I was fortunate to speak with our local ABC Radio’s Kate O’Toole this morning about how businesses can get started in social media. She said what prompted her to talk about the topic were the words of Saffrron chef Selvam Kandasamy on winning the Telstra Business Award for small to medium businesses last month.
He credited his success to engaging with customers and potential customers through online and social media channels.
I checked out Saffrron’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages to see what the fuss was about, and I think I know the reasons for Selvam and his wife Joanna’s success.
1. Their website provides insights and access to their business. From the website you can browse the menu, read reviews, book a table and order online. That’s just what I would expect but so few restaurants actually do this.
2. Links to Facebook and Twitter are included on their website. I don’t have to go out to separately find them because they have thoughtfully integrated their accounts.
3. Their Facebook page has personality. Sure, they do talk about the food but they also talk about staff happenings, their new baby and social events. Their presence tells me this is more than just a restaurant - it has a personality that makes people want to interact with them.
4. They are involved in social media without being consumed by it. There re plenty of other social networking tools they could be using and lots more they could post. But they seem to have the balance right, keeping their involvement to a level that is manageable and doesn’t divert their focus from the main game – serving up great food and service.
5. They have put their efforts into the things that count. 86,000 Territorians are on Facebook. I know there are lots of new and cool tools coming along every day but none of them yet enjoy the level of engagement that Facebook does – more than a third of all Territorians are there. It also appeals across a very broad demographic. While there is a peak of usage among Territorians in their 20s, Around 23,000 Territorians aged over 40 have Facebook accounts.
Go online and spend a bit of time getting to know Selvam and Joanna. Better still, visit their restaurant and enjoy some of the best Indian food you’ll ever eat.
