The “Call to Action:” How Online Ordering Encourages Page Shares

We’ve all seen the desperate looking pleas: the almost begging, “please hit the ‘share’ button!” statuses and banners from small businesses. Whether it’s on social media platforms directly, or from your restaurant’s website, you, of course, want people to spread the word about your food and establishment on the internet. But how can you effectively encourage social media shares of your restaurant’s info, without getting drowned out by the litany of spam and ‘share’ requests from every other small business page? And why are social media shares so important to your restaurant in the first place? Read on for our thoughts on how good online ordering platforms encourage social media shares, and why you should care.

The ‘Share’ Phenomenon

For decades, restaurants that have operated without much of an advertising budget have relied on the word of mouth to spread information about their eateries, and the social media ‘share’ is only this crucial person to person recommendations latest manifestation. When social media users ‘share’ your restaurant page, they are endorsing your brand and food personally. Even more importantly, they are spreading your business’s info to their entire network, which is probably composed of a lot of individuals that would never see your posts otherwise. It’s obvious then why ‘shares’ of page material and restaurant info are so desireable to restaurant owners: every ‘share’ is a personal recommendation to a large platform, and these kinds of recommendations are likely to translate into sales. So how do you get shares?

Providing Value = Increased ‘Shareability’

If you really want social media users to ‘share’ your restaurant’s info, you should give them something in return. And for many customers, the perfect, convenient and relevant gift is the ability to order your food online. That’s why “calls to action” incorporated into your online ordering systems are some of the most effective ways that you can encourage page shares of your establishment on social media.

This is true because of a psychological trick: after ordering food, if a customer had a pleasant experience, they are more likely to respond positively to your ‘share’ requests because of the immediate association of your page with positivity. Once they submit an order for their favorite dish, a simple pop-up window with a call to action like “Share your Order on Facebook?” can instantly turn your customer into a foodie styled supporter, eager to share their experience. And by making it easy for users to share your page with a single click of a Facebook or Twitter button, your call to action will often translate into real shares. So subscribe to an online ordering service, incorporate a call to action, and watch your ‘share’ count spike.