It’s dinner time. You’re getting back from work/college and desperately looking for a place to eat. What’s the first thing you do?
Pretty obvious! Check online and find popular restaurants nearby.

Over the last few years, social media has been working its way up on altering the face of the restaurant business. It has amplified restaurant marketing to another extreme level. The trend of social media integration with fine dining has caught on and gradually it’s being taken more seriously as an effective marketing tool.

The gradual shift to social media for marketing and promotions shows that eateries are becoming aware of the impact that it has on their business. While a negative message regarding a particular eatery can spread like wildfire due to social media, a restaurant can also build a positive reputation at a faster pace with the help of social media’s integration with it. Off all the existing mediums, the most popular ones are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Tumblr, online blogging sites, review websites, etc.

Social media has definitely become the driving force in the restaurant industry.
Following views will justify that.

• It’s said that the best restaurants don’t just sell food but experiences too. Social media integration helps enhance consumer experience by providing them with opportunities to share their dining experiences with their friends or in their online communities.
• It also helps restaurants because now instead of getting suggestions or opinions from a few, they can get it from a crowd, online. Indirectly, it gives power to the consumers.
• Since social media has a larger audience, the restaurant is accountable and answerable to quality and consistency. As customers start updating their eating experiences, every single thing regarding the food served, counts. Hence, social media’s integration with the restaurant business helps.
• The discovery that restaurants receive through social media’s integration with dining is a great advantage. Sites like Foursquare or Tumblr have links that help users find out eateries they might like. More often, these choices are influenced by reviews and discounts on those networks.
• Social-media integration with the restaurant industry has worked wonders in improving customers’ trust and loyalty to specific brands. Consumers generally prefer it when eateries post most of their content online alongwith all positive and negative reviews. This encourages them to post their experiences about stuff like Facebook ordering for restaurants or posting images and content in restaurant directory sites or checking-in using foursquare, etc.
• Integration of social media is also proving to be a huge relief for consumers as now they can avail of online ordering systems like Facebook ordering from restaurants or by use of custom mobile apps. Now food can be picked up or delivered with a single click of the mouse and that too with discounts and offers.
• Now-a-days restaurants provide many facilities to clients to post reviews and thus help in improvising standards. These don’t just help restaurants generate more popularity among customers but also in getting their side of the story out.

Hence, when it comes to social media integration with business, restaurants are classic examples and the brightest pioneers of effective and successful marketing.