Chelsea Allenby is a Digital Marketer of 9 years and Managing Director of Allenby Digital Ltd, an online marketing agency she set-up in 2015, specialising in social media and content marketing. www.chelseamarketing.co.uk
Social media is largely mobile-based, so it makes sense that social media management is also shifting towards mobile app based tools. As a busy restaurant owner, mobile apps are perfect for keeping track of your online community when you don’t have access to a computer. They allow you to quickly respond to questions regarding bookings, as well as your restaurant’s food or services. They allow scheduling and posting to become flexible and more real-time. A good social management app can totally change the way you approach social media.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite was initially a desktop tool when it launched in 2008, but in 2010 their mobile app was released. Today the Hootsuite app provides many functionalities and is very useful if you need to make last minute edits, or you’re scheduling/posting content on the go, especially when it comes to Instagram. Making that first shift from crafting posts on a desktop, to creating them via mobile can seem a little strange at first. At this stage, you should use the app to compliment the desktop version, rather than to replace it.
Facebook Page Manager App
This is especially useful if you have more than one Facebook page to monitor. For example, if you have a small chain of restaurants, each with a different page. Having said that, the Facebook page manager app is ideal for quickly replying to questions and comments a single page has received. It’s 2016 and customers expect rapid responses to all of their queries. We’ve created social environments that are convenient but most importantly instant!
Rather than logging into your page on a desktop to check for notifications, you can have them pushed to you as a notification on your mobile. You can also check-up on the performance of different posts, as well as the overall week-on-week performance of the page.
If you need to set-up a quick promotion, or sponsor a post you’ve just shared you can this easy from the app. It’s simpler to do this if you’ve already set-up a payment process and various audiences via desktop. You can then select your target audience from the list and a promoted post live in seconds.
DrumUp
Drumup helps you discover new content to share on social media. This is a very useful app if you’re struggling to think of new ideas or maintain variety in your posts. Remember, it’s crucial not to constantly self-promote and post only about your restaurant. To keep things interesting and engaging you will need to find other content types to share. Once you’ve personalised your Drumup account, you will start seeing recommendations which you can choose to schedule, edit or remove.
Mention
Another area you can’t neglect is social media monitoring. It’s impossible to have ears and eyes everywhere in the digital world, so ‘mention‘ is an app that keeps you informed when others mention your brand or specified keywords in the industry.
Why is this useful? If someone complains about your restaurant on social media it is potentially seen by many. However, if you publically respond to those complaints you might be able to resolve it. Failing that, you are still showing others that you are a restaurant that cares about your customer’s experience. Similarly, you can respond to customers saying positive things about your business and let them know their feedback is appreciated.
You’re not just limited to monitoring your own restaurant. Mention can help you keep an eye on the competition.
Although social media can be a time-consuming commitment, it doesn’t have to take a huge chunk out of your day. Social management apps ensure flexibility, speed and simplicity when updating, promoting and sharing.
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