Update – Feb. 19, 2010: Apparently Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey has focused their marketing plan based on this old LSM tactic (originally posted 1/28/08). . . only they used a zebra in downtown Atlanta.

Local Store Marketing has always been part science, part P.T. Barnum. I thought it appropriate to share this analogy by an unknown author:

When a circus comes to town, and you put up a sign, that’s advertising.

If you parade an elephant through town, that’s promotion.

If the elephant knocks down the mayor’s fence, it’s publicity. If you can get the mayor to laugh about it, it’s public relations.

If the town’s citizens come to the circus, and you show them all of the entertaining booths, show them how much fun they will have when they spend their money at the booths, answer their questions and, ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales.

“Typically, if you’re unemployed, you’re not getting up at six and not going through the drive-thru,” said Jeffrey Bernstein, an analyst at Barclays Capital. “There is a direct correlation between unemployment and breakfast sales.” (From QSR Web.)

Hate to say this, but marketing doesn’t overcome this type of trend. You can’t modify this behavior.

If your breakfast sales have been hurt, find something that is working and make it better.

So how are you using social media to market your restaurant? Seems like asking for advice on the matter is like asking 10 economists for their opinion on any subject: you get 12 different answers.

- Carefully plan out your branding message, or shoot from the hip?
- Engage customers and develop a relationship, or shotgun a message to drive trial?
- Social media will bring me hundreds of customers, just because they can find me on their iPhones!
- My Facebook page has lots of pictures and my menu.

Maybe a social media strategy isn’t the pinnacle of success. Maybe social media are simply one more way to increase your frequency of message. Maybe these tools are just one more channel through which to promote your marketing strategy.

There’s a lot of advice out there, but most of it makes social media seem like just today’s version of a radio commercial: it reaches a lot of people, but the clutter nullifies the message.

A social media strategy is important. But it’s only one leg of an overall marketing strategy. After all, the goal isn’t to create awareness. It’s to create sales.

Some good advice on using social networking tools to engage your customers and develop loyalty in this article on Social Media Marketing in the Restaurant Business.

The point I take is that social media is an extension of you and your product, it’s another channel of communication for your existing marketing plan.

Everyone loves to know the owner. Everyone likes to feel like they’re a member of an exclusive club, or to get additional privileges.

Get feedback, engage customers, make them feel special. Do this through Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and on discussion boards.

But you need to also do this in person, at PTA meetings, in your dining room. The author hits the nail on the head, but she only speaks to electronic communication channels. Add those channels to the real-life ones. Social media is effective because it increases frequency of message.

I’m wondering what you all thought of your gift card sales this year. I know you have to have them, and I know they’re all the rage to increase your ticket and put some money in the till before the end of the year, but are they all they’re cracked up to be?

I’ve heard differing opinions. Some people are able to sell a lot, some have them as a convenience. It probably has a lot to do with how aggressive you are in promoting them, but at the end of the day:

Are gift cards worth the effort?