National Culinary Review

Facebook is a social-media tool that works well for restaurants, which can drop ideas about leisure-time activities to fans and mention specials. Panda Express (1,250 units), left, has 270,000 fans on Facebook. Pal’s Sudden Service ( 22 locations), has more than 14,500 Facebook fans.

Thien Ho, senior manager of corporate relations for Rosemead, Calif.-based Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., which operates more than 1,250 Panda Express units in 37 states and Puerto Rico, is also navigating the social-media seas.

“Social media provides Panda with an additional avenue to connect with our guests,” says Ho. “We can develop new relationships, have meaningful conversations, collect valuable feedback, share exciting offers and news and much more. It’s a great way to introduce Panda to new guests as well as continue to foster our relationship with existing Panda lovers.”

WHERE TO START

Facebook and Twitter seem to be the
primary way for people going into social
media, according to NRA’s Moyer. Some
also are using You Tube, Yelp, Open Table
and Flickr, he says. “But the drivers are
that Twitter account and Facebook fan
page. They are using them to drive people
back to their Web site. A big key to any
social-media outreach is you are pointing
them in a direction that’s beneficial to you.
You want to use it as a recruiter tool to
drive people to your menu page.”
places and drive them to You Tube. But you
also want to drive them back to your site.”
Blogs are also a key avenue for reaching
customers, says Moyer. “People want info
as quickly and easily as possible. The top
ways to gather information today are to
read blogs and to watch multimedia. I think
multimedia is the future, as everything can
be put into video. The new effective way
to communicate is saying something on
Twitter in less than 140 characters, and
then linking to a video to say it and show it
in less than a minute.”
About six months ago, Co Co. Sala started
using Facebook and Twitter. “We’re trying
to get people to join us on Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter and foursquare [a virtual
game],” says Malhotra. “I spend about 5%
to 10% of my time on social media, and it
is a major focus for me.”
Co Co. Sala currently has
nearly 2,000 fans on Facebook
and about 800 Twitter
followers. The restaurant has
had 240 reviews on the online
review Web site, Yelp.

Pal’s Sudden Service, based in Kingsport, Tenn., with 22 locations in Tennessee and Virginia, is a restaurant chain effectively using social media.

Pal’s Sudden Service took over its Facebook page from a fan in October 2009, and has been using Twitter for a couple of months. Pal’s has more than 14,500 fans on Facebook and about 60 Twitter followers.

“After a guest started a Facebook page on
us, and it reached 10,000 fans, we started
to take a closer look at social media,” says
Thom Crosby, CEO. “We wanted direct
customer interaction, but realized social
media was different from the Web site. It’s a
community with a lot of personal interaction,
but it’s a continuing dialogue. It’s a great tool
for making a personal connection with a
Moyer adds that if a restaurant has videos,
a You Tube channel is great. “Facebook and
Twitter are outreach tools. The rest are like
backup. You direct people from the first two