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Book Review: Restaurant & Bar Marketing by Erik Shellenberger
Opiniated views with experience and research to back those opinions are certainly useful to listen to and to read about. That's the case with a series of three books by West Coast entrepreneur, restauranteur, and media consultant Erik Shellenberger. The ideas he expresses are, by some standards, contrary to conventional restaurant marketing thinking and are of ten controversial, particularly among those who make their living preparing and launching websites and other social media activities at what he considers outlandish expense.
Shellenberger's background as a corporate media manager and independent operator gave him the opportunity to try a variety of approaches alongside some "real people" research. That led him to restaurant marketing techniques often opposite the status quo. He believes that most bar and restaurant marketing is a copy-catting exercise with a vicious cycle of restaurant "A" doing a promotion, copied by restaurant "B" doing it, closely followed by restaurant "C" doing the same and on and on.
The No Bulls#it Guide to Improving Guest Counts" by Erik Shellenberger
In his book (the first of three) "Restaurant & Bar Marketing: A No Bulls#it Guide to Improving Guest Counts", his main theme is that independents need to "get out of the fishbowl and into the ocean". Your guests who have "opted-in", "liked", or "followed" you must be reminded via social media, but to build guess counts, independents need to go much further. Social media reach must be put into context because, in his research, 84% of respondents say it does not affect their restaurant preference one way or another.
He uses social media in his business but believes that common sense suggests there is another method to growing your guest count. The answer is not to hire a "social media expert" where you spend a lot of money on organic searches as they play a diminished role while internet providers profit from paid placements. You need to make your dollars count.
Yelp, he believes, is a four-letter word that's morphed into a platform of complainers. It has a powerful presence, he says, but he would never spend ad dollars to try to influence their algorithm. He's convinced it can't be done. Put your money into Google he suggests, where the returns will be better. In fact, he says the same restaurant will have more stars on Google than Yelp every time.
Among his key recommendations is to make sure you respond to every review, including those on Yelp. Answering back within 24-hours – including the good, the bad and ugly reviews – will pay large dividends in getting customers back into the restaurant. He offers specific guidance, such as "mention something that's specific to their review" and "make sure to invite them back." Whatever you do, don't cut and paste responses, it's a sign you don't care, and it's better to not answer at all.
In his section "Get Smart About Getting Noticed", he focuses on using Google, Yelp and Trip Advisor. Those platforms are the "ocean" versus the "fishbowl". While the book is packed full of common-sense suggestions, it was published in 2018. He asks that you read this book first before moving on to his other two books which offer more up-to-date information on some of the technical challenges in reaching potential customers.
In an environment where marketing opportunities are expanding and changing daily, a discussion of some of the new reach-out options are covered in his more recent writing; but he believes this book offers some basics that must be understood first. Visit Erik's Youtube channel , it's got everything in easily explained processes.
Shellenberger suggests that the best way to learn about new technology is to take time with salespeople. Don't ignore or hide from them. That doesn't mean you have to buy anything, and they may be "a real-life version of spam", but you can learn and perhaps change tactics in the war for new customers. It's worth your time to say: "Yeah, come on in, I'd like to hear about what you are offering."
Certainly, a solid website is a necessity, because that's where the Internet platforms go to find their search information. That said, he does not believe you should spend a lot of money on creating a worthlessly flashy site. Instead, he recommends investing in SEO (search engine optimization). "Spend money on getting yourself found," says Shellenberger. "Getting found on Google makes you money". He offers several suggestions and programs to accomplish this task, but again the caveat is the book is a bit dated. He also suggests focusing on meaningful "backlinks" because the more connections, the better your awareness. At the same time, he believes "hashtags" are overrated for independent restaurants.
This is a commonsense treatise on independent restaurant operations and is well worth reading. It's an easy read, only 95 pages, and a lot of fun with some interesting examples, stories and opinions. As a media consultant, Shellenberger offers help for independents seeking a better understanding of how to increase Google exposure and manage your reputation. He offers a free scan of your Google ranking. Visit https://barmarketingbasics.com/ and fill out "How does your online visibility rank?".
His two other books, "Hacking Human Nature" and "Marketers Ruin Everything" will be reviewed in future RS&G issues. All three books are available on Amazon for $9.99 each, as well as on Kindle and Audiobook versions.
