Ready or not: You’re running a media company!
I was in Nashville last year talking to some of the great folks who own and operate Denny’s franchises.
As I did a little research on the local food scene, I discovered that – as with just about any city – there’s a healthy debate going on over who serves the best hamburger in Nashville. A couple classic burger joints are always in the running: Rotier’s and Gabby’s. (Rising country star Brett Eldredge weighed in on Gabby’s side.)
But it’s not the merits of their burgers that I want to discuss here. I want to point out the fact that both of these fine burger institutions have recognized a fact of business life today: Every business is a media business.
Owners of any local burger joints who think they can be successful by merely having the formula for a great burger, are very mistaken. Knowing how to publish media is just as important. (In this arena, I would probably say that Gabby’s enjoys a slight lead over Rotier’s. Check out the screen shots.)
Not only does Gabby’s have a strong presence on FaceBook and Twitter, it has its own TV channel courtesy of YouTube! By the way, Gabby’s not only has a Facebook wall, it has a wall in its restaurant where customer photos are posted. They use their Gabby TV video to encourage people to send in photos and say what they would like to see posted on Gabby’s homepage.
You see, even if you’re a hole-in-the-wall burger place that’s only open for lunch, you can still reach and engage your customers via the social media. Having an active social media publishing program keeps your business top of mind. Let’s say that this level of engagement might result in one or two additional visits per year. That kind of extra business adds up…and it may take a little business away from a feisty competitor…like Rotier’s.
Just sayin‘.
The important idea that I want to leave you with is that you absolutely must embrace your business as part chosen-industry and part media company. Your challenge, then, is to embrace and leverage the social media that will work best for your target market.
Again, I think we can take a lesson from both Rotier’s and Gabby’s. They have established a presence on a variety of social media platforms, although if you dig a little more deeply, you’ll discover which they favor with the most posting activity.
You’ll find some good guidance with regards to demographics in this article, but you’ll want to keep track of how well your selected social media platforms work for you. Use the analytics provided by each platform to see how you’re doing. You can also find which types of posts get the most engagement.
You may discover that a certain platform isn’t worth your time and that will give you a little more time to post to and improve your targeting with the social media platforms that do a better job engaging your audience.