|
|
|
|
|
|
 7 Tips for Social Media on a Budget
How a restaurant company addresses social media with limited resources.
Managing social media with tight resources, including limited budgets and manpower, can be very challenging without the right approach. It's not about managing this realm with bigger teams or more assets. It's about implementing the right strategy to operate smarter in this space. The following seven tips can help achieve a successful business driving social media presence:
1. Understand the commitment.
Navigating social media the right way demands dedication and time. When The Melting Pot Restaurants assigned a full time role to manage its social media presence in 2009, the primary objective was to listen to the noise on social media first before developing a platform.
>READ FULL STORY |
It's all About the Plan
Take charge of your marketing by creating a schedule
Do you have a few favorite TV shows you like to watch regularly? Chances are good that even though you don't need to watch them at the time they originally air (thank you, DVR!), you're aware of the shows' schedules. You know exactly when they're on and when you should look for them in the queue.
There's a funny thing about a regularly scheduled activity, whether it's a TV show, a regular food or supply delivery, or even a regular meal, where every course has its place. When you know when to expect the things you like or need, you actually start to look forward to them. And when they're not there, you take notice. You may even miss them!
What does this have to do with marketing, you may be asking? Well, if you've been haphazardly creating content without a regular schedule, you could be missing out on this very powerful phenomenon.
> DOWNLOAD FULL STORY |
|
 Business Smarts
from A to Z
People, Performance & Profits: Building a smart, efficient restaurant
In 2010, 9,450 restaurants across the United States closed - more than 90 percent of them independent operators, according to The NPD Group. In 2011 an estimated 8,500 more shuttered their doors.
And 2012 may be even more challenging for our industry - a year of "faster, harder, smarter, more." So what's your plan? And does your team know how to execute it? Here are 26 fundamentals to help you keep your head in the game.
A: Action is great, unless it's the wrong action. So start here with some advice from former Apple Inc. chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki: Always be selling, not strategizing about selling. Train your customer-facing team to be service-oriented salespeople, not "order takers."
B: Best beats first. Master and then excel at executing the fundamentals. Do the common things uncommonly well.
C: Consistency is the backbone of great customer service and value. Habitual consistency is the keystone of foodservice operators that succeed in good times and bad.
>READ FULL STORY |
 Diners' Evolving Needs
Operators who respond to consumer tastes will gain an edge
To tap into growth opportunities in 2012, operators need to understand what will influence consumers and drive traffic in the next 12 months.
While gangbuster growth is not in the cards for 2012, restaurant operators who know what consumer trends to tap into still are likely to have a respectable year, according to industry observers.
Customer traffic is expected to grow just 0.07 percent in the next 12 months - an improvement over 2011, but still a modest figure that points to the challenging environment operators continue to face, said Bonnie Riggs, an analyst with The NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm. "We're forecasting a continued slow recovery," Riggs said. "Still, there will be pockets of real growth, behaviors supporting traffic that will outpace overall demand."
To tap into that growth, however, operators need to understand what influences will affect consumer behavior and drive traffic in the next 12 months. Here, Riggs weighs in on five of those influences:
>READ FULL STORY |
|
|
|
|
At Sysco iCare , we've done
our homework, so you don't have to. iCare partners are Sysco approved and
uphold the highest service levels, quality standards and performance guarantees
of anyone in the industry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
