Social Media Success Story: How a Restaurant Earned Free Publicity on Twitter
Posted by Catherine Favazza - 07/15/09 at 08:07 amThe St. Louis business community now knows all about my family’s hugely successful catering order that coincided with the All-Star Game. Yes, it’s true that my pride in my father’s accomplishments spurred this a bit, but without social media–and Twitter, specifically–his story would never have been told.
When I checked my RSS reader Monday morning, I saw a BusinessWeek article about the economic boost the All-Star Game is bringing to St. Louis. It caught my eye because I’m from St. Louis and because I knew about the event’s boost to my own family’s business. I tweeted:
That message was then re-tweeted by the mayor of St. Louis (follow him: @MayorSlay), without the link to the original story that caught my eye. Soon, a reporter from the St. Louis Business Journal had contacted my family to discuss the details.
This is the new way news happens now. Because of my Tweet, the St. Louis Business Journal reported later that afternoon about my family’s business, Favazza’s Restaurant, received a major subcontract deal for the All-Star Game:
Favazza’s restaurant and catering was called on to provide three days of box lunches as a subcontractor for Sportservice at Busch Stadium and the Edward Jones Dome to meet demand for All-Star Game preparations.
Delaware North’s Sportservice needed a local caterer to help fill food service needs at Busch Stadium for the press and several groups through the St. Louis Cardinals, said John Favazza, part of the restaurant’s family ownership.
Then a few days ago, Sportservice at the Dome asked for help serving 650 police, firefighters and volunteers on duty for the event, Favazza said.
In the end, my parents, brothers, other family members and staff prepared food for 6,700 people, in one of the largest catering orders of my father’s 30+ year career, valued between $45,000 and $50,000.
During the Home Run Derby on Monday night, I tweeted a link to the Business Journal article and Bernie Miklasz, top sportswriter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a frequent customer of Favazza’s, replied: “@KatieFavazza That means I just had one of your roast beef sandwiches… it was good. thank you!”
I saved a Twitter account for my dad months ago and have been talking to him about using it for the restaurant; now, I have a feeling he might be convinced. To all my St. Louis readers and fans of Italian food, please follow @Favazzas in anticipation of forthcoming Tweets.
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July 15th, 2009 at 10:43 am
[...] All of you know how much I adore social media. The connections, the conversations, the possibilities. And when moments like this happen, it is even sweeter: This story was originally shared on Catherine Favazza.com. [...]
July 15th, 2009 at 11:50 am
They got free publicity AFTER THE FACT? Just to clarify, the “Twitter Notice” had NOTHING to do with GETTING the all-star game contract, but was just a follow up article that may or may not lead to follow up business.
So now people KNOW about a big order – so what? How about GENERATING some big orders. There’s a magnitude of difference between the two actions.
ROI, people, ROI. This is not a Twitter economic success story by any measure, it’s just a tiny blip of P.R. Newby Social Media fans, PLEASE. A Twitter success for business = Twitter brings MONEY or ORDERS to the firm. Pure and simple.
You shouldn’t be “adoring” social media, anymore than you “adore” radio, tv, magazine ads, or direct mail. They all should be tool to bring you ROI. ROI is what you should “adore”. Please, businesses contact me to discuss how to deploy, measure and MAKE MONEY with social media, not just gossip about things with your friends.
July 16th, 2009 at 2:56 am
[...] Read the original here: Social Media and Public Relations Succ&#… [...]
July 16th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Paul, I’m glad you commented because it is not often enough that someone comments and vehemently disagrees with me.
You are correct: in this instance, social media didn’t help my family’s business get the gig. However, there is still an incredible value to getting free publicity and generating a little buzz, which I did online to my own social network. (There is a significant distinction between sharing interesting information and insights on Twitter and gossiping about things with friends, and I might write another post on that subject.)
Because I shared this information with my social network, and it was shared again by the mayor of St. Louis (who, by the way, isn’t one of my “gossiping friends”), this “gossip” as you say was publicized to the business community of St. Louis–the very kinds of people who themselves seek large catering services. The community’s knowledge of this gig adds even more credibility to my family’s long-established restaurant.
It’s also significant because Favazza’s is in a “Little Italy” section of St. Louis called “The Hill” that has about 30 Italian restaurants within a 12-or-so block radius. Getting this gig sets Favazza’s apart within the neighborhood, crowded with what outsiders might think are restaurants that are all the same.
If no one knew about the gig, the value of it would end when the money earned was spent. Now, because more people know about this achievement and will patronize the restaurant or catering services, the value of the gig–the ROI, if you want–can continue to grow.
Also, as a technicality, I never said that I “adore” social media. That comment was made by my colleague and friend Kirsten Wright on her own blog. She and I have both made money and acquired opportunities because of social media and if you’d like to discuss that more, I’m sure she–like me–would be interested in talking about that.
I hope if you’re ever in St. Louis you’ll stop in Favazza’s.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
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