The future is social media - and you have to be on it

There was a time before social media. Some of you may remember those halcyon days. It may be a bit like remembering a time before smartphones.

Marketing online was simple - get an attractive website with a couple of PDFs of drinks and food menus. Maybe add a map for directions. And that was it. A one-off marketing spend like a leaflet through a local letterbox.

Then Web 2.0 blew everything up. Review sites, customers tweeting their experiences of visiting your pub, facebook pages, instagram, Pinterest...and it has not even been a decade since most of these social platforms launched.

It is now impossible for licensees to avoid the swarm of social commentary about their venues. But it still alarms me how many pubs are being discussed in these channels that do not have any social presence, and think just having a pretty website that ranks well on search engines is enough for them.

Sadly, it isn't - and it will damage your business to think that way.

Google doesn't care about your website anymore - it will deliver all the details about your venue on its results page: a map, general information, images and reviews. This is part of Google's movement away from delivering users with referrals to websites and offering a direct answer instead. Basically, no more hits for your site.

And, far more importantly, potential customers don't care about your website. They want to discover 'the truth' about your venue...enter social reviewing.

Not having a digital voice, which is engaged with your customers, is like allowing someone to stand with a loudspeaker in the car park outside your pub, protesting to every potential person that might walk in the door. 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There are still so many licensees who don't respond to TripAdvisor reviews or outraged customers on Twitter or questioning Facebook fans...this wall of silence is damaging your business, right now.

But the answer isn't difficult - all you need for success is a smartphone to ensure you always have access to social media, and making sure you approach customers online in the same way that you would if they were in your pub.

You have the skills and the tools to promote your pub. And the best promoter and marketer of your venue is you, the licensee. This is something you cannot farm off to a third-party - and the public expect you to be at the front door both literally and online. 

And the Publican's Morning Advertiser​ is here to assist you in this goal. In the coming weeks and months, there will be a series of digital features and comment pieces from across the industry, including a detailed survey of the top issues for licensees in the digital world and a series of comment pieces from our partners on this issue, Heineken.

These guidance pieces will detail how to make the most of the digital world - and most importantly, we want you, the licensees to get involved.

Use #DigiPub on Twitter and contact me at james.evison@wrbm.com with your issues, questions and stories. 

First up is our discussion with TripAdvisor, Sky and FlyPay at our MA300 event in Newcastle. If you are a multiple operator, you can still attend this crucial forum by contacting jo.horton@wrbm.com or calling 01293 610403. 

If not, you can still get involved in the discussion by tweeting #DigiPub to @morningad on Twitter with your questions to our experts - and all the information from the event will appear online.

The future is social...so let's get on it together.