Top 5 Ways Social Media is Like Fishing
The majority of my life I grew up fishing private ponds, streams, and rivers in Missouri. There is nothing like the serene stillness and peace of a bright summer day on the crystal water. This is my element, at least as a kid it was. I remember tying neon green and construction orange lures in hopes of landing that monster 8lb large mouth bass. Constant casting and reeling while my lure danced across clear water taught me a great deal of patience. In a way, fishing is like social media. Are your customers biting your lures?
The Game is Patience
My father taught me the importance of patience. He is honestly the most patient man I have ever met. This transferred well into fishing for me. When you’re bass fishing, you are constantly casting and retrieving different lures in efforts to attract fish. Bass have instincts to strike what they haven’t seen before. Therefore you should constantly change and adapt to water color, temperature, time of year, time of day, and what everyone else is fishing with. This takes patience. Learn that you won’t always land tons of fish until you find the right technique. Social media is the same way for your restaurant. You have to offer different specials and react differently given the timing. You are building an online customer base, and that takes time. The most deadly mistake your restaurant can make is believing things happen over night. You have to learn, try new things, and be patient with your customer base.
Push vs Pull Marketing
There are both push and pull strategies in fishing. Buzz-baits make an awful buzzing sound that annoys fish to the point of striking out of frustration. Are they effective? You bet. Spinner-baits use shiny metals to attract fish so they strike out of curiosity, also highly effective. In essence: Buzz-baits = Push Marketing Spinner-baits = Pull Marketing Most social media platforms use a pull marketing technique. Twitter is a perfect example of this. 90-95% of your tweets should be engaging (Pull Technique), and the rest to push your specials on followers. Twitter followers consider specials as spam, so it’s best not to over tweet them. Instead, you should focus on creating compelling content around your restaurant that pulls followers in. Here are some tips on using Twitter like a double edged sword. UrbanBacon is more of a push marketing example. Here you directly post your specials, and then work on pulling them in through comments/interaction. UrbanBacon users are actively looking for specials, so you can get away with pushing specials upon them. Ideally you should use a combination of Push vs Pull according to Mike Atkinson from FOHBOH. Play with your customer base and see which platform/strategy is more effective for your restaurant.
What Are You Fishing For?
In my eyes, there are 2 types of fishing: Bass fishing and Cat fishing, and both use very different techniques. For bass you typically use fake lures to constantly cast and retrieve. Bass are aggressive and hunt their prey, so you must be aggressive. Catfish are bottom dwellers meaning they sift through the pond floor for food. They rely on sense of smell, therefore stink bait smells like a steak dinner to them. Let your bait hit the bottom, pull the line tight, and wait for a bite. Are your customer’s bass or catfish? You should know what customers you’re fishing for. Are you a trendy college bar? Than why in the hell would you advertise in The Wall Street Journal? Focus on producing content your customers will consume and revolve it around your restaurant. For example, if you are a dive bar, than start a blog about dive bars across the country. This will attract people who love dive bars. Once they’re hooked, it’s up to you to land them into “the boat” a.k.a. your bar. The foundation of content marketing is knowing what you’re fishing for.
Fish Different Spots, But Stick to Your Honey Hole
Anglers learn to try different spots. There are plenty of fish, just some places are more abundant. Through trial and error you can find these spots. The main key is to get fishing, just remember your honey spot. There are tons of social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, UrbanBacon, Yelp, etc where people are daily. Which spot works best for you? If your Facebook fans are extremely loyal, than this is your honey spot. But don’t be scared to fish other social media sites. They may just have the customers you’re looking for!
Fishing Takes Time
You want to start catching fish? Start fishing! Simple as that. The more you fish, the more you catch. You have to invest the time it takes to learn techniques, scout spots, tie lures, wait for bites, set hooks, and ultimately land fish. If you want more fish it’s time to take action. Social media is exactly the same. Want more followers? Then you need to start connecting with people online. There are multiple social media platforms already built, you have to invest the time. It takes time to build a customer base online, and nothing happens overnight. The customers are there, are you ready to invest the time? What do you guys think as restaurant owners? As customers? Is social media worth the time? Leave your comments below!
Tags: Facebook, fishing, Restaurant Marketing, restaurants, social media, Twitter, urbanbacon, yelp
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