Yankelovich says the average consumer is exposed to over 5,000 ad messages a day. Most of us reflexively ignore a large percentage of them.
What we do pay attention to are posts from our friends on social media. Including, no surprise here, posts about their restaurant experiences and recommendations.
Octothorpe+ builds restaurant recommendations apps and plugins.
Activated in your restaurant, the app instantly rewards your loyal customers for taking a branded on-premise selfie, and sharing their "awesome" restaurant experience and "You have to try this place!" recommendation to all their friends on social media.
According to restaurantbusiness.com, word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family have the greatest impact on choosing a restaurant: 53% of consumers rely on this tried-and-true method.
Given the "average" social network size of the "average" social media user, that's an average of 500+ friend-to-friend recommendations per customer.
Customer recommendations work hand in hand with your advertising. They validate what your advertising says, the "social proof" that turns prospects into new customers.