Social Media is becoming more important every day, and it’s time you, as a restaurateur, understand how to best use Facebook and Twitter and foursquare, etc, to boost your business and remain relevant online in the virtual world.

Most restaurateurs are late adopters with respect to technology. I’ve run into local restaurateurs who still don’t have an email address, let alone understand best practices of Facebook, a site where people spend more than 700 BILLION (yes billion with a ‘b’) minutes each and every month.

Social media isn’t just an email address, a form of communication. It’s where people congregate and share information – including restaurant information. You, as a restaurateur, need to understand this in the same way you once understood the reach of a newspaper or TV commercial. 

The best aspect of social media is that it can be very cheap, and quite often free. It does take time though, and this is where you need to spend your “marketing” time instead of sitting in meetings with your local newspaper or traditional media rep. Make a conscious effort to spend at least 30 minutes per day (can be spread throughout the day with updates – see attached articles) and start working on your business as opposed to in your business. I’m telling you that it is that important to understand social media, and even though you might not even have an email address, you really need to take the time to look into this new form of communicating with your consumers.

Below I have provided you with a few links that can be very helpful as you venture into the world of social media. You should also feel free to reach out to your local LocalUp Solutions representative for advice and help regarding social media. They’re experts –let them help you!

-Chris Jeffery, CEO - LocalUp Solutions

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Need to create an email account?:  https://www.gmail.com/

Facebook best practices: http://mashable.com/2011/08/29/facebook-marketing-restaurants/

Twitter best practices: http://mashable.com/2009/06/24/twitter-brand-best-practices/

Foursquare best practices: http://georillas.com/foursquare-a-marketer-perspective-and-best-practices/