Commentary

Can someone please explain to me why so many Little Rock restaurants continue to resist implementing social media into their marketing plan? I wrote about this issue last year, and sadly, not much has changed for the better.

Having an adequate website, along with maintaining a strong presence on Twitter and Facebook, are absolutely essential for a restaurant these days. But why aren’t most places doing all three? Is it a lack of awareness/knowledge, outright laziness, or a combination of both? Whatever the reason(s), it seems many places throughout the Little Rock area are missing a golden opportunity to increase exposure and potentially sales (at a fairly low cost).

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

Here are some establishments who seem to be handling their social media business quite well.

Mugs Café: The fairly new café in NLR maintains a clean, simple, and beautiful website. This certainly echoes the vibe you get when having a cup of coffee inside Mugs. And although Twitter and Facebook follower numbers are still somewhat low, due in large part to its newness, Mugs regularly updates both mediums with messages and pictures. I suspect these figures will rise steadily in the future.

Hot Dog Mike: I couldn’t stand that ridiculous “Until We Meet Again” campaign (fueled in large part by social media) and I wasn’t a fan of his Kickstarter (not big on any business doing it), but there is absolutely no denying his social media magic. Dude has 6,400 Facebook followers and just as many on Twitter. He’s constantly posting location updates and pictures, as well as interacting on a regular basis with his legion of fans. Hot Dog Mike’s website reads more like a blog roll, but that’s really splitting hairs…it’s there and serves its purpose.

South on Main Brings It

South on Main: The coolest spot in Little Rock has only been in existence for a few months, but is there any other restaurant doing a better job on social media? No. Hell, they’ve almost reached 4,000 Facebook fans, an insane number in such a short period of time. SoM’s Twitter numbers are much lower, but they do an excellent job of going back and forth with the followers they do have, many of which are avid local foodies. With a gorgeous website, excellent musical event promotions, and fantastic food pics, it’s easy to see why South on Main is currently king.

Big Orange: Right up there in the social media world with SoM, Big Orange has an elite, user-friendly website, equipped with testimonials and pictures, as well as solid numbers on both Twitter and Facebook. Both accounts, Big Orange West and Big Orange Midtown, excel at promoting events, specials, and giveaways, while also exhibiting a warmth towards customers.

The Southern Gourmasian: This is Little Rock’s #1 food truck, due in large part to Chef Patterson’s creatively tasty creations, but also because of a consistent social media presence. The numbers won’t jump out at you, but followers can always expect regular locations updates, along with a well-maintained website. I wish chef would engage his loyal fans more often on Twitter, but it’s understandable why he doesn’t. I can only imagine how difficult and time-consuming it is to run a food truck.

Notes on some other spots worth mentioning:

Waffle Wagon: Fairly new food truck in town. Great on Twitter—funny and really engages followers. Growing Facebook presence. No website, but not absolutely crucial.

The Pantry: Continues to do a solid job…would enjoy more tweets.

Local Lime: Wait, no website? What’s the deal with that? Great on Twitter, always quick to respond.

The Faded Rose: One of the better Facebook accounts in Little Rock. Adequate website. Technically, they have a Twitter account (almost never updated).

What are you thoughts on my list? Agree or disagree? Any major omissions? Would love to know.