Hospitality Influencers

Marketing in the age of social media can be tricky, however, since Instagram launched, it has become a powerful marketing tool for businesses. If you have not jumped on the Instagram bandwagon yet, you may be doing yourself a great disservice. 

Firstly, I have to say I dislike TripAdvisor with a passion, and have done for many years. A little controversial I know, but that's just the way it is. I do, however, agree that restaurants need to engage with it or suffer the consequences.

As I've stated in an earlier blog on the topic of restaurant marketing, "Hospitality marketing is both an art and a science that is a lost art for far too many restaurant & bar operators" Now to social media? You may as well throw flyers out of an aeroplane if you don't engage with it properly.

If you visit a restaurant and the food was great but the service, less than great, would you be in a rush to return? If the food was 'ok' but the service amazing, I am absolutely sure you would be more likely to return.

Hospitality marketing is both an art and a science that is a lost art for far too many restaurant & bar operators. Unfortunately, many advertising salespeople don’t want you to know what’s really working and that’s because 9 times out of 10 it’s not advertising.

Why do I think restaurants should become more sustainable?

How about lower costs and therefore more profit? Supporting local producers? A cleaner environment? Customer goodwill? Your reputation? Or just generally feeling good about yourself?

Be a leader, not a boss! Nurture talent and develop individuals, but not too fast. A big problem in staff retention can be promoting too early, a great server will not necessarily make a great trainer, it's easy to make this mistake as you think you don't have time to go recruiting, you should always be on the lookout for new talent.

A good friend tweeted this week “Overheard whilst leaving the restaurant, 'I've booked here and another place round the corner, shall we look at the menus and decide?' I thought people were better than that now.”

Running restaurants is about so many priorities; great staff, service, atmosphere, marketing and quality of food and drink, it's akin the plate spinning with so many things to think about and prioritise all of the time.