Wow.

Organic Traffic - (Kyle Gradinger/BCGP, flickr)

Rather than talking about typical Social Media Marketing techniques – engaging, connecting, joining the conversation… let’s talk about how you can increase your sales leads without having to go to another networking event. <yea!>

The majority of all purchases – online or offline – retail, restaurant, consultant – you name it… the majority of all purchase decisions begin with an online search. You can be part of that online search process and even direct them your way.

Different products and services have different buying cycles. Regardless, there are three basic steps to a sale transaction, online or off:

STEP-1: Awareness: Website speak = Generate more website traffic
STEP-2: Interest: Sales speak = Convert website traffic to Leads
STEP-3: Customer: Sales speak = Converting leads to paying customers. Business speak = Keeping the lights on.

Since it all starts with the right traffic (potential customers) to your website (STEP-1) it’s good to know the 3 ways people land on your site:

1. Direct Traffic: They type your web address into the browser. They know who you are and are coming to your site on purpose.
2. Referral Traffic: They are on another website and click on a link that takes them to you website. These may or may not be new to your website and, depending on the content in which your link was found, they may or may not be a targeted visitor (aka: a qualified prospect) for your site. (Paid traffic, i.e. PPC and AdWords addressed later)
3. Organic Traffic: They enter search terms into Google. Yes, it may be Bing, Yahoo, or some other search engine, but most likely it’s Google. They click on a search result that takes them to your website.

So, if you want to increase your sales without increasing your offline prospecting effort, increase your organic web traffic.

How to increase your organic web traffic? A strong SEO effort; and by strong, I mean complete and well-balanced. Depending on whether you’re a multi-national retail conglomerate or a small B2B company, “complete and well-balanced” will be 2 different things. This post is intended for small businesses on a more limited budget; time and finances.

Step #1) A good understanding of the keywords and keyword phrases your potential customers are searching for is key. But it’s more than “I have a good idea”. It’s looking at what keywords & phrases are actually being used. So take your “I have a good idea” list of keywords and then use one of the many keyword research tools to test yourself.

• Keyword Tool on Google’s AdWords
• Google Insights
• Wordtracker (free)
• Wordtracker (paid)

You’ll want to distill your keywords / phrases down to those keywords with a high volume of searches but less competition. These will be easier for you to “rank on”, i.e. show up higher in the search results.

Step #2) Optimize your online presence with your keywords & keyword phrases; Website, Blog, Social Media – profiles & posts/tweets/updates. It’s bigger than just the website.

The next post will give more specifics. For now, get busy with the keywords.

1. Website Design – Remember your website represents your business. The design of your website itself IS important. Be careful to make design decisions based on your business objectives for your website and not ‘what you like’. While ignoring what you like isn’t easy or even totally necessary, it’s important to design your website – the look as well as the site navigation – for the visitors you’re you’re hoping to attract and the message you want them to find and the action you want them to take. A few tips include:

• Use the images that speak to the audience, and enhance the message of the website content;
• Videos that connect the visitor to your product and/or services, as in training, demonstrations, etc.;
• Engaging and reliable content, as in how-to white papers, check lists, product reviews;
• Facts and figures that makes a difference to your prospect’s decision making; and
• Testimonials from other clients that speak highly about your business and your services.

And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that social media share/like/tweet buttons are also very helpful in connecting your visitors to your social media profiles.

2. Search Engine Optimization – Even if you have a pretty website sales aren’t likely if your website doesn’t show up in search results and your prospects can’t find you. Make sure:

• Your website is being indexed by top search engines (i.e. Google),
• Your page titles are unique and descriptive (keyword included), and
• Your web content is keyword-rich.

Not only that, you need to make sure that your links are not broken, the anchor text is keyword-rich and as often as possible, encourage the other sites to link back to you (backlink). Don’t forget to add a sitemap and to submit it for page indexing by search engines.

3. Capture Leads into Sales Pipeline – Well if you have a good looking, well-designed business website that has been well-optimized for the search engines (SEO), your work is still not done. When a visitor comes to your website then what? If they’re not ready to pick up the phone and hire you on the spot, how can you turn this visitor into a lead?

Offering the visitor something of value for their email address and/or contact information is a typical first step. For example, you offer a meaningful report on a subject of interest in exchange for the visitor’s email address. If the report is more specialized, thorough and/or valuable you can request more detailed contact information in exchange. Again, be aware there’s a risk/reward balance each site visitor contemplates. It’s a “risk” for them to give you their contact information. Unless the reward is great enough, they’ll likely bounce off your site. Until the visitor becomes more comfortable and familiar with you she’s unlikely to want to hand over too much information unless there’s already a level of trust that’s been built – real or perceived.

These are a few simple steps you can take to improve your website’s performance as a lead generating tool. Your sales process – the steps you take to grow an initial lead to meaningful prospect and then happy (paying) client – completes the equation.

“Visibility” is still the top priority for any marketer; and this is where today’s social media marketing hits the ball out of the park. In most cases, when the span of target market increases your cost of marketing increases. Social media marketing is a channel that seems to break that rule-of-thumb. Using social media sites, you can have access to literally hundreds of thousands of users worldwide for next to ‘no cost’.

Post a note, a photo or video on your Facebook wall and you broadcast your message to thousands of friends and fans – and their fans – and their fans’ fans… and so on. A well crafted tweet can be enough to topple a government.

As you probably know, however, the viral video that catapults a business from no where Main Street to global phenom is rare. Very rare. Marketing via social media is still extremely important component of any marketing plan. Why? Because it’s where the footfalls and eyeballs are. Building your company’s brand identity via B2B social media marketing is therefore a simple and effective way to reach out to the people, whether around your state (mine is Texas) or to gain instant access to your target market all across the globe.

“Yea, yea, yea”,  you say. What? You slapped up a Facebook page 6 months ago and nothing happened? Just because social media marketing is relatively simple doesn’t mean social media marketing is easy. There are 3 tips to increase the likelihood you’ll reach your objectives.

1. Participate in Social Communities: Focus and activity are the keys here. The more active you are on social network sites like Facebook & Twitter, the more visibility you’ll get. Getting your Facebook page (Twitter account, etc.) noticed takes a concerted effort to post compelling and valuable (to your audience) content (comments, photos, videos, questions).  You should also have a system for monitoring online comments, posts or other activities ‘talking’ about your product, service or related issue and then join in as many of those conversations as possible (or relevant). Blogs, fan pages, event pages, discussions, groups, etc.; the list is endless so depending on the volume of ‘mentions’ you may need to strategically select (based on reach, authority, ‘temperature’ of the comment, etc.) the conversations you join and the conversations you let lay. It goes without saying that any content/comment you publish should be well crafted and true to the company brand spirit and voice. There are few limitations to your options of social media outlets. Remember your marketing fundamentals and be where your audience is.

2. Maintain Consistency: Familiarity is very important to establishing your brand in the social media world; no different than it is in traditional media. What is the rule of thumb for this? An ad has to be seen 8 or 9 times before it will be remembered? (something like that) The same applies for social media, in that unless you’re a genius or very lucky, your first few posts or tweets aren’t likely to get traction. Most people will have to see you a few times, ‘get to know’ you and it takes time and consistency to develop that familiarity and recognition. The first few times you saw the “f’ in a blue box you probably didn’t immediately recall Facebook. The Nike swish is the same thing.

Fans of Facebook Fans

Brand identity is created through regular and consistent activity across all the social networks you take part in. You need to use the same avatar/profile image, same color scheme/background for your profiles to match your website when possible. Mostly importantly, the voice of your messages should be consistent across all your marketing tool, which to strengthen the power of your brand to potential customers and clients.

3. Use diverse media channels: Somewhat related to #1 above, different forms of communications are better developed through a diverse stream of communication channels. Try not to limit your social media presence to a single platform if possible. Understand how your target market gets their information how and where they gather online and be there. Yes videos can be uploaded to Facebook, but did you know that You Tube is (or was last I heard) the #2 search engine – behind Google and ahead of Yahoo!?If you’re posting videos to promote your company and you don’t have a You Tube channel you’re missing the boat. Article marketing, podcasts, blogs and social media sites are just a few avenues that can help build your brand identity and stay connected with your target market.

Social media is a force to be reckoned with. If you’re using social media to establish your brand identity remember not only the communication channels but also keep your communication style genuine, providing value to your audience. Why would they like, fan or follow you otherwise?

Todd Wasserman

“…social media has almost no influence on online purchasing behavior.”

is a different statement than

“…social media rarely leads directly to purchases online.”

Forrester Research and GSI Commerce co-authored a report based on a month long research project and because the results showed that an online purchase was rarely referred from a social media site, they say very few purchases are influenced by social media activity. Fiona Dias (executive vice president of strategy and marketing for GSI Commerce) uses an analogy to make her point and from this you can gather the research was looking for direct, transactional impact such as a pay-per-click campaign, not a social media strategy or a social media campaign. She says:

“…a lot of people go to church on Sunday. If you go with the theory that you should market where the people are, then you should be running off to market during church services. Facebook has the same analogy. Buying things from retailers is maybe 10th on the list of things they want to do on Facebook.”

That is correct. Most people are on Facebook to see what their friends and family are doing and see pictures of grandkids. She’s right that buying things from retailers is probably the last thing they (we) want to do on Facebook. But – if I see my friend just got a beautiful new pair of shoes (lost 10 pounds on this new diet; found a great new hair stylist; was treated well by a car dealer, saw a fabulous new movie…) I’m might check it out – or will at least remember. The next time I need a new pair of shoes, a hair cut or a new car – I’m likely to remember.

Back to the church analogy; if I need a plumber and know Bob from my church is a plumber, I’m more likely to call on Bob the plumber than, let’s say …Stan the plumber – who I don’t know. This is networking 101 – not just social networking or social media marketing.

Ms. Dias is wrong in using the term “marketing” to mean “advertising”. The Mashable piece – or perhaps the way Forrester/GSI Commerce report was worded, is wrong in using the term “social media” interchangeably with “online advertising”. Yes, you can advertise on social media sites – but then that would be online advertising, no? Not social media. They are not the same.

I adhere to the “people do business (online or off) with people they know, like and trust” adage. People get to know people through interactions on social media sites. If your clients and customers are people, you should be there; the extent to which is determined by basic, good ol’ marketing research and planning.

Ok. This was another rant. If you want to leave your rant (or comment) about my rant – feel free.

While website development might be outsourced, most small and mid-size companies manage their PR, branding and advertising work internally.  However, B2B companies – as are we all – are finding out that engaging in real-time social media interactions with prospects & clients… creating social content for blogs and social network platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn… is labor and time intensive. This is why many businesses are looking to outsource the day-to-day tactics and behind-the-scenes tasks to third-party social media agencies, in much the same way many companies have outsourced their call centers, HR and accounting.

Rumors.automobilemag.com/

Well, it is true that outsourcing social media marketing can be an efficient and cost-effective solution, but do you understand the risks involved? Chrysler’s recent f-bomb snafu is a glimpse into what can go wrong.

According to a survey by MerchantCircle, two-thirds of small and mid-sized businesses are using social media in some way to market their businesses. At the same time, one-third of these business owners say they lack the time, the experience and the resources (staff) for managing a social media marketing effort effectively– the main reason why outsourcing of social is on rise.

Having a third-party manage your  social media efforts means finding a partner that has the right approach, voice and philosophy for you and your brand. This is done first by having a well thought out social media plan. Then, having a well-communicated social media policy with clear rules of engagement, is important; making it clear how much latitude all parties, in-house and third-party “tweeters”, have to engage in real-time social media activity on behalf of the brand – and consequences for crossing the line, regardless of how inadvertently the crossing may be… as was the case in the Chrysler f-bomb scenario.

When making the decision to outsource your social media engagement, lead that decision process with considering “how you can best and most effectively engage with your stakeholders online” versus “how you can save the most money and time running your social media program”.  Use social media outsourcing as a business tool to the best benefit of the brand.

Seth Godin: Image via Wikipedia

<This is a Rant. You aren’t likely to learn anything reading this other than, perhaps, what’s going through my mind. If that isn’t of interest to you then click off now. Why this post? Because I can.>

Seth Godin is a master marketer.

Seth Godin- at least Seth Godin’s objective in sending me the Domino Project emails – is not that of a philanthropist.

Godin’s big Domino Project (with Amazon.com) is off and running. The Domino Project is setting publishing on its ear. The mainstreamization (My word; good, yes?) of Social Media and our regular use of mobile devices as an information tool has paved the way for the electronic delivery of books – EBooks with a BIG E; not the white-paper, sales pitchy, little e ebooks. The time is right for the Domino Project. Yea for Seth Godin and yea for Amazon.com!

Seth Godin is a brilliant strategic thinker and a master marker. But his emails, in general; his most recent email in specific, pushed me over the edge. Seriously, Seth…

“Why pay for a book at all?” or “A book is a fabulous souvenir…” or, I love this one, “Buying a book is a little bit of philanthropy…”

Technology and culture are evolving, yes. But to this blanket statement, I disagree.

Seth is not only trying to sell the book, Do The Work, but he’s also selling the Domino Project AND the culture of how books are read – and not just this book. He’s selling a fundamental change in how we’ll read future books, all books.  A big challenge, requiring a cultural paradigm shift which requires some big (and BOLD) statements – which his pitches do make.

But, to say:

“there’s no compelling reason to buy a book that you don’t need right now or to own forever.”

is like saying there’s no need to ever cook again when you can drive-thru and pick up a meal to-go. Many times a hunger can’t  be satiated by the mere ‘transaction’ of getting full, whether it’s information or food you’re talking about. The sensory experience can be as important as the functional acquisition, at least in terms of real knowledge or satisfaction.

And all this is from the man who encourages us to be linchpins.

Seth has the ears of millions, not only as a leading marketing professional but also as an industry-busting, motivational thought-leader. The email I received (see the link below) is undoubtedly a good sales piece. The longer I’m in marketing, however, the more a sales pitch wrapped in motivational, industry-changing ra-ra crap rubs me the wrong way.  Just feels a bit slimy.

Just sayin’. Just rantin’.

<Because this is a rant I didn’t feel right linking links to links of links. If you’re interested in seeing the Godin post from which his email was based and to which this rant refers, here it is.>

Zuck's an Apple too? (Image via Wikipedia)

Perhaps Mark Zuckerberg did not know what he was getting into when he launched the social media network that ate the world. Yes, over 1.3 BILLION people around the globe are connected on Facebook.

Of course, social media networks are not just about friends staying connected with each other. Social Media Marketing has opened doors for all kinds of organizations, B2C as well as B2B businesses – and not only in Texas, where I live, but around the world. This enables companies in Paris, Texas and Paris France alike, to grow and nurture relationships with their targeted audience while building their digital online presence, potentially reducing the amount budgeted for advertising and branding.

Having explored the social media marketing methodologies for a while now, I realize that social media marketing is not typically the channel that closes a sale, especially B2B sales which tend to be longer, more complex transactions. Social media marketing ROI is difficult to measure by traditional standards and B2B businesses, in particular, remain skeptical of its relevance in B2B marketing strategies. But consider these stats I found on Webbiquity, a B2B marketing blog.

• Companies active in social media report a 59% higher lead conversion rate for organic search traffic

• 85% of B2B buyers say they want B2B vendors to engage and interact with them online

• 93% of B2B buyers believe that all companies should have a social media presence

However, in spite of these numbers, well-documented theories and social media marketing best practices, many B2B companies struggle to show results.

Below are 3 common mistakes B2B companies make early on in their social media marketing efforts:

1. No Marketing Strategy or Planning.

The biggest mistake I see is B2B companies jumping onto Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn without a social media strategy or, worse yet, without any marketing strategy in place at all. How will social media improve your overall marketing efforts? Where will the connections you make via social media channels fit in your sales cycle? Generate new leads? Nurture existing leads? Close a sale? (Hint: it is highly unlikely to be the latter of the three.)

A friend of mine in Dallas is a landscape architect. His business is creating exterior environments that reflect the “story” of the property, and that story includes not only the physical structure(s) on the premises, but the functionality of the property, the climate, the terrain and client preferences.  Jumping into social media without considering the rest of your marketing and sales efforts would be like digging holes and planting shrubs without paying attention to where the building is situated.

2. Trying to Hard Sell.

B2B social media marketing at its best facilitates connections and helps to build a reputation of trust and expertise with an audience over time. Using a hard-sell approach in is not only ineffective but is likely to do more harm to your brand than good. If your offer is price-sensitive, time-sensitive AND you’ve developed a trusted group of followers, social media can be used as a broadcast channel for your sales message. But what you’re doing in this scenario is using social channels in the same way you use your traditional advertising channels and not really practicing “social media marketing”. You are advertising.

B2B sales cycles tend to be longer and more consultative and more trust-building. B2B companies can find real value in leveraging social media as a source of interaction and sharing knowledge as opposed to hard selling and blatant self-promotion.

3. Expecting Overnight Success.

Hey, maybe Lady Gaga can help your social media marketing.

Keep in mind that although social media can produce significant results for a company, it cannot do this overnight… unless of course you score a personal testimonial from Lady Gaga (at which time you would stream the interview live on Ustream, post the recorded video on YouTube, blog about the experience, write a white paper to tell others how they, too, can get glowing Gaga testimonials and tell all your prospects, clients, friends and tweeps about it on Facebook and Twitter…)

Most businesses “say” they understand seeing marketing results takes time, but they don’t behave that way and write off social media marketing efforts as a failure before they have a chance to succeed.  Most companies fail to invest sufficient time and effort into developing online content for blogs, status updates and newsletter articles not to mention engaging online. With a well designed social media content strategy in place, I recommend following your social media plan for a minimum of 6 to 8 months – executing, measuring, adjusting – before making a significant change-of-course, barring any unusual business or market development.

B2B social media marketing may not require a large financial investment but to see results, but it does require a substantial time investment.

These are just three issues, but three I consider to be critical points to keep in mind when starting your B2B social media marketing efforts. There are certainly other considerations especially once you get some traction marketing online.  Let me know your “big three” challenges I’ll cover / comment on those in the next post.

Social Media Networks have completely changed the way people communicate in the 21st century and therefore, organizations are changing the way they communicate as well, both internally and externally.  A recent 2011 Social Networking Websites Review Comparison by TopTenReviews identifies the top 3 social networking sites as Facebook, MySpace (yes, really*) and Bebo**, respectively.  In the U.S., LinkedIn is an important social network for B2B social media marketing efforts, but with “only” 100 million profiles, did not make the top 10 list for 2011.

Since well over half of the world is connected through social networking sites, internet marketing through social media has become an obvious decision for marketers, not only in my home state of Texas, but globally – as evidenced by Bebo’s number 3 status. (Bebo is the social network of preference in the UK and has slowly been gaining ground in the U.S. since it’s acquisition by AOL in ’08.) The big brands seem to get most of the press but social media marketing offers all organizations from Austin to Paris to reach a wider audience on a smaller marketing budget.

With increasingly new marketing strategies in play and lower marketing budgets, small and mid-sized businesses as well as service professionals are investing in advertising through social media networks. A report from Borrell Associates highlights that today SMBs account for around 70% of online ad spending, “including e-mail, search, and run-of-site display last year.”

However, there is no single social media marketing strategy to make your social media campaign work. For a successful social media campaign companies need to regularly optimize their marketing strategies and keep abreast of new developments in the industry. A few things to keep in mind are:

• Keep an eye on the Social Media Landscape – The following questions will help you better focus your social media marketing and identify social media opportunities.
  –Who among my competitors have online presence? How active are they?
  –Which is the most popular industry blog? Who’s the writer?
  –Which social media websites are most visited by the target audience?
  –Which social media outlet is most popular and why?

• Keep An Eye On Blogs, Online Communities & Forums: Set up Google Alerts and/or subscribe to RSS (Really simple syndication) feeds of your industry’s most popular blogs, websites and social media channels in order to keep updated by regularly monitoring content on popular sites in your industry.

• Establish SEO Friendly Social Media Profiles – It is very important to have your social “presence” aka: your social media profiles, optimized for search results. (social media optimization or SMO) Yes, businesses can connect with their audience via Facebook, Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, as well as many others. You can also use YouTube to post educational videos as well as promotional advertisements. However, the key is to keep yourself “searchable” and use your targeted keywords in your profiles as well as your tweets, posts and content.

Commitment Is The Key

Like any marketing/PR campaign, social media marketing campaigns for B2B companies, small and mid-size companies alike, require commitment. Turning social media engagement into revenue is not a short-term conversion. After you have successfully launched your social media program you have to stick to it and understand that it will always be in flux, changing as often as the opinions and minds of your target audience change and as often as technology changes. Regularly optimize your campaign and tweak as needed. Results will come in the form of more and better quality leads that, with the right sales approach, will eventually yield revenue for your company and your business; the elusive formula to social media ROI.

*Interesting about the MySpace designation. I’d be curious to hear your feedback, comments on this. I’ve not had an inclination nor a client for whom to engage on MySpace.

**Also, I’ve just set up a Bebo account to check it out. On first glance, it seems to be ‘youth’ oriented. Are you on Bebo? What do you think?

In the last couple of years, companies are allocating up to 50%, and more of their marketing budget on social media marketing. Why? Because that’s where the customers and clients are. Which is why Social Media Marketing is important for B2B companies and why even small and mid-sized B2B businesses are able to generate buzz about their products and services online through social media.

Here are 5 key social media marketing strategies that will surely help B2B marketers better tap their market and generate ROI.

Strategy #01: Generate Leads

Lead generation through social media marketing means driving online traffic to a webpage/blog where you can “capture” contact information. The social media traffic drivers best for you depend on your business, your targeted audience, your value offer, etc. but some examples include: blog post link on Twitter, Facebook Page linking to special report offer on your website, and email newsletter with links back to a special offer on your blog or website. (Yes, email newsletters are an important part of social media marketing. That’s why I referred to ‘digital marketing’ earlier in this post.

Strategy #02: Create a Specialized Community

There is no point wasting your time & money on online marketing if you don’t to target your audience effectively. The best thing about social media marketing is that through social networking sites, you can flock target audience together by creation of specialized community and groups. Creating a targeted community online is, however easier said than done. It requires a substantial investment of time and a disciplined, well-defined effort. It’s one of the reasons Facebook Groups and Pages have been so popular, yet also why many small and mid-size B2B companies are still trying to figure out how to make it work for them. To begin, it can be best to find existing online communities of your targeted audience already established – start participating there.

Strategy #03: Improve SEO & Search Engine Ranking

Search Engine Optimization is a key way to increase leads for your products and services and this is especially applicable for B2B companies. A good SEO effort will maximize new visitors (organic traffic) to your website. New visitors mean they DON’T know about you but they DO know what they need. To be successful in SEO you need to know what terms your audience uses when searching for your product/service in Google. Again, they don’t know about YOU so they won’t use your name. The search terms they use are your “keywords” and “keyword phrases” and the terms you should make sure are appropriately represented on your website and the content you create.

B2B companies can also leverage social media channels to improve SEO results (driving organic traffic) through their presence on Facebook and Twitter as well as maintain corporate blogs, all focusing on using the important terms / keywords.

Strategy #04: Be the Recognized Expert

Your online presence alone is surely to gain leads for your business, but adding value and being a source of knowledge for your audience is what will set you apart from the pack. Being helpful and a reliable source of valuable information is the best way to attract customers, online or offline. Advertisements on social media websites can have their purpose, but will not build relationships and your reputation as a helpful resource. Instead create helpful and informative blog posts, white papers, newsletter articles, podcasts, videos, as well as bookmark and promote valuable content from others.

Strategy #05: Strengthen the Marketing Campaign

B2B Social Media Marketing is best used to complement your other marketing activities. In order to get better results from your B2B social media campaign investments. Any organization – B2B, B2C, non-profit or otherwise should have a broader marketing plan in place that focuses on achieving the key business objective(s). Social media can surely enhance your business when you strike a balance between various marketing arms.

These are the basic stategies (and rewards) of a successful B2B social media marketing effort. It’s also important to consider the objectives (and rewards) of a successful B2B social media Listening effort. The outgoing message delivery of social media marketing gets the most hype and coverage. I think the incoming information you can learn from your audience is at least as powerful.  I’m wondering what your experience / opinion is? Let me know & I’ll incorporate your feedback into the post. Look for it early May.

What content management system (known as CMS, in the business) is most popular among non-chain restaurants?

The consensus of the responders was WordPress. WordPress is a wildly popular CMS because it’s intuitive and easy for anyone to use—and I’m talking restaurant owners, not engineers.

The customer experience starts well before you walk through the door.

There are also hundreds of plug-ins and themes developed on the WordPress platform  specifically for restaurant and hospitality businesses, so your Texas BBQ or Maine lobster rolls will get the props they deserve and be presented in a way that shows they’re worth the drive to try out. (Here is but one of those resources: 10 Best WordPress Themes for Restaurants )

Some folks prefer other CMS systems such as Drupal or Joomla. While  both are popular and allow for more complex integration and functionality, they are, IMHO complete overkill for most restaurant needs.  (Here’s a brief webinar recording by my friends at Hall Internet Marketing in Portland, ME that may help you determine  what CMS platform is right for you.)

Choosing the CMS platform is only part of what makes for a good restaurant website. The information you include (a.k.a. your web content) really determines how well your website will work at generating dining customers. Here are three basic tips to turn your website from just another restaurant website – into a productive restaurant marketing tool that entices customers to come in – and then come back again (with hungry friends).

1. DO: Include your hours of operation. This sounds like a no-brainer, right? But you’d be amazed at how many restaurants forget to do it.

Last Monday my friend Suzanne and I were craving Mediterranean food and checked the website of a nearby restaurant to see if they were open on Mondays.

Home page: Nothing.
Location Page: Nope.
Menu Page: Nada.

They didn’t have the hours of operation listed anywhere on the website – and they have 3 Dallas locations! I checked Yelp.com and Chowhound.com, too: Still nothing.

We were frustrated, but were just around the corner so we ended up driving over there anyway. And, as luck would have it, they were open. Had we not been so close by we wouldn’t have risked wasting our time. We would have gone somewhere else. (You can find my review of Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill on Yelp.com.)

TAKEOUT: Include your phone number, hours of operation, and address —with a link to a map on each page. Don’t make me work to find you.

2. DO: Include your menu. Remember, people go to restaurants for food. Be sure to have a “Menu” tab in your website’s navigation bar. And, as a general rule, list the dishes you serve and their prices.

If you have quality, appetizing photos of any or all of your specialty items, use them with abandon because, as you know, they’re worth a thousand words …and untold # of potential customers. How about a video of the flaming coffee drink you cleverly prepare at table-side? (Hint, Hint to Javier’s)  The customer experience starts well before they walk into your restaurant.

TAKEOUT: Feature your menu—in words and in images—prominently on your site. Don’t make me work to find out what kind of food you serve.

3. DON’T: Use Flash. The program that makes websites dance and “flash” across users’ screens is annoying, unfriendly to search engines, and is invisible on any iPhone, iPad, and iTouch. It’s as yesterday as day-old bread.

If I come to your website and it churns & churns waiting for the Flash showstopper to gear up, I’m outta there. I don’t want to be entertained. I don’t want to be sold. I want to be informed. I want to know where you are, your hours and phone number, and what’s on your menu. Period.

If I’m looking for your restaurant on the run (which more and more of us are), I’m using my smart phone. If it’s an iPhone, iPad or iTouch, I can’t see anything in Flash, only a blank page with a little blue box. Even on another brand of smart phone or digital tablet, extra content that gets in the way of what I’m looking for bogs me down and I may just change my mind— and go someplace else.

TAKEOUT: Keep your information (and technology) simple. Don’t make me work to find you and this means make sure your website is mobile friendly.

There is no business that is better suited than a restaurant to take advantage of all that new technology and social media marketing has to offer. Don’t hesitate to do so – but make sure you have the marketing basics covered also. Got basics? If no, call us.