Taking photos of the food they were cooking and posting them online was a popular activity, and of course, taking the ubiquitous "selfie". In some instances all the diners at a table were occupied doing this. This phenomenon has been explained to me as being a way of sharing the experience with absent friends and interacting with them.
That is what got me thinking about why a business should manage its online presence. The restaurant I was dining at does have very positive online presence, but an up-market restaurant in the same town has recently suffered a very different fate following comments made in a local forum by a disgruntled customer.
A Google search confirmed that this other restaurant does not have a website, or a Face Book page or any other official online presence. It does, however, have an online presence in the form of reviews on TripAdvisor and a thread in an active local forum, even if the restaurateur is unaware of this. Unfortunately for him the conversation in the forum is generally negative. Worse still, this conversation has been going on for several days. Not only has this conversation been indexed by Google, it is the first item in the listing for a search against the name of the restaurant.
No business can satisfy 100% of its customers 100% of the time. It is how the business deals with those few dissatisfied customers that makes all the difference. In the case of this "other" restaurant, the owner seems to be unaware of the damage caused to the reputation of his business and that potential customers, such as my wife and I, have been put off from going there.
Contrast that with how another small local business has responded to detrimental comments on social media. This business owner has arranged for the Internet in general and social media in particular to monitored several times a day for comments and conversations in which his business is mentioned. Whenever and where ever it is mentioned, he responds - with thanks if praised, and with apologies and remedial measures if there is criticism. This entrepreneur has a website and also uses social media extensively to promote his business.
What can we learn from these two examples of social media management by small local businesses?
In the case of the "other" restaurant, there no social media management taking place. By not being a participant in the online conversation, the restaurateur is not engaging with his customers and potential customers. Nor is he protecting the reputation of his business and is letting other people control the conversation to his detriment. The result of which is that he has undoubtedly lost business.
In contrast, the local entrepreneur is effectively managing his social media presence to promote his business and to engage with his customers and potential customers, develop his brand, and to protect the reputation of his business. As a result, he has a loyal customer base who often make repeat purchases and his business is prospering.
Neither business is sufficiently large to employ a full-time in-house social media manager. Whereas one business has no one dealing with social media management, the other recognised the importance of this function and has outsourced this task, albeit on a part-time basis.
In the past, a disgruntled customer would tell 12 people of his dissatisfaction. These days, he posts his complaint on social media for the whole world to see. The Internet is social, which means unless the business owner steers the conversation in a positive direction, he is allowing others to control how that conversation develops. The takeaway is that no business, irrespective of its size, can afford it ignore the management of its social media presence.
The use of social media in branding and crowd sourcing is especially beneficial in a number of ways. The firm gets free consultation opportunities through social networks where people can offer ideas on product or service improvement. It is also possible for the firm to pool customers into various interest groups that revolve around the firm's brands, especially the ones that the firm has lost track of. Social networks also enables the company to engage in a more meaningful engagement with the public as there are more visitors on the firm's website, from the increased time that is spent online.
Social media presents numerous opportunities for networking and referrals of clients of small and medium enterprises. Unlike word of mouth, it presents words of many mouths, which occurs simultaneously among the customers. It is also known as the social media effect. The company's customers will tell other prospective customers about a company's products even when they are not ready to purchase from the firm. It also enables the firm to test new markets without the hustle of physically testing the foreign market's response to a new product.
Social media presents many opportunities for the company in sales and marketing as celebrities and other leading personalities are able to become the firm's brand ambassadors without asking for any pay. Small and medium enterprises can also create official corporate video in a short time and distributed on popular search sites such as you tube. It can boost the firm's sales as more customers recommend its brands in social networks.
Social media also offers competitive insight for small and medium enterprises as the firm is in a position to be fully aware of its competitor's moves without the hustle of physically scanning their sites. If the firm has been involved in any event-marketing activities and a lot of people have been chatting about it in the social networks, the firm is sure of more attendants in their future events as people look forwards to inviting their friends through photo tagging.
Social networking is useful in creating publicity and also in crisis management as journalists seek the firm as they find interesting stories about the firm in online sources. The fans of a firm will also offer free crisis management services even before the firm makes an official statement by airing positive comments on social sites about the firm in times of media crises.
Social networking is also beneficial to small and medium enterprises in management of customer relations. The firm is able to get timely feedback on customer sentiments relating to latest policy initiatives, and it can therefore make any necessary adjustments.