Author: Yu-kai Chou

How Will Your Franchise Restaurants Compete Against Competition?

Mcdonalds Franchise

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald’s was no longer the world’s largest restaurant chain. No longer will McDonald’s and their Big Macs be known as the largest chain. Rather, Subway will bring it’s iconic green and yellow logo and $5 foot-longs to the top of the list and take claim.

While the general public may find it surprising to hear that McDonald’s was overtaken, should one take a closer look at Subway and the strategy they undertook to get where they are today can serve as a great model for franchise restaurants as far as defensibility against other restaurants and expansion strategies.

Knowing is half the battle

In the mid-80’s, the popular phrase “Knowing is half the battle” was coined by G.I. Joe. While G.I. Joe no longer does PSA’s on television, restaurants that stay ‘in the loop’ are the ones that are most likely to succeed.

If you look at some of the top restaurant chains in the United States for example, you will note that one common denominator amongst them all is that they are constantly getting feedback from their customers on ways to improve the service they provide as well as suggestions on future products. Corner Bakery for example is known for their careful attention to detail when it comes to their customer service and making sure that they are providing the highest quality product possible to its 25 million + customers annually. Continue reading How Will Your Franchise Restaurants Compete Against Competition?

How to use Twitter Clients for more effective and consistent Tweeting

There are a TON of Twitter clients.  It gets to a point that I get decision paralysis because there are too many options to choose from.  If I feel this way, then I’m sure you feel this way too.

Twitter clients range from HootSuite to TweetDeck, providing you with powerful analytic tools, scheduling features, and multiple account management.

The tools and analytics that these robust Twitter clients provide are great only if you’re a big agency or corporation managing 5 Twitter accounts or more.  The truth is that the majority of Twitter clients provide you with more features and information than you’ll ever need.

The simplest and most effective Twitter client is Buffer – I use Buffer on a daily basis to easily schedule my Tweets, track my reach, and stay productive throughout the day.

Who should read this post: local business owners looking for an effective strategy to stay consistent with Tweets

What you will learn: how I use Buffer in my Twitter strategy to stay consistent and relevant

Continue reading How to use Twitter Clients for more effective and consistent Tweeting

4 Common Social Media Mistakes Businesses Make

Learning to swim can be a fun and exciting experience. From learning the basics of kicking to the different types of strokes, becoming an expert is not an overnight matter. On the other hand, not all of us learn how to swim through a set process. For some, learning to swim involved being dropped into a pool (or in some cases a large body of water) and ‘improvising.’ Much like the latter, this is how many businesses learn how about social media.

In what can be best described as a trial and error style marketing approach, businesses that jump into the ‘social media’ pool, can find themselves looking for a life vest if they aren’t careful. To help businesses avoid making the same mistakes that others make, we’ve come up with 4 Common Social Media Mistakes Businesses Make: Continue reading 4 Common Social Media Mistakes Businesses Make

Infographic: How to Effectively Market Your Restaurant with Pinterest

Infographic: How to Market Your Restaurant with Pinterest

Restaurants are always looking for new ways to promote their business. From social media to traditional media, restaurants continue to look for new ways to re-invent the wheel. One platform that continues to grow in interest and use is the social platform, Pinterest.

Pinterest, a pinboard-style social photo sharing website has grown quickly as a tool for brands to distribute photos and content relevant to the brand.

Restaurants in particular can benefit from using Pinterest because of both the visual story that images of foods evoke and the ease of sharing that the Pinterest platform allows for.

If you are a restaurant, check out this great infographic on How to Market Your Restaurant with Pinterest: Continue reading Infographic: How to Effectively Market Your Restaurant with Pinterest

Top 4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Use Social Media

Retail-store-complex

Traditional marketing for retailers involved print ads in magazines and newspaper spreads, television ad spots, billboards, and signage within retail centers. Today though, the word ‘traditional’ is slowly starting to become obsolete as the rise of digital and social media grows.

In a recent 2012 joint research project by Shop.org,  comScore, and The Partnering Group, entitled the 2012 Social and Mobile Commerce study, the role of social media and the way it plays into consumers behaviors and buying decisions is apparent by the results which we will discuss below.

To help understand the case study fore mentioned, we have related them to the Top 4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Use Social Media:

1. Don’t ignore your consumers

According to the study, 2 out of 5 online consumers follow retailers through one or more social networking sites. As a retailer, being in front of the consumer at every possible opportunity is key. In the case of social media, the opportunity is huge. With communities that reach into the high millions, retailers that take advantage of the numbers will be able to tap into the consumer that is listening and looking. Continue reading Top 4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Use Social Media

The Definitive Guide to Local Marketing on Facebook

How to market a local business on Facebook

Facebook has more than 500 million active users.  Your customers use Facebook at home on a daily basis, but did you know that they also use Facebook while eating at your restaurant or shopping at your store, which is why it’s so important to have an in-store and out-of-store Facebook plan to acquire fans and drive behavior.

What this guide is NOT about

It is crystal clear that Facebook is not a fad: big brands, local merchants, and individuals use Facebook everyday for marketing and promotions (not to mention Facebook is now a public company); therefore, this guide is NOT about why you should use Facebook.  Instead, I take it as a given that you understand your customers use Facebook and that you must somehow harness the power of Facebook to drive sales and increase retention.

What this guide IS about

The Definitive Guide to Local Marketing on Facebook is specifically about how to use Facebook to increase foot traffic, increase brand awareness, and increase retention for your brick-and-mortar business.

Guide road map:

  1. How to get more Facebook fans
  2. How to design your Facebook page like the big brands
  3. How to utilize Facebook apps to drive customer action
  4. How to create a content calendar that makes sense for your business
  5. How to respond to negative/inflammatory Facebook comments
  6. The legal way to run Facebook giveaways and contests
  7. How to run effective advertisements on Facebook

Not that your roadmap and expectations are set, lets get started.

Continue reading The Definitive Guide to Local Marketing on Facebook

10 Common Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners, Part 2

10 Common Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners, Part 2

In the first part of our two part segment on the 10 Common Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners, we looked at questions such as the following:

  • Facebook, Twitter, or Both?
  • How many Facebook fans or Twitter followers is a good number?
  • Should I reply to all posts from Facebook/Twitter users?
  • Do I need to hire someone to manage my social media presence?
  • How do I get people to find my business?

In the second part, we take a closer look at the basics of social media including questions regarding blogging as well as platforms like Pinterest. Continue reading 10 Common Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners, Part 2