On January 25, Einstein Bros. Bagels announced the launch of its “Free Bagel Bonanza”. Beginning yesterday, consumers who become fans of the Einstein Bros. Bagels Facebook page (www.facebook.com/einsteinbros) will receive a digital coupon valid for a free bagel and shmear.
By using this social media promotion, in just 24 hours, Einstein has gained thousands of new Facebook fans. Talk about the power of social media!
Social media has proved successful (at least to date) as a great new way to for a company to market its offerings. With most companies designing Facebook pages to look more like interactive websites, they are quickly learning the importance of creating a place to build relationships with current and future customers.
As I looked through my Facebook pages, I started to think about why I joined most of my pages. The answer became clear as I scrolled down and realized I am a “fan” of over twenty restaurant concepts. You may ask why I would become of fan of so many pages and the answer is simple – all of these pages offered me free food.
Free food has proven to be a successful way to gain new Facebook fans over the past several years. Shane’s Rib Shack hosted a four-month long series of Facebook and Twitter promotions that offered free food in exchange for becoming a fan of its page. This promotion gained new followers and gave customers a way to try many different items from Shane’s menu. Another concept, Stevi B’s Pizza used free pizza as a way to gain its first 1,000 fans. By offering a coupon for a free pizza buffet in exchange for becoming a fan, in less than 72 hours, Stevi B’s hit its 1,000 mark and continued to grow.
Besides the allure of yummy treats, there’s another reason that these campaigns tend to take off. For whatever reason, restaurant pages are some of the most popular pages on Facebook in the first place. As I found in The Big Money Facebook 50, people like to be affiliated with their favorite pizza, candy, and soda companies. So, when these companies kick off a promotion, it tends to make an even bigger splash.
All I know is all these pages are making me hungry. Today, I am eating my free four-cheese bagel with my lunch, and tomorrow the search begins for the next fan page to join.
By Kelly Ronna
