Word of Mouth - Again

I've seen a lot of businesses, and some restaurants, talking about how much better life would be if only they had a facebook page, or how to get their web site more traffic.

Everyone who knows me knows I'm a big fan of electronic marketing. Blogs, web sites, disucssion boards, SEO, SEM - you name it.

But no so much for restaurants.

Sure, they're important. Sure, they can help convince someone who has already heard of you that your restaurant is better than another. But let's be clear: the vast majority of people eat at a restaurant for one of three reasons:

1) you have a great location and are convenient
2) people have heard great things about you (word of mouth)
3) customers have tried your food and liked it

They might check out your web site after they've heard of you, and before they try you, but the web is still secondary to word of mouth.

So if word of mouth is so important, why do we spend disproportionate time on the little things? Or money on advertising that doesn't generate word of mouth? When was the last time you and your friends got into a great philosophical debate over a newspaper ad? When was the last time you tried a new restaurant based on a newspaper, television, or radio ad (unless you saw/heard it at lunch time and happened to be sitting in front of that restaurant?

Americans see more than 2,000 messages per day. Advertising the old way is out. The web is measurable, and levels the playing field, but what percentage of new customers come because they first heard about you online?

Here's food for thought - the "hot new marketing medium" isn't electronic, broadcast, or print. It's on the sidelines of a soccer field, in the pediatrician's office, at the water cooler, and PTA meetings.

Folks, if your marketing doesn't promote word of mouth, and give those mouths the words to say, you're chasing fads. Nothing is more effective. And because most restaurants aren't any good at it, therein lies great opportunities for yours.