Can Restaurant Marketers Create Positive e-WOM Through Social Media?

1. Can Restaurant Marketers Create Positive e-WOM Through Social Media? Gavin Fox MSc, MII Grad

2. Introduction • E-WOM and restaurant marketing • Social media and the e-WOM revolution era • Research project – question, objectives, methods • 10 recommendations for restaurant marketers

3. WOM and Restaurant Marketing

4. WOM and Restaurant Marketing “More than 80% of consumers trust WOM recommendations for services” (Nielsen, 2010) As the restaurant experience is highly experiential, consumers are heavily influenced by WOM.

5. The Oldest Form of Communication (and Still the Most Powerful) Used to be one-to-one…

6. The Oldest Form of Communication (and Still the Most Powerful) …Now it’s many-to-many.

7. The WOM Revolution Era To reach 50 million users it took... Print 100 years Radio 38 years TV 13 years Facebook reached 100 million in less than 9 months.

8. Over 1 billion users • Average user has 130 friends (268 in Ireland) • 510,000 comments posted every 60 seconds • More than 2 billion posts are liked or commented on daily

9. WOM and Social Media

10. Marketing is Now About Igniting WOM Epidemics “Despite being derided by critics for its appalling writing, 50 Shades of Grey has become the best-selling book in Britain since records began, surpassing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with sales of 5.3 million copies.” (Telegraph.co.uk, October 2012).

11. Should We Be Interested in WOM? The old way of marketing no longer works. Marketing is now about getting people to talk about your brand. Consumers are now the real influencers.

12. Research Question Can Restaurant Marketers Create Positive Electronic Word-of-Mouth (e-WOM) Through the Use of Social Media?

13. Research Objectives • To explore the types and styles of communication that work best in achieving positive consumer e-WOM, given that the Internet is a ‘distinct phenomenon’. • To explore the likely trigger(s) of positive e-WOM during and after the consumers’ restaurant experience.

14. Research Methods • Focus group and series of in-depth interviews • Looked at the phenomenon from both perspectives – restaurant marketer and restaurant consumer • Carefully selected sample for both sides

15. Marketing to the Foodie Tribe Find Organise Lead

16. Recommendation Number 1 Plan the Social Media Strategy

17. Recommendation Number 2 Go where your audience go

18. Recommendation Number 3 Adapt Tactics by Channel

19. Recommendation Number 4 Identify the Influencers “There are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them.” Malcolm Gladwell, Author of The Tipping Point

20. Recommendation Number 5 Give the Content “Stickiness”

21. Recommendation Number 6 Monitor Online Conversations

22. Recommendation Number 7 Social Strategy Should be Mobile

23. Recommendation Number 8 Excellent Food and Service Must be Core

24. Recommendation Number 9 Create a Memorable Restaurant Experience

25. Recommendation Number 10 Be Transparent

26. Gavin Fox MSc, MII Grad Marketing Consultant E-mail: gavin@foxmarketing.ie Phone: 087 649 7660 Web: www.foxmarketing.ie Advise. Enable. Implement.