Can Facebook and Twitter Help Your Business?

Ken Burgin, successful restaurant and cafe operator, hospitality consultant, FMCA member and principal of www.ProfitableHospitality.com, outlines the Social Media options.

Facebook keeps growing! More than three million Australians now have a Facebook profile, and the marketing possibilities keep expanding. It's not just for teens: in March 2009, "Inside Facebook" said there were more Facebook users aged 26 to 44 than 18 to 25, and seeing massive adoption by users 35 to 65. In fact, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over 55. These are US figures and trends in Australia are similar. You have clients and customers who love food and networking - creating a business Facebook Group or Page is a great way to shape the conversation and reach out to them. Once it's set up, you can add events, photos, videos, comments, and news. Members can also join the conversation and add content. But don't panic - if they say something you don't like, it can be deleted. Get in now and take charge - it's better to be controller of the Cafe Troppo Group than having someone else set up the Cafe Troppo Crazy Fans Group and use it for satire. It happens!

Create a group for a special interest or cause
Facebook Groups are for everything from a favourite TV show to a charity, a school reunion or the local organic produce co-op. Check the Facebook Group for StreetSmart Australia, a group working through restaurants to assist the homeless. The group's founders have put up a great collection of pictures and videos, and members have added plenty more. I set one up for Gordon Ramsay Fans in Australia - we've tracked the ups and downs over the 18 months, and it was used by the tour organisers to promote free tickets for his July appearance. The administrator of a group can email members with relevant promotions - an instant mailing list!

Create a page for your business or local area
Facebook Pages are like mini websites, with different options from Groups - they have Fans rather than Members. Add information about your hours, services, location and website. This is the place for businesses which want a profile on Facebook. For a great example, see the Facebook Page for the town of Esperance in WA. It has more than 2,500 fans, and features a constant stream of local events, great photos and town news.

Create highly targeted advertising
At the bottom of the Facebook page is a link to Advertising. You can create small banner ads to run down the right-hand side of Facebook pages, aimed at the person viewing it. Everyone who sets up a Facebook profile gives certain demographic information (age, location etc), and often shares about their interests. This allows advertisers to find highly-specific target groups. As an example, if you're after people 25+ in Sydney for a wine promotion, you would choose those demographic details when formatting the advertisement, and may require the word "wine" to be in the person's profile my search shows that currently 4,880 people fit these criteria.

What about Twitter?

Twitter is a free and easy way to share news in 140 characters. If you have time to write one text message a week, you can manage Twitter. Share events and tips with customers, clients and fans, and watch news updates from useful Twitter-feeds.
To get started, open a free account at www.twitter.com - choose a name that represents your business, eg, FoodSouth, or use your own name. Don't be strange or mysterious - this is about promotion! Describe your business in the Profile section, including your website address.
Next, in 140 characters or less, answer the simple question on your Twitter home page: "What's new?" FMCA members are in the communication business, and will have a constant stream of news and ideas to share. Here's your chance to reach out to the world, but be interesting if you want to gather followers.
Promote your twitter name to customers in promotional material and email signatures. If people follow you, follow them back if they look interesting; some people follow everyone, others are more selective. Just click the Follow button on their Twitter page. You'll want others to follow or "subscribe" to your news, or "tweets".
It's like moving to a new town, with no friends on the first day but they're all around if you make an effort to find them. Use Twitter's search function to find other food writers, publicists, cooks or wine lovers and see how they use the service.
Share your news: a menu highlight, a customer story, local announcement, a new product, news about a best seller or link to a picture or web page. Find people who Twitter in your local area by using www.NearbyTweets.com - add a location to your profile to help others find you in the same way. Or look at the people who are following other Twitter users, and if they look interesting, follow them too!
If you use an iPhone or Blackberry to keep in touch, you can download software to twitter directly from these devices. On your computer, twitter directly from the twitter web page or from free software like Seesmic,Tweetie or a wide range of other services.

Have fun with twitter - the clients you want to impress will certainly notice! Follow me at www.twitter.com/KenBurgin