In today’s world, correctly using review platforms needs to be part of a restaurant’s marketing strategy.
They are basically a crowd sourced version of Consumer Reports. And more and more, customers are doing research before making a first visit.
Ignoring them is not an option. Without responses from the restaurant, the public is getting a one-sided conversation. Put the effort in and let everyone see the whole picture.
Review Sites
Three sites dominate the review space – Google Reviews, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. After the big three, the next set of sites that matter are Facebook, OpenTable (especially for fine dining establishments with a reservation system), and GrubHub (especially for fast casual).
TripAdvisor matters most for spots reliant on tourist traffic – think Old Sac or near the GoldenOne Center.
The most common filters applied to review sites is location, then a rating of 4-star or above. On Yelp, restaurants and bars with a 3.8 average will be counted as 4-stars but be ranked lower in top-rated results.
The Restaurant’s Profile – On All Sites, With Complete Profiles
Be sure to claim the business profile everywhere possible. Fill out every profile with the most information possible. Each platform will have several optional fields such as Hours, Outdoor Seating, Dog friendly, etc. Be sure to fill out every field with as much information as possible. And keep the details consistent across all the platforms. Updating operating hours? Make sure to update all of the platforms with the new hours.
Include great, high quality photos of the food. People eat with their eyes. Great photos will capture the interest of hungry customers, whereas poor photos will turn them off.
Tone of Responses
In general, it is best to keep the tone grateful (positive reviews) or apologetic (negative reviews).
For negative reviews, keep in mind the response is a conversation with the public – including potential new customers – not just the reviewer.
If the restaurant came up short and the reviewer is correct, own it and apologize. Don’t hide behind excuses and don’t get emotional. An impartial response that gives customers the benefit of the doubt will almost always be better than an emotional one.
Yeah, some people are going to be off base, or complaining about petty crap. Sometimes people are just venting frustration for a rough day or looking to complain and the restaurant is unfairly maligned. Restaurants and bars are in the social business, keep the good manners even when someone is being rude.
At the end of the day, customers are pointing out flaws you can’t see cause your too close to your business
When customers feel heard and appreciated, they are more likely to come back and recommend the restaurant/bar to others.
AI
Be careful using AI when generating responses. AI remains surprisingly prone to misspellings (I have seen the AI spell Sacramento as “Sacramentto” on more than one occasion) and other hallucinations. When using AI, include the rating and customer’s review in the prompt. For example:
AI Prompt: Write a response to a 3 star review where the customer left the comment “Fries were cold, service was slow”
Prompting for Reviews
Be sure to prompt customers to leave a review – at the right time. Our preferred solution is to ask customers to join a newsletter that can be accessed with a QR code on the menu, signage, receipt, and/or flyers. Then, on the “Thank you for Subscribing” email confirmation, ask customers to leave to a review with easily accessible links to Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.
Why this funnel? Email marketing is incredibly successful and the preferred communication channel for 51% of customers.
Their is a simple truism, ask customers for one thing at a time. If we ask customers to join the newsletter and leave a review at the same time they are likely to do neither.
Make re-marketing to a happy customer the highest priority, and cultivating positive reviews as a second goal.
DOs
- Claim the business on every platform
- Fill out every detail possible
- Include great, high-quality photos of the food
- Keep details consistent across all of the platforms.
- Respond to every review – good and bad – within 1 week, preferably less than 72 hours
- For positive reviews,
- Say thank you
- invite the customer back.
- Consider offering a discount
- For negative reviews
- Offer an apology.
- Own up to the mistake
- Offer a discount or free email if the situation warrants it.
- If applicable, speak to the related staff member and document the complaint
Include in every response
- The customer’s name
- Restaurant/Bar Contact information
- Name
- Title
- Contact Email Address
- Contact Phone Number.
- Make sure the contact email / phone goes directly to someone who will answer and has the authority to resolve complaints. You’ll find this stops some future negative reviews, as other disgruntled customers will reach out before commenting.
DONTs
- Don’t copy and paste every review / use a pre-canned response. That is worse than no response.
- Don’t use the restaurant’s main email address or phone number as contact information
- Don’t buy sponsored ads on Yelp. The buying public generally skips the premium ads and finds the first few organic results.
- Don’t buy 5-star reviews. A batch of 5-star reviews will get flagged and removed. They need to trickle in organically.
- Don’t go out of your way to use keywords in review responses. Their is no evidence they positively impact SEO