Communication has always been a real challenge for those who wanted to be close to customers and potential customers online. With numerous articles and opinions on how this new-age conversation should or should not take place, it’s no wonder that many businesses screw it up. Let’s not forget about trends, new platforms and apps launched in recent years, we can even narrow it down to the last few months, which can be a hassle for a marketer at times.

The online communication plan is made according to the specifics of the business. Because of this, not all the news should be applied, because a Snapchat account may not work if the target audience is 40 years old on average. Just as formal messages will never catch on with a group of young people. And as the icing on the cake comes the fact that most business owners confuse online communication with Facebook. As an excuse for them, I’ll also say that many marketers confuse online communication with Facebook, so it’s acceptable to a certain extent.

The HORECA sector is one where beginner mistakes are most easily seen. Over 50%, to be a median percentage, of the Facebook pages in this field, which I have personally seen, have the same type of content: references to different pages on the site, endlessly repeating the services and benefits offered and, where appropriate, mentions of tourist attractions or points of interest around the business. They also have some interesting pictures that gather a few more likes, and at this point that coherent communication that everyone tends to ends.

Offline? Not online?

Taking them one at a time, I can say that the first step towards conquering this unknown of online is done even before going online, without a doubt. It matters that all the details align perfectly, just like the planets for a lucky day. The quality of the services offered and the kindness of the staff can be proven beyond the perfect photos and texts on Facebook or website or any other platform. Reviews don’t lie, and they’re within the reach of anyone with a phone in their hand. Come on, some may be liars, “written by the competition“, but if a customer arrives at the counter, wants to order food and sees Miss French Fries Wizzard filing her nails on top of the food, she will surely miss the opportunity of a lifetime to eat the best fries in the universe.

Website

Now that we understand that offline is part of online communication, we can move on to another important part.

Nobody says that a website is cheap. Well, maybe freelancers in India or the platforms where YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN WEBSITE SAY IT. If your business is part of the category of those who do not need an imaginary presence on a server in the States, please skip to the next section, generically called Facebook.

This group of web pages costs money. Online presence costs money, no matter how you look at it. The competition pays money to have that beautiful website, which often has unnecessary background music and italic and calligraphic fonts. Although, many times, due to lack of time or communication (ironically, right?) the brief and analysis stage is skipped, it should not be passed on if the team that does the web development and/or design does not actually understand the needs of the business. Of course, in the end the site will be unfinished or with far too many errors. Plus, it may not have content folded into the language of the target group, licensed photos will be missing, and call-to-actions will turn into bye-bye-actions.

Facebook & Lots of Other Ways to Communicate

Facebook is still regarded as the main online communication channel for businesses. Eh, Twitter didn’t catch on with us. Instagram is starting to grow nicely, but that’s for millennials, Snapchat still seems like a ghost for businesses in Romania, and the rest are forgotten like the wedding dress boards on Pinterest after the wedding.

Here I return to the analysis. An online communication strategy without a minimum analysis of the market does not have its pillars. It’s just like building a workspace without certain resistance pillars. At some point a crack would occur somewhere, and the building would collapse. Simple. It also applies in communication.

Based on that analysis, the right communication channels for the business and their approach are established. I won’t touch the part where I say what should be posted on them, because there are thousands of variables that influence this process. Maybe another time.

In addition to Facebook, there is another term that is often on everyone’s lips: SEO. SEO may have solved it a few years ago before Google launched its two good friends Panda and Penguin, but nowadays SEO is done with a head and does not mean only links received from other sites, with or without authority. Eh, but SEO also sells, sells the services of marketers and marketers. Behind this powerful acronym are a few hours of work, research, some real collaborations, reviews, banners, naturally inserted links, videos, creation, production, excellence, quality, metas, photos and another ~200 factors.

Oh, and I was about to forget about Branding, email marketing, native advertising and other types of communication that at the moment intentionally escape me. All these are ways in which the customer has contact with the business.

Instead of conclusion

I have to admit that for me at one point I also found it overwhelming. Too many channels, too little money, misunderstandings and different opinions. Businesses in the HORECA area need a serious and immediate face-lift . Pictures of cats are losing ground to the people behind the businesses. Stories, emotions and truth sell better than ever. And with so many platforms at your fingertips, it’s hard to miss. The only thing left is coherence, which remains just as difficult to coordinate.