Is the Internet Leaving Your Restaurant in the Dust?
Do you remember 10 years ago? Remember dial-up? Remember that annoying crunching sound?
Most kids these days will never hear dial up, or experience the agonizing hours it took to load pictures. Amazing what 10 years of technology can do.
Technically, people like you and I have only been using the Internet for 15 years. Can you imagine another 15 years?
Our lives are going to change. Our children will be tech gurus. Our entire social networks will move online.
It’s already happening…
Don’t believe me? Why did a company like Facebook just appraise at $14 billion? Simple. They hold the personal lives of over 350 million people in their hands.
Want more?
Last December, Harris Interactive released a study that found Internet users are spending on average 13 hours/week online. That number has doubled since 2002. That’s only 8 years people!
What happens when technology changes our culture?
We change. We become connected. We grow.
Have you noticed how many people set their cell phones on the table during dinner? How many times do they check them?
People are moving online, and so are your customers. You have to follow them and adapt or your restaurant is dead.
Why should restaurants care?
People generally form patterns and habits. By spending more time online, we have access to more information. We stated in our last post that 89% of people research a restaurant online before visiting.
These are habits the average consumer is forming. You probably do the same thing before going out to eat, even as a restaurant owner.
Media follows what people are watching
Do advertisers really care about television, newspapers, or radio?
No.
Advertisers care about what attracts the most attention. What are people watching? If more people are online all day, than that’s where the advertising dollars will go.
Forrester Research predicts that digital online media, which accounts for 12% of overall advertising, will almost double to 21% by 2014. They also predict that overall advertising budgets will decline, because digital media is cheaper.
This is NOT scary
As a restaurant owner, this is not scary. You should embrace digital media and get excited! No longer are you spending thousands of dollars on newspaper ads hoping to get customers.
Now, just get online, place a few cheap ads and send some emails. Then respond to customers directly as if they were sitting in your dining room.
What’s so scary about that?
The main difference is time. Social media takes time. You have to grow your online relationships just as in real life. So while it is less expensive, it consumes more time.
But if you embrace it, get excited, and rock it out…then the time you put into online media is much more rewarding. Not to mention, who doesn’t want more friends?
What do you guys think? Do you think traditional media is dead? Is investing time into new social/digital media worth your time as a restaurant?
Tags: internet, marketing, online advertising, restuarant marketing, social media
[...] Blog « Is the Internet Leaving Your Restaurant in the Dust? [...]
[...] Advertising dollars shift to where people are looking. If people are searching for local places on their iPhones, than that’s where the dollars will go. This prediction alone tells you that people will be searching for your restaurant from their phones. These people are on-the-go and highly spontaneous to trying new places. [...]