This document provides information about Buddies Bar and Grill, a casual dining restaurant located in Hancock, MN. It summarizes Buddies' menu, which includes burgers, sandwiches, steaks, seafood and chicken. It also notes that Buddies has 50 seats inside and offers outdoor dining and catering. The document then lists some of Buddies' local competitors and compares their features. It performs a SWOT analysis of Buddies and outlines Buddies' target customer demographic. Finally, it proposes a social media strategy and implementation plan to increase Buddies' online presence and engagement.
2. Buddies Bar and Grill
Located in Hancock, MN, a rural town of 700 people,
Buddies is a casual dining experience with a
reputation for great food and draws people from a 40
mile radius. Buddies serves a menu of burgers,
sandwiches, steaks, seafood and chicken. Saturday
night’s Prime Rib is especially popular.
Buddies dining room seats 50 and can be reserved
for parties, outdoor dining on the patio and catering
are available. It also features on and off sale liquor
and mobile bar.
The Competition-
The Waters Edge – Starbuck, MN
•20 miles from Hancock
•Lakeside location
• Homemade Salad Bar
•Similar overall menu
•More seating
Old #1 Bar & Grill – Morris, MN
•8 miles from Hancock
•Similar menu
•Located in college town
•Large banquet & meeting area
•Higher menu prices
McKinney’s – Benson, MN
•15 miles from Hancock
•Adjoins Country Inn & Suites
•Similar menu
•Banquet facility
•More entertainment
3. Buddies Culture is…
Casual Laid back Sports Bar Family FriendlyBluecollar
Buddies Situation Analysis - SWOT
Internal Strengths
•Fantastic food
•Reasonable Prices
•Loyal base of happy hour and family
diners
•Great location and new building
Internal Weaknesses
•Non-existent Marketing plan
•Tired menu options
•Underused social media platforms
•Untrained staff doesn’t upsell higher
profit items
The typical Buddies customer is between the ages of 21 and 60, blue collar,
family-orientated and budget conscious. This demographic is open to limited
social media avenues. A Facebook page and website exist but are both under
utilized and in need of renovation.
4. Social Media Comparison to Restaurant Competitors
Each of Buddies competitors has a small amount of social media exposure, similar to Buddies
Facebook Website Twitter FourSquare Other
Water’s Edge Yes Yes No No
Old # 1 Bar Yes Yes No Yes Yelp! 5 reviews
McKinney’s Yes No No Yes
Buddies Yes Yes No No Yelp! 2 reviews
External Threats
•Area restaurants in larger communities
see more locals
•High gas prices may prohibit diners from
visiting as often
•High prices of quality cuts of meat and
fresh produce may lower food standard
or raise prices
External Opportunities
•Adding “lite” and healthier entrée
selections will meet market demands for
healthier food, setting Buddies apart
from competitors
•Recovering economy will see more
people dining out in 2013
•Showcasing local food products,
wineries and distilleries adds another
draw to social drinkers
5. Social Media Survey Analysis
Facebook
Survey
Yielded 16
responses
Participants
within 50 mile
radius
The Survey said……
100% of respondents have Facebook, 94% text, 87.5% use e-mail
75% of respondents have smart phones
37.5% access the internet by computer and smart phone equally
50% occasionally check restaurant websites for specials
50% would like to get restaurant promotions by text, 19% by Facebook
Synopsis – Facebook, email and texting are the social mediums used most and should be
the focus of Buddies social media campaign. Having a mobile website would also be
beneficial.
6. Social Media Objectives for Buddies Bar and Grill
1.Optimize Website
•Add lively action photos
featuring food and activities
•Add menu and nightly specials
to website to increase
awareness and sales of “to-go”
meals
•Promote upcoming events
and entertainment
•Increase sales of Buddies
branded apparel
•Promote Buddies catering and
bar service
•Optimize social media
promotions from Facebook,
email and others
2. Optimize Facebook Page
•Renovate current page to showcase menus,
specials, upcoming events, special features
•Increase Friends list and post to the page
regularly in order to engage visitors to keep
them coming back to the site and to Buddies
3. Initiate FourSquare and Yelp!
•To register for and add information to Yelp!
and FourSquare sites to encourage travelers to
stop and experience Buddies dining
4. Grow E-mail Address Data Base
•Collect customer e-mail addresses for e-mail
promotion data base
5. Increase Awareness of Buddies Social Media
•Promote Buddies new social media sites in the
bar itself and with traditional marketing
7. Hits Buddies for a
drink or two on
way home from
work, usually solo
Market Segmentation
Instead of trying to market to age groups who would be interested in dining at Buddies, the
focus will instead be on the lifestyle of those who would dine there. That lifestyle could
loosely be described as –
-a person(s) who enjoys socializing in a casual bar atmosphere and/or a family dining
experience featuring Classic American food, domestic beers and casual cocktails.
This market segmentation could be broken down farther into the following groups:
Buddies
Consumer
“The
Diner”
“The
Regular”
“The
Traveler”
“The
Social
Butterfly
Stops by chance
or referral,
business person,
visitor or passerby
High school age to
social drinkers
usually in groups of
4 or more
Looking for a good
meal, with family,
friends or spouse.
Also orders “to-go”
It’s important to remember these groups may switch
from one group to another at any given time
8. Social Media Strategy for Buddies Bar and Grill
Facebook
Update Facebook page with new tabs, post photos and specials
to the site regularly to encourage engagement with reviews,
comments, photos from Friends. Grow Friends list.
FourSquare
Open an account with business review site FourSquare. Add
info, menu, and photos to the site for reviewers to see. Interact
with reviewers – good and bad!
Yelp!
Open an account with business review site Yelp! to inform
searchers about Buddies with menus, photos, comments and
reviews
Where to begin? Earned Social Media Categories
9. Continue With - Owned Social Media Categories
While Facebook, FourSquare, Yelp! and e-mail can be considered the roads,
the Buddies website is where all the roads meet. The website will be where
customers can find:
•Food Menus
•Nightly Specials
•Entertainment and upcoming events information
•League schedules
•Photos
•Social media driven promotions – coupons, etc
•Catering information
•Buddies apparel available for purchase
•Brew and wine of the month information
•Links to other local business sites
•MOBILE FRIENDLY!
10. Paid Social Media Categories
On To--
Social Publishing
Paid Internet Ads
Ads will be placed for
upcoming menu
specials and
entertainment on local
online newspaper sites
with a click through to
Buddies website or
landing page highlighting
the menu and specials.
E-Mails
Videos
An e-mail data base will
be established in order to
e-mail blast customers with
specials and upcoming events
and directing them to the
website for coupons.
Uploading videos of
activities that happen at
Buddies will aid in search
results and will be a fun way
to share what is happening!
11. Implementing the Social Media Plan
Marketing Message:
Great Food and Drinks, Great Service, Great Atmosphere – a GREAT place to
meet old friends and make new ones!
1. Promote Buddies new social media methods by using traditional
advertising methods, in house signage, adding icons to menus and inviting
people.
2. Post several times daily to Facebook to spark comments and
engagement. Posting pictures, trivia, contests, etc to spark conversations.
3. Have employees and owners post to their own personal Facebook pages
inviting people to Friend Buddies page. Encourage regulars who are
social media inspired to post photos and comments to “get the ball rolling!”
4. Offer incentives – a free drink for the winner of the daily trivia question, or
posting pictures of themselves on vacation wearing Buddies apparel will add
interest. Entice people to come out by posting photos of the nightly special
in the late afternoon or adding the bartenders “drink of the night.”
Facebook
12.
13. Implementing the Social Media Plan
FourSquare and Yelp!
1. Slowest to catch on to of all the social media avenues. Will take patience to
see results.
2. Sign up for accounts with both business review sites.
3. Add information, photos and menus to both sites.
6. Monitor reviews and comments and respond to those necessary.
E-Mail
1. Capture customer e-mail addresses by special card with incentive prize
drawing. Offering birthday rewards, special offers, etc.
2. Add addresses to Buddies e-mail data-base on a regular basis.
3. Plan e-mail blasts and monitor results by coupon tie in to website redemption.
14. Plan of Action!
Approval
• Present social media plan to the board of directors for approval.
Make revisions and bring the Buddies staff up to speed on the
new social media plan. Input needed from all areas – kitchen,
bar, management, and waitstaff
Team
• The social media director will guide the staff meeting and a social
media team will be selected consisting of : the general manager,
2 chefs, 2 bartenders, 2 waitstaff and 1 boardmember.
Message
• The social media plan will now drive the entire marketing plan
for Buddies Bar and Grill. All radio and print ads will drive
customers to the social media channels. Events will be marketed
traditionally but with high SM concentrations
15. Social Media Channel Program Cost Set Up Fee Monthly Fee
Facebook None None None
Yelp! None None None
FourSquare None None None
E-mail Free program trial * $50** None
Opt . #1 Website Web design fee per /hr $,1000-1,500 $19.99
Opt. #2 Blogsite Free Basic** Free Basic* Free Basic**
Facebook Pd Ads Not in use yet Not in plan yet Not in Plan yet
The Budget
*Vertical Response e-mail marketing program has a 500 email free trial – should be
enough to measure if the program will work before investing in buying one.
**Printing fee for cards to register customer e-mail on
***Option 2 would be a WordPress blog site with price variations based upon options
chosen
16. Implementation Timeline
A timeline for
implementing the plan
will be drawn up
showing how the plan
will progress. The initial
timeline will be drawn
up for a 9 week period.
Shown is an example of
the first 3 weeks of the
plan.
Meet with management to
review Facebook page and
finalize template
Begin promoting Facebook via
menu, customer receipt, signage
and weekly newspaper ad
Register for Yelp! and
FourSquare, enter information
into each
Register for LinkdIn ,enter
information, make contacts with
area businesses, promote
Week
3
Format new Facebook page
w/new tabs, features, etc. Begin
entering new information/pics
Begin gathering customer e-
mail addresses via customer
receipts (ongoing)
Contact web designer/site
host about website changes
and send new info to them
Existing Facebook pages
reviewed & duplicate non-
business page deleted
Gather and organize new
information and photos for new
website and rough out site plan
Team meeting to gather
information and review plan
Meet with team to assign
team lead, finalize plan,
determine duties & deadlines
Changes made to plan per
board’s direction (if needed)
Meeting with staff to present
plan and determine social
media team
Present Social Media plan to
board for approval
Social Media Plan developed
with management input
Week
1
Week
2
17. Measuring Results
Facebook Insights
Will track new “likes”, what
kind of activity viewers are
engaging in on the site,
measure how much
feedback each post gets.
Google Analytics
Essential to tracking website
traffic, what they are looking
at and how long they are
staying. Helpful to track
coupons also.
FourSquare Analytics
Will track how many weekly
check ins there have been, if
they are new or repeats.
Results e-mailed to you wkly.
Yelp Analytics
No analytics shown on site.
Will view reviews left on the
site to track progress.
E-mail
Will track how many
coupons are redeemed by
using restaurant
management software
Traditional Media
Monitor traffic to social
media sites to see if traffic
increases when promotion of
SM sites begins on print/air
advertising.