5 Reasons To Launch A Facebook Contest for Your Restaurant

As many restaurant owners have found, investing in an active Facebook page takes consistency, creativity, and time.

Creating a Facebook page and leaving it to sit dormant is like having customers sitting in your booths and no servers to take their order or fill up their glasses.  Customers get annoyed and your restaurant look like they don't care.

Running a contest on your restaurant's Facebook fan page is a great way to grow your fans, empower your biggest advocates, and to  reach potential customers.  Contests can and should be fun for those participating -- but you are far too busy to simply do a contest for the fun of it.  Here are five reasons to run a Facebook contest:

1.Our Menu Got a Facelift: It's exciting when a new menu item comes to a restuarant.  Time and money went into making these changes and upgrades, so be sure to let people know!  Run a campaign that centers around the new menu or item.  Have fans fill out a simple form to try the newest item or giveaway 5 gift certificates to try the new menu!  Another route is to actually reveal the new menu item on Facebook.
2.The New Location That Just Opened: Opening a new location brings anxiety and excitement all at the same time.  This is a perfect opportunity to run a Facebook campaign to promote the opening.  Allow people to sign-up on a form to get "VIP Access" to the opening.  Open the list for a limited time and offer this VIP Access to the first 25, 50, or 100 people.
3.We Want To Thank You: Often restaurants will find that their biggest fans engage and comment on the Facebook page.  Run a contest every now and then that rewards those fans with some type of reward.  A photo contest is a great way to do this.  Encourage fans to upload a photo of them and their family or a snapshot of their favorite dish.
4.Increase Awareness About Your Restaurant: Facebook is the hub for people to share with their friends and family.  A contest is a fantastic way to spread the word about your restaurant and to get more fans engaged. The more people are engaging on your page, the more likely activity will show up in Facebook's Feed -- this means exposure!
5.Keep Them Coming Back For More: An exciting contest reminds users that you are there and wanting to get to know them.  Make sure that you are posting photos, interacting, and asking questions between the contests you run.  Don't simply run a contest then disappear for weeks at a time.  Reel them in with a contest, then keep them engaged with daily posts.

A Facebook contest is a great way to build your Facebook fan base.  The frequency is entirely up to you and your staff.  It's much better to run a well-executed, memorable campaign once every three months than to run a sloppy campaign every month. Put some thought and planning into it, then give it a go!

HEADS UP: Be sure to host your Facebook contest on a customized tab instead of your wall. Check back Wednesday for a service that I LOVE to use for Facebook contests!!