Digital Lanscapes for Restaurants!

Working in the food industry is very competitive. How are restaurants and food trucks connecting with their target audience?

SOCIAL MEDIA!

Most restaurants today have their own website, Facebook page, and Twitter account.  If they don’t they are out of touch with today’s digital age. Having contact with your audience is crucial. Let’s look at one of my favorite chain restaurants-The Melting pot. They have their company website, Facebook, and Twitter. These platforms are a crucial part of marketing. They can let the public know about any specials they are having. It’s free advertising!

I’ve started to become a part of the food blogger scene in Orlando.  Every event that I learn about has been through Yelp!, Facebook, Twitter, or through a blog! It’s amazing how every company is using these platforms. These tools are helping entrepreneurs turn their passion of cooking into something larger than life. The local food community is starting to take off.  Personally, I really enjoy learning about different food trucks.  Most recently, I tried Arepas El Cacao. It had amazing food! They do not have a website, but you can find their location through twitter. This is the common way to find the location of Orlando food trucks.

Without social media the local food community would not be able to flourish. Large commercial restaurants would still thrive because they have the money to pay for advertising. In an article from The New York Times, it stated, “…some food outlets are experimenting with attracting customers and increasing business through digital approaches, which can be cheaper than paper coupons and print advertising.” Buffalo Wild Wings has been experimenting with foursquare where you check in to let others know where you are. The goal is to keep people coming back for more and create a buzz. Having a relationship with the company and their food is the ultimate goal.

In the end, it comes down to the food and the overall experience. The food has to be good the experience has to match it. Social media can attract, but in the end you have got to keep the customer wanting more!

Reference

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/business/media/20adco.html 

Image

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://socialmediarestaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://socialmediarestaurant.com/%3Fpage_id%3D2&usg=__3Jw7-IaeeBOuwebrrO-3Q6Z5308=&h=400&w=400&sz=66&hl=en&start=0&sig2=rAVpe7eCKvlsDlZJ1Gqb9g&zoom=1&tbnid=yIIU4Dx4JarEsM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&ei=cTLCTfDmEcORgQeo_PXCAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drestaurants%2Band%2Bsocial%2Bmedia%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1292%26bih%3D729%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=383&vpy=83&dur=332&hovh=158&hovw=158&tx=99&ty=115&page=1&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0