Happy Hours Are All About Socializing

Roughly 75 percent of American adults use social networking sites.

Worldwide, one in four people use sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with family and friends, find jobs and keep up with the latest news and gossip.

Restaurants and bars should be getting on board with the social trend, as they can greatly increase their customer base by being active on a variety of social platforms.

Restaurants and bars that offer a happy hour have even more of an advantage by being on social media.

Social media is mostly used by millennials and happy hour is most frequented by millennials, making it the perfect way to advertise to your target market.

McDonald’s, for example, has proven the effects of social media advertising to the younger generation. The fast food chain consistently ranks highest in sales and while part of that is due to the number of locations, the other part is due to their strategic advertising methods.

How Restaurants Can Use Social Media

First, your establishment needs to have a fully-functioning website in addition to social media pages on the biggest platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google Plus.

Once your accounts are set up, you can begin your marketing strategy, which includes:

• Showcase your mouth-watering menu items – If you want to get customers into your restaurant, you need to show them what they want to see – your food. Take high-quality images and display them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In fact, the most shared photos on Facebook are of images, so don’t miss out on this huge marketing opportunity.


• Offer deals and discounts – When choosing a restaurant, most people take price into consideration. If your restaurant offers a happy hour, share the discounts on your social media pages. You can even take it one step further and offer an additional discount to customers who Tweet about your restaurant or check-in using Foursquare.


• Think outside the box – Consider making photo collages of your happy hour deals to showcase them in one, all-encompassing photo. As the following article looks at, you could make an infographic on a specialty item, such as The Construction of American Food: Buffalo Wings did. Eye-catching, simple designs are certain to get the attention of customers via social media.


• Engage with your clients – Social media is all about networking and connecting with your customer base. If a customer asks a question via Twitter, respond immediately. If someone complains about your business on Facebook, do your best to resolve the issue and offer a free meal for returning. The more social you are with customers, the more your business will grow.

More and more people are turning to social media when it comes to choosing a happy hour hang-out with friends, co-workers and family.

If a Facebook friend recently raved about a new local hotspot, there’s a good chance that particular establishment will get more customers in their door.

On the other end of the spectrum, if a customer were to share a poor review with their followers, the restaurant or bar will see less business.

Social media is affecting sales at a notable rate, and restaurants and bars offering happy hour need to be actively engaged in what people are saying.

If they are, it could be happy times for all.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1B3gaef via social advertising

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