Restaurants would be amiss to not take advantage of blogging. Any and all methods of contacting and communicating with the general public are highly desirable, and anyone who runs a restaurant should be know the future well being of their establishment rests on the fickle whim of their patrons. There are also many benefits to blogging — A blog is just one method that a restaurant can use to maintain and sway their positive reputation.

Here are five ways restaurants can use their blog:

Share New Menu Items and Developments

A blog, in many cases, should not be used strictly for advertising. Any promotion should be done with a gentle and subtle touch. People don’t like to be explicitly sold to, and since there is no genuine incentive to read blog posts, most people will not tolerate any type of promotion/advertising.

People look at restaurant blogs in order to see what is new, and to see what the restaurant is like. With social networks and the like, people are doing more research before choosing where to dine, and a blog is a good place for a researcher to land. If you want to advertise your new chef, outdoor patio or new menu items, then you should, because people will be looking at your blog to find out those kinds of details. You could also consider adding things about your current menu, but writing about them as if they are new and exciting.

Every Advantage Should be Utilized

Public opinion makes a massive amount of impact on a restaurant’s takings, and even false accusations about a restaurant can force it out of business. A blog is just another free publicity tool to use to your advantage, to highlight all the positive aspects of what you offer. Imagine it as a hypothetical war, where every possible advantage (free or otherwise) is a gun. Every gun should be firing if you want to beat the competition.

Answer Customer Concerns

Feel free to answer some of your more common questions that you receive online, but your main customer concerns should be the ones that make you look great. Are you buying your beef from ethical farms in Europe or North America? Then tell people on your blog otherwise they will assume you are buying cheap beef from deforested areas in Brazil. Are your fries made with vegetable oil? Or are they made with animal fats? How healthy are your fruit based desserts?

Blogging for Crisis Management

If you happen to unfortunately come under fire for something, you can use your blog as a space to methodically address the matter. If people are searching on Google for a certain issue, then is it preferable that they see your side of the situation in the search results, instead of them just seeing the negative press.

Customer Service

A blog is another method of engaging with your potential customers. It may be a good idea to see what topics your competitors are blogging about and find out if their efforts are paying off. Research which subjects are getting the most positive attention, and incorporate them into your blogging strategy. This is also a great way to interact with your customers.

Be sociable, tell about yourself, create a community of satisfied visitors.

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This post was contributed by Korah Morrison, a writer for EssayWritingServices.com, a service that helps students to write essays of any complexity.