As a restaurant, you know how important it is that you not only earn reviews on these sites to help you generate business, but that you use these reviews to improve your business.

One of the best ways to increase your online review activity is to incorporate your review sites with your social media strategy, and here’s how.

Use social to let the world know.

Even though review sites are popular, it’s likely that some of your customers may not know that they can leave an online review about your business. Use the power of social media to help promote the online review sites your company regularly uses. For example, put a post on Facebook with a link to Yelp (or whichever other site of your choice) and direct your followers to leave a review about your business. This way, your dedicated following will be able to see where to go to leave reviews.

Highlight great reviews.

If a customer recently left a wonderful review about your business, use it as a promotional tool on your social media platforms. For example, you can link directly to the great review on your Twitter or Facebook page, allowing your customers to not only learn about the review sites, but to also see all the wonderful reviews your company has earned. This just may entice them to leave a glowing review of their own.

Promote consistently.

If you use social media to highlight weekly or daily specials or discuss popular promotions for your restaurant, make sure that you do the same on your online review sites. These sites allow you to update your content regularly, and you can even pay for ad space on the site too. By keeping your information consistent among all of your channels, you’re ensuring that your visitors are finding the right information about your company no matter where they locate you.

Use online review sites to highlight social media.

Your online review sites allow you to add links to your website and social media platforms, so make sure that you do this. Adding these links will serve as backlinks for these sites, which will help to boost your SEO, but it also provides your visitors with different platforms they can use to find you.

Use it for case studies.

No matter how hard you try, you will come across a time when a customer (or two) leaves a negative review about your restaurant on your review site. It’s extremely important that you respond to this negative review in a timely fashion and that you apologize sincerely and make the situation right. This will help the customer feel better and may even entice them to give you a second chance (and if they enjoy your restaurant the next time, they may write a good review). Use these success stories from negative reviews and highlight them as case studies on your social platforms. For example, show your customers how you took a customer’s unhappy situation and made it better, or how you listened to a variety of similar complaints and made the necessary changes. This shows your customers that you listen to what they have to say and that you are willing to put in the effort to combat the negative reviews.

Images By: Sheffield Tiger – CC BY 2.0