Blog Summary

Social Marketing Plan for Small Restaurants

I set out to find some effective online marketing tools for a small restaurant floating on the columbia river. Anyone who knows of it's existence, knows that it is a great little place for drinks, food, a good time and watching the the boats in the Marina. My goal was to research online marketing strategies, connecting this small local family owned business to a larger clientele base.

Most of the information I found could be helpful to any small business, but I do steer the focus on restaurants.

We live in the age of computers. Pretty much everyone has access to some device or another (whether it be a Laptop, Cell Phone or iPad) that allows you to surf and interact with the World Wide Web. Most every one of these people has an Email account, and a good portion of those people have other online accounts, Facebook and Twitter. With that being said, I believe the best way to reach costumers is by using “Social Marketing”, as way to go to market your business online using Email, Facebook, Twitter and other online media tools. Facebook offers some great marketing tools, such as “Places”, "Deals" and Coupons. Twitter is also great for marketing, by using Twitter you can listen and interact with your costumers... for example: let them know the special of the week. (Visit my Facebook and Twitter Marketing pages to learn more.)

Now before you dive in, you should have a plan of attack, or strategy. I believe this is an important first step, so you are not wasting your time on something that won't help you in the long run.
It's very important to make sure your business can be Searched and Reviewed so that potential costumers can find you. I also found a few Social Media Monitoring Tools such as Google Alerts, Social Mention and Trackur, all great ways to keep track of what is being said about your business/restaurant . 

My hope, is that this blog will help you on your way to be successful Social Markers!