19 Jul How does having a strong online presence help physical footfall for hospitality?
What is five stars on a screen worth to a hospitality business in 2022?
We’ve all checked the reviews or Instagram pics before booking a table at a restaurant, pub, or cafe. It seems gone are the days of strolling past places without checking out their menu, latest five-star rating or even scrolling way back to the only bad review they’ve had from 2018 and taking it seriously.
So why are aesthetics and reviews on screen the final ‘tick in the box’ needed for us to sit down at a table and order?
A website that is leading in the value of online recommendations is the both loved and loathed TripAdvisor. Team members working at a restaurant are constantly told to encourage TripAdvisor comments from customers; but only if they know they will leave a good one. TripAdvisor is the biggest travel advisor in the virtual world, relying on real people to share their experiences to inform the 490 million active users. From around the world, it has more than one billion reviews with almost eight million venues to explore and compare.
How does this impact hospitality? Instead of being in competition with other local restaurants in same town, businesses are now up against hundreds of thousands spread out across counties, all being compared at a click of a button. But now the likes of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are being used to assess which place to go to.
24% of people check a restaurants Instagram account before booking a table and it’s not surprising. With grid posts, stories, reels, and direct links to booking pages, it has never been easier to see the quality of a place without even going. Therefore, the aesthetic of the establishment on screen is crucial to increase physical footfall.
But building an online presence takes dedication. Before food is served at a restaurant, the social media team in charge of the online following tally, will snap and film the plates of food before the service carries on; desperately trying to get the best angle to show people what they were missing. But the work pays off. Companies who have a higher, better quality Instagram page have a higher footfall as the demand to experience it increases.
With this change in advertising, it is normal for hospitality businesses to hire a company to help them steer their social media to a more confident space that helps to define their brand even further, reaching out to more people. Here at LUYA, we offer that service to help businesses tackle the modern obstacles and get them to the top of the five-star list.