a restaurant has. They want to interact with the owners of a restaurant. They want to offer feedback on the food. They want to reminisce about their last experience there. This is all part of the social experience that we have as human beings.

Coincidentally, social media allows us to tap into the same basic needs that we all have as human beings. It satisfies our need to be heard, to express ourselves, and to form connections with others.

Given the similarities, it is only natural for any restaurant to consider social media as an important marketing tool because we are helping consumers to reinforce the social needs – online.

Consider how the following social needs are translated online:

• Our need to be heard (to tweet or share a restaurant’s grand opening)
• Our need to express ourselves (to comment on the restaurant’s page about your last visit, to post a Yelp review about a negative experience)
• To connect with others (to follow the Restaurant’s Twitter profile, to befriend other foodie bloggers with the same passion)

Convinced?

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A fan on my fanpage asked me if it was worth investing the money into developing a customized landing page for their Facebook page. Most consultants would tell you “yes” right off the bat. More business of course. Me? I said it depends. The following 3 factors are the primary determinants to helping someone reach the proper decision and answer the question that every client always ask: “Should I spend the money?”

How much traffic can you drive to your page?

A professional services firm who only brings on several new clients a month may have a hard time driving and attracting new fans on a monthly basis. However, a restaurant that serves hundreds of customers a day could potentially see the investment in a customized page. They would reap the rewards within a month.

What type of data do you wish to communicate on a landing page?

Even if you just had some pretty graphics and set this as the default tab that people would land on as opposed to your wall, you’ll still attract alot of new fans. But of course, we should go a step further. What type of information do you wish to convey when people see it? Do you wish to promote something? Do you want to embed video? Do you want to capture emails and embed a signup form? Giving thought as to what and how you wish to communicate your message will help you decide if you should invest into a customized page.

How strong is your message?

How appealing is your promotion or offer? Is it something that will get people talking? Will it prompt them to start sharing to their social network? A stronger message will increase conversion, engagement, and word of mouth. The stronger your message, the more you should consider investing into a customized page.

In this economy, you have to be mindful of where you spend your money. With everyone espousing the ideology that social media is free, this creates a mindset that one shouldn’t have to pay for any aspect of it. Most flock and most fail. Keep thinking that you can get away with doing everything at no cost and you’ll miss out on opportunities that could only come with investing the time and money into a smart social media strategy. Such as a customized Facebook page.

If you are going to invest your money into any aspect of an online marketing strategy, you have to ask yourself what the ROI is. Even if you can’t develop a hard number, the questions you ask yourself should help you arrive at an answer (or approximation) that makes you feel more confident about the direction you are trying to head into.

It’s fair to say that many prospects ask themselves if they should invest the money into this particular social media platform. And most probably can’t arrive at an answer simply because because they don’t know the questions they should ask in the decision making process.  Now you know those questions.

A good consultant knows not only to ask these questions of the prospect, but to know the answer.

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Continued growth in Asian countries using Facebook with Indonesia leading with a 14% gain

Facebook adds ‘become a fan’ as an upsell to existing event and polling engagement ads- Basically, users have the ability to become a fan of the associated Facebook page once they’ve interacted with the existing event or engagement ad. This allows advertisers to maximize value and increase their fanbase.

Facebook nearing 1 billion dollars in revenue. While impressive unto itself, the article explains the 3 important contributers to its growth. Not surprisingly, it’s Facebooks;

1. Self-serve ads
2. Emerging virtual goods store
3. Branded ad campaign services for agencies and marketers

Facebook introduces their Preferred Developer Program. Initially, 14 companies are listed as preferred vendors that you can choose to hire should you need a custom Facebook page, Connect integration, or application development. A great lead generation possibility for those specializing in Facebook development.

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I just released the newest whitepaper entitled, “The Future of Marketing With Facebook Pages.” You can obtain a copy here by either opting via email or using your Twitter account to download the copy.

This is a 12 page whitepaper. The first part of this paper articulates how 3 stakeholders within the community will play a role in shaping Facebook pages as a strong emerging social marketing tool. We will then explore 4 mission critical elements that a successful marketer will need to have in order to succeed with Facebook pages. The final part will include a summary of 7 key takeaways. Below is an excerpt from each part of the paper.

In future additions to the paper, I will explore how Facebook Ads and Facebook Connect can round out the suite of Facebook marketing solutions. The only way to be notified is to opt into the Smart Social Media Tip of the Week. I welcome comments and feedback.

You can learn more about how our Facebook engagement marketing solutions can help your business here.

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Stakeholder #2—Consultants and Vendors

The second stakeholders include vendors such as social media consultants and web designers who will start to offer services catered around Facebook pages.

The services will be categorized into several areas:

1. Setup and Implementation of Applications: Vendors such as web designers will go beyond simple set-up of pages. They will offer customized page designs that enable embedding of flash, multi-media, and static html designs. They will also offer implementation of applications that are relevant to the client’s business, as many do not have the time to search for relevant applications.

1. Engagement Marketing Services: Vendors will provide engagement-marketing services that will assist fan page owners to learn to engage and interact with fans more productively. The marketing strategies that consultants offer will revolve around:
   1. How to best integrate the fan page into the overall marketing mix
   2. What types of content to produce to facilitate word of mouth
   3. How to use Facebook ads as part of the overall marketing campaign

1. Customized Applications: Geared more towards established brands and enterprise-level businesses that have sizable marketing budgets, vendors such as agencies and application developers will create customized Facebook applications to help these brands achieve the goals of their Facebook marketing campaigns.

Mission Critical Elements to Master For Facebook Pages

Anyone interested in successfully marketing Facebook pages will have to understand the mission critical elements.  Most page owners can grasp mastering 1 or 2 of the elements below. However, true success will come to the marketer who can simultaneously master all four elements of the following elements:

1. Analytics
2. Applications
3. Integrated Marketing
4. Engagement Marketing

Mission Critical Element #1– Analytics

When Facebook rolled out the analytics tool Insights, it indicated how determined the company was about pages becoming a viable social marketing tool. They know that a robust social marketing platform isn’t simply about the features but also about the ability to track and measure activities. Although measuring website traffic with tools such as Google Analytics has been around for sometime, offering data about the interaction with a social network is relatively new. Facebook is one of the few major social networking sites to offer this type of data.

The metrics that Insight offers are in-depth and measure every imaginable type of interaction. Some key data that Insights offers about fans are:

• Breakdown by sex and age
• Top countries and cities represented
• Interactions per post
• Media consumption – what type of media fans are viewing (photos, audio, and video)

While more businesses and marketers are starting to accept social media, very few have deciphered how to exactly measure success or lack thereof. As a result, Insights is a key stepping stone for Facebook to persuade marketers and brands to use the platform by providing measurable data that can track activities.

Why Master It?

Understanding key data about an audience allows a marketer to create a customized engagement strategy. Insights will help in two areas:

Review Existing Engagement: Existing analytics allows a marketer to review existing engagement strategies to determine why they are succeeding or failing. Let’s say the goal of a page is to market and attract a certain age bracket. Through Insights, you realize that the age bracket is not heavily represented; you can then perform an audit of your strategy and make corrections.

Customize Future Engagement: Based on the existing makeup of audience and their interaction, messages that are tailored toward them can be crafted, thus resulting in a sustainable base. Performance measured is performance improved.

Going forward, it would not be surprising if future enhancements to Insights offered data on interests, activities, and other information that we include on our profile. This would be rich data for any marketer to use. Imagine a future where brands can send out tailored messages to their fan base that revolve around a specific interest and the only people who receive that message are the ones who list that interest in their profile.

Key Takeaways With Facebook Page Marketing

1. Have a customized landing page: Avoid using the wall as the landing page and consider a customized landing page created with simple html markup. The Static FBML app is a great application that allows embedding html, CSS, and images. The application makes it easier for page owners to define and implement calls to action such as simply downloading a coupon or opting into an email newsletter.
2. Leverage applications: These are the tools that help power your interaction and amplify your voice.
3. Social media Integration: Integrate other social media tools such as blogs and Twitter onto your page. This will help increase exposure to other platforms you are using. Conversely, integrate Facebook Fan Box widget, badges, and share buttons onto your website, email newsletters, and blog in order maximize touch points.

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Here are some articles and resources that we’ve written on Facebook. Feel free to share and retweet if these are helpful.

1. Facebook Fan Pages for Book Authors — A 7 page eGuide on how book authors can market with Facebook pages. Though, some of the principles can apply to businesses in general.  [link]

2. Yet Another Fanpage – The 4 mistakes that most page owners make when marketing their fan page. We offer tips on how to avoid them. [article] [pdf]

3. “Future of Marketing With Facebook Pages” Whitepaper — A 14 page whitepaper that we wrote that prognosticates why Facebook pages will become a great platform for brands. We also talk about how to be more productive on Facebook and what mission critical skillsets are needed to succeed on this platform. [article]

4. Three Tips to Optimize Your Facebook Ad Campaign– [newsletter tip]

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It seems like every week, I get an invite from a friend on Facebook suggesting that I become a fan of their company’s fan page. In addition to the countless event and group invites and watching my status feed, I just find my attention span shrinking by the moment for Facebook and social media in general.

Why? That’s the question that I find myself asking when people suggest I become a fan of their page. That’s the question every fan page owner should ask before they promote their page. Why should anyone devote his or her attention to your page? Why should we add your page to the countless other pages, friends, and information that we are already following on Facebook?

I’ve come to realize that most page owners have not answered this question much less given thought as to how to make their page stand out from the existing online noise. They have YAF- Yet Another Fanpage.

In the eyes of the invitees, we see no discernible value to joining Yet Another Fanpage. You have YAF if your page suffers from any of the following.

• No engagement — You have no interaction between you and your fans. It is simply you engaged in a monologue as opposed to a dialogue.
• No landing page –You have an ineffective landing page when users land on it.
• No reason –You invite your friends to join the page but don’t give them any special reason beyond the fact that you’re friends and they should do a pity join
• No applications — You are not utilizing widgets and applications to power your fan page.

How to avoid YAF

1. Engagement

Encourage a conversation. Start a discussion. Ask for opinions. Do something that will encourage a dialogue between you and your fans. You need to avoid the same old, same old promotional messages that everyone is doing on their page. If no one is responding to your update status and other content, then chances are, you have not developed a successful engagement strategy. Smart Social Media is heavily dependent on your ability to get your fans talking and engaging with you.

Gary Vaynerchuck has probably one of the highest engagement levels due to his natural ability to converse with his 30,000+ fans.

2. The landing tab

Set the landing tab to a customized page that will create a call to action. Applications such as the FBML app allow you to create customized designs with HTML and CSS. This can really pretty up your fan page all the while grabbing the attention of a prospective fan. The landing tab of a fan page should serve a similar purpose to that of a website homepage. As soon as a visitor lands on your website, they should be able to quickly scan and understand the purpose of your business as well as be lead to the next section of your website. You should accomplish the same goals for your Facebook page.

A customized landing tab will include various call to actions and should have a succinct and clear message for your page and/or business. Here is a customized landing page that we designed for a business-to-business network group. We knew exactly what type of actions we wanted the visitor to take and incorporated that into the customized page.

As soon as you land on The Dippin Dots page, you know you’re in for something special. They took the time to design a unique landing page that will grab your attention and give their brand a favorable first impression.

3. Give a reason

Offer your fans a prize or reward for becoming a fan. Some brands have allowed fans to download coupons to be used towards the purchase of the brand’s product or services. Other page owners have gotten creative by offering a freebie if someone became a fan. Whatever it is, make sure you try to incentive the process for people. Hold a contest, promotion, or giveaway. Do something to get the buzz going!

Bobby McKey tries to grow their fan base by giving fans a printable coupon as soon as they land on the page. Assuming that this is the only place that I can find this coupon, then this also allows for them to track and measure the success of this marketing tactic. Social media is very fluid so constant adjustment is needed.

4.Utilize applications

There is an abundance of Facebook applications that can help power your page. Applications exist for polling your fanbase, importing RSS feeds, showing videos, and so much more. You simply have to do a search for what you’re looking for and try out these applications to see what works best. If utilizing a social media tool like a Facebook page is akin to engaging in a conversation with your audience, then applications are the tools that give you a voice to be heard.

The iLike application is one of the most popular applications for musicians to power their fan page. It takes engagement between musican and fans to a new level.

Now look; I’m sure you think you have a great product, cause, or service to promote via your page. However, marketing in the age of social media requires creativity and forethought. Successful marketing requires engagement and utilizing conversational tactics to get your fan base to spread your message.

[downloadable pdf]

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