In the restaurant business, we see it often: Customers sit down to eat and inevitably pull out a smartphone at least once during the meal to post a picture on Instagram, check in on Foursquare, send a tweet or update their Facebook.
Social media is a way of life.
Social media reviews via Twitter, OpenTable, Yelp and more is a given in the service industry. What’s critical for executives is knowing what to do with that feedback: how to capture it,examine it anduse it to improve the customer experience. Insights from this data, known as “social media intelligence,” help businesses get smart when it comes to delivering what guests want.
Social media intelligence mines online feedback to uncover details about the customer experience that might be lost in a sea of comments. These insights illuminate trends so businesses can take action to improve operations. As more companies across Atlanta embrace this practice, living and dining in the city could potentially be more satisfying than ever.
Atlanta is suited to be among the cities leading this social intelligence revolution. We’re regularly featured as one of the most-wired cities in the U.S. Our tech market is thriving, and our start-up-friendly climate has drawn entrepreneurs to the area.
At Fifth Group Restaurants, which operates local restaurants that include South City Kitchen and La Tavola Trattoria, we recognized social media’s ability to attract and engage guests early on. We’re seeing new benefits as tools like the newBrandAnalytics platform help us monitor online trends, make changes based on actual data and track performance based on social media reviews. It gives both the business and the guest a voice, which is tremendously important.
Customer loyalty no longer begins and ends at your establishment’s door. It lives online, too. Exceptional service is one quality that sets many Atlanta businesses apart. Fostering that reputation sometimes requires extra effort. For example, our restaurants use social media intelligence to help motivate our managers: Restaurants that garner consistent positive online feedback are eligible for higher bonuses. That gives our team’s added incentive to provide the kind of customer service that guests will talk about online.
Last year, more than 42 million people came to Atlanta. The city is booming. As the spotlight grows, so does attention to our restaurants, hotels and retail establishments. Social media intelligence has the power to distinguish us from other major metropolitan areas because it creates the type of responsive businesses people love.
If we’re going to thrive, Atlanta businesses need to continually examine online feedback to see how to perform better. In the restaurant business, the adage says you’re only as good as what you did yesterday.
With the help of social intelligence, that’s shaping up to mean a very bright tomorrow.
Robby Kukler is co-founder and partner of Fifth Group Restaurants in Atlanta.
