Beth holds a master's degree in integrated marketing communications, and has worked in journalism and marketing throughout her career.
What do burgers, badges and bombers have in common? One stellar marketing strategy that propelled a Milwaukee hamburger joint named AJ Bombers into the ROI stratosphere.
It started when AJ Bombers owner Joe Sorge got the idea to open a restaurant focused on, according to the company's website, ''P-Nuts, Burgers & Beer,'' in 2009. Around the same time, Sorge started studying up on the art of using social media to market and advertise his business. In fact, he committed to only using social media to get the word out instead of a more traditional approach that might involve newspaper ads and television or radio commercials.
Sorge decided that word-of-mouth marketing, where customers spread the word about his establishment, coupled with creating a following on Facebook and Twitter (as well as another trick we'll talk about in a minute) is the best avenue to choose. It reaches a far wider audience, even with a marketing budget of $0. Sorge's approach to sharing updates, encouraging people to check in at his restaurant, and responding in a timely manner - in essence, building relationships with his customers - net him better results than advertising on TV ever could.
AJ Bombers' first foray into social media marketing started with Twitter ... and a little bit of good luck.
Sorge's first foray into Twitter ran him right into blogger and best-selling author Chris Brogan. Because Sorge understood the importance of engaging in conversations on social media, he responded to a tweet from Brogan about things to do in Milwaukee. The pair later met up for lunch at Sorge's restaurant. After their meeting, Brogan took to his blog to write about Sorge's commitment to social media marketing, which thrust the burger place into the public eye, earning them stories in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, as well as an invitation to Travel Channel's Food Wars, which they subsequently won.
Sorge kept up his Twitter usage, taking advantage of the search function to listen in on conversations being had about his brand. A few days later, Sorge started engaging in conversations of his own on the platform, working to build relationships with people in the community. Sorge said he realized conversations on Twitter could involve multiple participants, unlike email which restricts a conversation to two parties. AJ Bombers took the Twitter love to another level as well, incorporating it in the very fabric of the restaurant, including giving sandwiches their own hashtags and inviting diners to write their own usernames on the restaurant's walls. Implementing hashtags, searchable keywords on social media, in its menu helps give diners another touchpoint to talk about AJ Bombers online.
Watching Twitter, Sorge said he noticed his followers starting to adopt another social media forum, a local search program known as Foursquare. Foursquare allows users to ''check in'' at various locations. To make use of the attention to the program and implement another form of social outreach, Sorge created an event where users could earn the Swarm badge, a reward for gatherings of 50 or more Foursquare users.
After speaking with a representative at Foursquare, Sorge set out to send Twitter invitations (and even Facebook invites) to his audience so they could earn their Swarm badge. More than 100 people signed up early for the event, and another hundred tweeted about it. When the moment of the event came, the restaurant was packed with hungry diners and eager Tweeters. Sorge later participated in Foursquare Day, encouraging his followers to check in to a location with a boat and, conveniently, partnered with a local company to have boats available outside the burger joint. More than 230 people took advantage of the promotion to earn their ''I'm On A Boat!'' badge.
So, what's the bottom line? Sorge's early presence on Twitter gave way to 60 to 80 percent sales growth approximately six months into using the social media platform. With 75 percent of his customer base using Twitter, it made for a natural audience to incorporate Foursquare. The day of Sorge's first Foursquare event, his sales increased 110 percent, with half of those who showed up to the restaurant being first-time customers.
Sorge's Foursquare Day event was no slouch for the burger joint either, netting the restaurant its single best day of sales since opening its doors, in an event that saw people being turned away for lack of room.
AJ Bombers is a case study in how to use social media marketing to elevate your business to the next level and create real results - in building both relationships and sales. Rather than using expensive forms of traditional marketing, AJ Bombers owner Joe Sorge opted instead to commit $0 to marketing by relying on social media and word-of-mouth marketing. Sorge started first with Twitter, engaging in conversations and creating opportunities for hashtags inside and outside the restaurant. Later, he turned his attention to Foursquare, using the restaurant's other social media platforms to cross-promote his Foursquare events. Thanks to his Twitter usage, Sorge's business grew 60 to 80 percent in the first year, and his two Foursquare events generated a 110 percent sales increase and the restaurant's single highest sales total ever.
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Communications 106: Communication in the Digital Age12 chapters | 84 lessons
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