At first glance of the Huffington Post headline, “Four Barrel, San Francisco Coffee Shop, Bans Instagram Photos, ‘Hipster Topics'”, many of you probably thought the same thing,”What business is crazy enough to ban a customer from uploading a picture to Instagram at their business?”
Apparently the Four Barrel coffee shop in San Francisco posted a sign at their door as seen above. Would you be bold enough to do so? After you read the article, you’ll see it was a publicity stunt. Well played Four Barrel. Well played. But really? Would you be as bold to tell people you didn’t want them to share images or spread your business on social media? What you will read next, may shock you, but many of you are doing that now.
No you don’t have a sign posted on your building, but you’re not taking advantage of the foot traffic in your establishment. Why not encourage people as they are at your restaurant or in your store to share a photo of something they like online? Here’s a tip. Keep it tight under your marketing hat. If your customers knew we were sharing this, it would be gimmicky to them.
Here’s the tip. Let’s say you have a restaurant. You have people who are relaxed and enjoying themselves and are probably even playing on their cell phones in between laughs. Having a waiter to say, “Doesn’t this appetizer look great? I bet you know someone who would love to be here eating this with you right now.” or “Doesn’t that just look great. That’s a Twitter picture for sure.” Or if you have a boutique. Have a customer unsure of which outfit to purchase? Tell them they should post it on Facebook and see if their friends can help them to decide. Then offer them a bottle of water and good conversation while they await their response. In the least, even if they do not respond right away or can’t make a decision, their friends will have learned about your shop.
Now both tips can really only work if you have quality items that are in demand. If your food looks like it was in a garbage can or the dress is of poor quality or ill-fitted, this will just backfire. So you won’t be able to do it with every customer. However, you get the drift. Find ways you and your employees can encourage the use of social media to customers while at your establishment.
Doing this can be tricky and if done wrong could be annoying or obnoxious. So seek an expert to help integrate these practices into your sales process and customer experience.
Do you do any of these suggestive sharing statements now? Or do you have a more obvious social media marketing tactic (i.e. discount for checking in, etc)? If so, share with us.
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