Food Industry's use of Social Media

Today, I want to focus on how social media has revolutionized the food industry with the overabundance of platforms that are present, as well as newcomers that are entering on a regular basis. Social media websites like, Yelp, Urbanspoon, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Online review sites, Snapchat, Twitter, and Blogging websites are all part of this sensation. Restaurants are realizing the benefits of social media marketing are voluminous to ignore. The following graph depicts the importance of social media marketing:

(Source: Amore Social, 2014)

Social media websites are being utilized to rate the food industry, particularly restaurants and the trend has caught on. A correlation is eminent from a restaurant’s proceeds and its social media reviews. Let us just focus on Coca-Cola as an example. In 2014, on Twitter alone, Coca-Cola had 2.4 million followers worldwide. It utilizes variety of tactics to engage and achieve its mission. During the 2014 World Cup Season, Kevin Shively, writes, “Over the last month, @cocacola has Tweeted 1,994 times. That’s over 60 Tweets a day, which has generated 81,925 engagements that created over 1 BILLION potential impressions during the last 30 days” (Shively, 2014). The following graph depicts how Twitter engagement was utilized by Coca-Cola:

(Source: Shively, 2014)

Restaurants not utilizing social media are in harm’s way, as they will be dominated by smart food and beverages marketers who are obviously reaping the benefits due to their presence online. According to the BrightLocal survey, restaurants and cafés rank the highest when it comes to customers reading business reviews. Since social media is the new phenomenon of the era, word-of-mouth marketing has hit home. Online reviews can literally make or break a business and restaurants are predominantly vulnerable in this respect.

(Source: Thomas, 2016)

The social media sensation is not only beneficial to consumers but also to marketers. John Scelfo rationalizes, for the food industry social media serves as a platform to take advantage of by managing some of the following points:

·      Monitor – Owners need to monitor niche-specific review websites, as it gives an aggregate view of how healthy the business is running or not. Some tools available, include but are not limited to, Raven Tools (www.raventools.com), Trackur (www.Trackur.com), Radian6 (www.Radian6.com), and Lithium (www.Lithium.com).

·      Listen – If as a business owner you notice a complaint from a customer, it is your opportunity to fix the problem from its root. Too often owners take criticism personally and dramatize, but the smart owners really listen and fix the issue so it does not cause loss in revenue.

·      Respond & React – If you witness a problem, respond and react to it immediately. Ignoring a complaints will only haunt you later and devastate your business. A rational response to the matter will show ownership and accountability to a consumer, where he/she may want to revisit your business.

·      Amplify the message – This point is prevalent for when you get nice reviews. You need to spread the message around. “However, if you want to be really smart and proactive, ask your customers for permission to republish the testimonials. Then set up satellite websites to do proactive reputation management and point some targeted anchor text at them.” (Scelfo, 2016)

Likewise, food businesses should analyze and divide customers’ groups based on preferences and then target using marketing tactics as appropriate.

The Hartman Group conducted an eye-opening study which highlights the impact of social technology on food culture. The full study can be accessed here: http://www.unitedfreshshow.org/files/clicks_and_craving.june_lee.pdf. Based on this study, statistics show:

Social Media Is the Other Food Broadcasting Network:

v 54% use social media to discover and share food experiences.

v 42% use social media to get advice about food.

v 39% use social media when eating alone. (Hartman Group, 2012)

Hartman Group shares the following graph to show consumers’ food-related behavior on social media:

(Source: Hartman Group, 2012)

Even more mindboggling is the following picture of how social media influences the entire lifecycle of a meal:

(Source: Hartman Group, 2012)

In 2014, fine dining followed by quick service had the most activity on social media. The transformation of technology should not come to any business owner as a surprise.

(Source: Thomas, 2016)

It is prevalent no food business should be dumbfounded when it comes to social media’s impact on people’s decision making. Social media is becoming a trusted source of information for vast majority of individuals. As we witness, social media used to be a business option but now it is a business essential. Businesses who are ignoring the phenomenon will slowly become obsolete while their competitors who were smart to utilize social media sites will cherish the gains. It sums down to, businesses must recognize the ways buyers utilize social media to learn, interrelate and forward communication across digital platforms.

References:

Amore Social. (2014, May 19). 2014 Social Media Industry Report: Key Facts. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://amoresocial.com/2014/05/2014-social-media-industry-report-key-facts/.

Hartman Group. (2012). A Hartman Group & Publicis Consultants Syndicated Study. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.unitedfreshshow.org/files/clicks_and_craving.june_lee.pdf.

Scelfo, J. (2016). The Social Media Impact on Restaurants. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from https://performancefoodservice.com/Your-Operation/Build-Your-Business/The-Social-Media-Impact-on-Restaurants.aspx.

Shively, K. (2014, May 22). Lessons from Coca-Cola’s Social Media Strategy: Cohesive Campaigns and Creative Content. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from http://simplymeasured.com/blog/lessons-from-coca-colas-social-media-strategy-cohesive-campaigns-and-creative-content/#sm.00016jz1jkrnpd6itkw1mfxe7sy8l.

Thomas, A. (2016, April 12). 7 Tips for Restaurant Search Marketing. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.octos.com.au/blog/2016/04/7-tips-restaurant-search-marketing/.