One of our major Social Media Pet Peeves at Bad Rhino is when restaurants fail to respond to positive and negative comments posted by their customers on social media channels. We can cut a restaurant some slack when they let that rare one slip by, but there’s no excuse for missing every last one of them.
While we’ll be adding a second part to this series that focuses exclusively on the Negative Comments, this first part is dedicated to positive comments and how to maximize their power through amplification.
Why Are Positive Comments on Social Channels Important?
What Happens When a Customer Praises Your Restaurant In Person: A customer praising your restaurant’s food or services to your manager or staff is fantastic, but it kind of stops there. Their positive feelings about your brand are heard by a limited audience (you or your manager and those accompanying them at your restaurant). Sure, maybe they call up their friends to share the kind words, or maybe there is a family party and it’s brought up, but you really can’t monitor that, can you?
What Happens When a Customer Praises Your Restaurant on Social Channels: Your customer has a fantastic experience and then makes their way to Facebook, Twitter, or another social channel. Maybe they post their message right on your Facebook page or send a direct tweet tagging your user name. Or maybe the message is posted on their personal account. Either way, their positive comments are now seen by your existing community, their friends and family, and others passing by. These positive comments reach an extended audience and reinforce your brands reputation as being a great place to visit and eat.
Why Should Restaurants Respond to Positive Social Comments?
When a customer posts something awesome about your restaurant on your social accounts, it’s now your opportunity to let them know they have been heard. Consider their message a cry for friendship. They are saying, “I love you and I want to be your buddy.” These customers should be considered your brand ambassadors, selling your restaurant without pay. Doesn’t that sound nice?
When you take a few seconds to respond with a quick message, you can continue the conversation through social media, which reaches more people and makes that loyal customer feel even closer to the restaurant. Your community members will surely take notice of your effort and will be more likely to add in their positive comments in the future.
5 Ways to Amplify Positive Social Comments
- Simply Respond: Even just “Thanks, hope to see you soon”, goes a long way and shows your existing community that you care.
- Respond with a Social Coupon: This loyalty reward is popular and used by many of our clients. Your brand ambassadors will tell all of their friends that your restaurant is the place to go and that they have the hook up (check out the example below). Oh, and they’ll bring their friends with them when they use the coupon.
- Ask for a Yelp Review: While a lot of Yelp is bullshit, it’s still important to hold a positive ranking and gain as many authentic positive reviews as possible. Send them a link to your Yelp and they’ll gladly write a review.
- Name them the Customer of the Week: For this to work, you need to be receiving consistent feedback through your social channels. Take their picture the next time they’re in and offer something on the house. Enjoy your new best friend and loyal restaurant visitor.
- Ask for Further Feedback: Maybe they are praising you for the dish they had last night, but you can continue to pry and find out how their last few visits were. They may surprise you with suggestions for items to add to the menu or a dish that maybe wasn’t as good.
Closing Thoughts and What’s Next in This Series
Would you ignore a restaurant visitor giving a compliment in person? No, so why ignore it when the world can be a spectator? It just takes a few seconds and the benefits of the quick effort have a lasting effect on not just that one relationship, but others who fall into the domino effect.
Stay with us as we’ll be focusing on this topic for the rest of the week. The next blog post (you can read it here) will discuss how to react to customer’s negative comments on social media.
Looking for help managing and monitoring your social media marketing communities? Bad Rhino has brought success to a number of restaurants and specialty food stores. Contact us now so we can learn more about your restaurant.
