Is Your Restaurant a Favorite Place on Google?
Imagine walking up to a store, scanning a bar code, and getting instant online reviews. Imagine getting special offers right before you walk into a restaurant, just by scanning a barcode. Imagine scanning that same barcode and telling the world about your experience at that business. As a business owner, did your heart just skip a beat? Are you a Google Favorite Place?
Let’s get one thing straight, I am a Google Whore. I love the company, and would possibly drop everything at a shot to work for them. I also LOVE technology, the internet, and people. Google has a very innovative way of connecting those three concepts, and I love them. But Favorite Places on Google is something that scares me, well kinda…
Google has sent over 100,000 stickers to local businesses and listing them as a Google Favorite Place. You can watch the trailer here. These stickers contain a QR Barcode that looks like this. Your smartphone scans the barcode and immediately takes you to the mobile business page of that establishment (another reason to get rid of your rotary phone). The page contains reviews, contact info, and special promotions regarding that establishment. While this technology seems awesome in face value, could it be bad for restaurants?
Spontaneity is Dead
Online sites like Yelp kill spontaneity. Not that it’s totally a bad thing, but the days of “there is a new restaurant up the street, let’s go check it out” are over. Now it’s “lets check it out ONLINE first.” Consumers have the ability to be savvier this way, and it raises restaurant standards among consumers. Which in the end, I believe betters us all, but the idea of being 100% spontaneous is dead.
Google Favorite Places takes this to a whole new extreme. What if a consumer decides to try your restaurant on a whim, only to read a bad review right before walking in the door? Does that stop a consumer in their tracks? Probably not, but it will etch a pre-conceived notion in their minds.
Offer them SPECIALS!
I love specials, and I’m a sucker for a great happy hour. It’s one of the main reasons we built UrbanBacon! But am I really going to drive all the way to restaurant/bar to figure out a special? No, but than again I live in St. Louis, MO…we are forced to drive almost everywhere.
In a bigger city, I could see this being beneficial. You walk by a Google Favorite Place, scan the barcode, and instantly get special offers. This may increase spontaneity and entice new customers to stop. On the flip side of the coin, you could be offering discounts to customers who were going to pay full price anyways. They are already at your front door about to walk in. They had full intentions of paying full price, and now you just lost on profits. Do you assume that risk?
Do You Track Your Marketing Efforts?
One of the greatest tools Google has ever invented is Analytics. While there is not a separate analytics page for Favorite Places yet, it’s coming. This could be a HUGE benefit. You can track who scans your barcode, which links they click, and watch your marketing efforts. If Google combines Analytics with actual sales, this will be EXTREMELY beneficial for restaurant owners. Imagine tracking your ROI in real time…now that’s innovative!
Google Favorite Places is still an infant. Quite frankly, they are still only testing the product. Most QR scanners for smartphones are having problems scanning barcodes. What do you guys think, innovative or too much Big Brother?
Tags: analytics, favorite places, google, marketing, QR codes, Restaurant Marketing, technology
I trust you would not mind if I placed a part of this site on my univeristy blog?
I have no quarrels with that:) Anything I need to know?