Social Media Marketing Plan

Buddies Bar and Grill

Buddies Bar and Grill

Located in Hancock, MN, a rural town of 700 people, Buddies is a casual dining experience with a reputation for great food and draws people from a 40 mile radius. Buddies serves a menu of burgers, sandwiches, steaks, seafood and chicken. Saturday night’s Prime Rib is especially popular.

Buddies dining room seats 50 and can be reserved for parties, outdoor dining on the patio and catering are available. It also features on and off sale liquor and mobile bar.

A Great Place to Meet Old Friends..And Make New Ones!

The Competition-

The Waters Edge – Starbuck, MN•20 miles from Hancock•Lakeside location • Homemade Salad Bar•Similar overall menu•More seating

Old #1 Bar & Grill – Morris, MN•8 miles from Hancock•Similar menu•Located in college town•Large banquet & meeting area•Higher menu prices

McKinney’s – Benson, MN•15 miles from Hancock•Adjoins Country Inn & Suites•Similar menu•Banquet facility•More entertainment

Buddies Culture is…

Casual Laid back Sports Bar Family FriendlyBluecollar

Buddies Situation Analysis - SWOT

Internal Strengths

•Fantastic food

•Reasonable Prices

•Loyal base of happy hour and family diners

•Great location and new building

Internal Weaknesses

•Non-existent Marketing plan

•Tired menu options

•Underused social media platforms

•Untrained staff doesn’t upsell higher profit items

The typical Buddies customer is between the ages of 21 and 60, blue collar, family-orientated and budget conscious. This demographic is open to limited social media avenues. A Facebook page and website exist but are both under utilized and in need of renovation.

Social Media Comparison to Restaurant Competitors

Each of Buddies competitors has a small amount of social media exposure, similar to Buddies

Facebook Website Twitter FourSquare Other

Water’s Edge Yes Yes No No

Old # 1 Bar Yes Yes No Yes Yelp! 5 reviews

McKinney’s Yes No No Yes

Buddies Yes Yes No No Yelp! 2 reviews

External Threats•Area restaurants in larger communities see more locals

•High gas prices may prohibit diners from visiting as often

•High prices of quality cuts of meat and fresh produce may lower food standard or raise prices

External Opportunities•Adding “lite” and healthier entrée selections will meet market demands for healthier food, setting Buddies apart from competitors

•Recovering economy will see more people dining out in 2013

•Showcasing local food products, wineries and distilleries adds another draw to social drinkers

Social Media Survey Analysis

Facebook Survey

Yielded 16 responses

Participants within 50 mile

radius

The Survey said……

100% of respondents have Facebook, 94% text, 87.5% use e-mail

75% of respondents have smart phones

37.5% access the internet by computer and smart phone equally

50% occasionally check restaurant websites for specials

50% would like to get restaurant promotions by text, 19% by Facebook

Synopsis – Facebook, email and texting are the social mediums used most and should be the focus of Buddies social media campaign. Having a mobile website would also be beneficial.

Social Media Objectives for Buddies Bar and Grill

1.Optimize Website

•Add lively action photos featuring food and activities

•Add menu and nightly specials to website to increase awareness and sales of “to-go” meals

•Promote upcoming events and entertainment

•Increase sales of Buddies branded apparel

•Promote Buddies catering and bar service

•Optimize social media promotions from Facebook, email and others

2. Optimize Facebook Page•Renovate current page to showcase menus, specials, upcoming events, special features

•Increase Friends list and post to the page regularly in order to engage visitors to keep them coming back to the site and to Buddies

3. Initiate FourSquare and Yelp!•To register for and add information to Yelp! and FourSquare sites to encourage travelers to stop and experience Buddies dining

4. Grow E-mail Address Data Base•Collect customer e-mail addresses for e-mail promotion data base

5. Increase Awareness of Buddies Social Media•Promote Buddies new social media sites in the bar itself and with traditional marketing

Hits Buddies for a drink or two on way home from

work, usually solo

Market Segmentation

Instead of trying to market to age groups who would be interested in dining at Buddies, the focus will instead be on the lifestyle of those who would dine there. That lifestyle could loosely be described as –

-a person(s) who enjoys socializing in a casual bar atmosphere and/or a family dining experience featuring Classic American food, domestic beers and casual cocktails.

This market segmentation could be broken down farther into the following groups:

Buddies Consumer

“The Diner”

“The Regular”

“The Traveler”

“The Social Butterfly

Stops by chance or referral,

business person, visitor or passerby

High school age to social drinkers

usually in groups of 4 or more

Looking for a good meal, with family, friends or spouse. Also orders “to-go”

It’s important to remember these groups may switch from one group to another at any given time

Social Media Strategy for Buddies Bar and Grill

FacebookUpdate Facebook page with new tabs, post photos and specials to the site regularly to encourage engagement with reviews, comments, photos from Friends. Grow Friends list.

FourSquareOpen an account with business review site FourSquare. Add info, menu, and photos to the site for reviewers to see. Interact with reviewers – good and bad!

Yelp!Open an account with business review site Yelp! to inform searchers about Buddies with menus, photos, comments and reviews

Where to begin?

Earned Social Media Categories

Continue With -

WWW.BUDDIESBARANDGRILL.COM

Owned Social Media Categories

While Facebook, FourSquare, Yelp! and e-mail can be considered the roads, the Buddies website is where all the roads meet. The website will be where customers can find:

• Food Menus• Nightly Specials• Entertainment and upcoming events information• League schedules• Photos• Social media driven promotions – coupons, etc• Catering information• Buddies apparel available for purchase• Brew and wine of the month information• Links to other local business sites• MOBILE FRIENDLY!

Paid Social Media Categories

On To-- & Social Publishing

Paid Internet Ads

Ads will be placed for upcoming menu specials and entertainment on local online newspaper sites with a click through to Buddies website or landing page highlighting the menu and specials.

E-Mails

Videos

An e-mail data base will be established in order to e-mail blast customers with specials and upcoming events and directing them to the website for coupons.

Uploading videos of activities that happen at Buddies will aid in search results and will be a fun way to share what is happening!

Implementing the Social Media Plan

Marketing Message: Great Food and Drinks, Great Service, Great Atmosphere – a GREAT place to meet old friends and make new ones!

1. Promote Buddies new social media methods by using traditional advertising methods, in house signage, adding icons to menus and inviting people.

2. Post several times daily to Facebook to spark comments and engagement. Posting pictures, trivia, contests, etc to spark conversations.

3. Have employees and owners post to their own personal Facebook pages inviting people to Friend Buddies page. Encourage regulars who are social media inspired to post photos and comments to “get the ball rolling!”

4. Offer incentives – a free drink for the winner of the daily trivia question, or posting pictures of themselves on vacation wearing Buddies apparel will add interest. Entice people to come out by posting photos of the nightly special in the late afternoon or adding the bartenders “drink of the night.”

Facebook

Marketing Message: Great Food and Drinks, Great Service, Great Atmosphere – a GREAT place to meet old friends and make new ones!

Implementing the Social Media Plan

1. Add menu to the website to dramatically increase traffic. Nightly specials could also be posted weekly.

2. Invite customer to participate in online surveys to generate awareness of the improved website. A participation incentive could be offered.

3. Special offers from Facebook and e-mail promotions could link to the website where the coupon or incentive can be found and printed.

4. Allow customers to post reviews of food and service! Feedback is important!

Website

5. Scrapbook of Buddies events and happenings with photos, articles, etc so people can come and “find themselves”!

6. General information – location directions, hours, kitchen hours, about us section. Information on catering can also be found here.

Implementing the Social Media Plan

FourSquare and Yelp! 1. Slowest to catch on to of all the social media avenues. Will take patience to

see results.

2. Sign up for accounts with both business review sites.

3. Add information, photos and menus to both sites.

6. Monitor reviews and comments and respond to those necessary.

E-Mail

1. Capture customer e-mail addresses by special card with incentive prize drawing. Offering birthday rewards, special offers, etc.

2. Add addresses to Buddies e-mail data-base on a regular basis.

3. Plan e-mail blasts and monitor results by coupon tie in to website redemption.

Plan of Action!

Approval •Present social media plan to the board of directors for approval. Make revisions and bring the Buddies staff up to speed on the new social media plan. Input needed from all areas – kitchen, bar, management, and waitstaff

Team •The social media director will guide the staff meeting and a social media team will be selected consisting of : the general manager, 2 chefs, 2 bartenders, 2 waitstaff and 1 boardmember.

Message •The social media plan will now drive the entire marketing plan for Buddies Bar and Grill. All radio and print ads will drive customers to the social media channels. Events will be marketed traditionally but with high SM concentrations

Social Media Channel Program Cost Set Up Fee Monthly Fee

Facebook None None None

Yelp! None None None

FourSquare None None None

E-mail Free program trial * $50** None

Opt . #1 Website Web design fee per /hr $,1000-1,500 $19.99

Opt. #2 Blogsite Free Basic** Free Basic* Free Basic**

Facebook Pd Ads Not in use yet Not in plan yet Not in Plan yet

The Budget

*Vertical Response e-mail marketing program has a 500 email free trial – should be enough to measure if the program will work before investing in buying one.

**Printing fee for cards to register customer e-mail on

***Option 2 would be a WordPress blog site with price variations based upon options chosen

Implementation Timeline

A timeline for implementing the plan will be drawn up showing how the plan will progress. The initial timeline will be drawn up for a 9 week period. Shown is an example of the first 3 weeks of the plan.

Meet with management to review Facebook page and finalize template

Begin promoting Facebook via menu, customer receipt, signage and weekly newspaper ad

Register for Yelp! and FourSquare, enter information into each

Register for LinkdIn ,enter information, make contacts with area businesses, promoteWeek

3

Format new Facebook page w/new tabs, features, etc. Begin entering new information/pics

Begin gathering customer e-mail addresses via customer receipts (ongoing)

Contact web designer/site host about website changes and send new info to them

Existing Facebook pages reviewed & duplicate non-business page deleted

Gather and organize new information and photos for new website and rough out site plan

Team meeting to gather information and review plan

Meet with team to assign team lead, finalize plan, determine duties & deadlines

Changes made to plan per board’s direction (if needed)

Meeting with staff to present plan and determine social media team

Present Social Media plan to board for approval

Social Media Plan developedwith management input

Week1

Week2

Measuring Results

Facebook InsightsWill track new “likes”, what kind of

activity viewers are engaging in on the site, measure how much feedback each

post gets.

Google AnalyticsEssential to tracking website traffic, what

they are looking at and how long they are staying. Helpful to track coupons

also.

FourSquare AnalyticsWill track how many weekly check ins

there have been, if they are new or repeats. Results e-mailed to you wkly.

Yelp AnalyticsNo analytics shown on site. Will view

reviews left on the site to track progress.

E-mailWill track how many coupons are

redeemed by using restaurant management software

Traditional MediaMonitor traffic to social media sites to see if traffic increases when promotion

of SM sites begins on print/air advertising.

Thank You!

Questions and Comments

Thanks Toby Keith!