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Delicious event marketing lessons from Taste of the Gaslamp

June 15, 2012

I have Social Media to thank for so many of my adventures! But even when I’m having fun, my marketing mind is running with ideas on how businesses can effectively market themselves. Like the time when social media gave me the opportunity to participate in an epic shopping spree @nordstrom_rack. I then took my event experience and shared tips for utilizing social media for event marketing. And the time I was able to enjoy a gorgeous day on the San Diego Harbor sampling the finest food and wine because a Twitter contact knew I would love and share this event based on my posts about food and food porn. They demonstrated effective blogger outreach. Oh and I can’t forget the time @TomGarfinkel, COO of the San Diego @Padres  gifted me VIP treatment during a  Padres game through Twitter. It was a fantastic gesture of fan appreciation!

Those are just a few of my social media adventures and last weekend was no exception! During the week I checked my Twitter feed and I see an update from @DiningOutSD about winning tickets for Taste o f the Gaslamp. I click on the link and am directed to a Facebook contest they’re hosting.

“1st to post an “I love Gaslamp dining” haiku wins a pair of tix to Taste of Gaslamp this wknd! We will also give a pair of tix to the best haiku”.

I honesty could not remember the exact rules for a haiku. I knew it had something to do with 3 lines and and a certain number of syllables. I couldn’t count on winning through having the “best” haiku so instead of spending more time looking up exactly what a “haiku” was I just took my best shot and posted an update hoping to be first. I hit the “share” button and my haiku that I’m still not even sure is a haiku was the first comment and won me 2 tickets to food paradise!

I love using photos to share my event experiences so here are a few delicious photos. One of my favorite savory tastes was from Barleymash. They had refreshing ceviche on a crunchy cucumber. Trust me, when you’re going to 30 different restaurants, it’s nice to eat something light. It was also great to see restaurants like Burger Lounge be extremely generous by offering full burgers!

Barleymash- White fish citrus ceviche

Barleymash- White fish citrus ceviche

Blue Point Coastal Cuisine- Sea bass ceviche on seasame crackers

Blue Point Coastal Cuisine- Sea bass ceviche on seasame crackers

I definitely have a sweet tooth and there were a plethora of dessert options at many of the restaurants. My favorite sweet taste was gelato from Cremelose. I sincerely appreciated Cremelose being accommodating when I told them I wanted to avoid dairy. All of their “taste” options had dairy but they had no problem letting me try a dairy-free flavor. Other restaurants that were extremely accommodating to food allergies during the event were Rockin’ Baja Lobster and Hooters so kudos to them.

Cremelose- Wild Strawberry Gelato

Cremelose- Wild Strawberry Gelato

There were  interactive activities at Taste of the Gaslamp too! Exclusive Collections, a fine arts gallery in the Gaslamp had a live artist painting photos of chefs from the different restaurants participating in Taste of the Gaslamp. They also had a  display with the cutest food related art. My favorite non-edible treat from Taste of the Gaslamp is by far the TangelOMMM from Exclusive Collections.

Exclusive Collections Gallery- TangelOMMMM

Exclusive Collections Gallery- TangelOMMMM

The event was 3 hours long  from 1-4pm. By 4pm, I noticed people stumbling from being so full! I did a great job at pacing myself, not eating every single thing from every restaurant, avoiding gluten which is extremely filling and avoiding dairy which prompts indigestion.  People saw my “Taste Card” and they were extremely impressed at how many stops I was able to make! I visited almost every single stop and truly felt like I tasted all of the Gaslamp.

The Gaslmap has been tasted!

The Gaslmap has been tasted!

So now that you’ve had a glimpse of my Taste of the Gaslamp experience, I have a few tips for businesses who participate in events that drive traffic to their location. Of all the 30+ restaurants that participated, only a handful invested any effort into retaining me as a customer. If you are a business who is going to invest time and money iton an event, you absolutely need to have a strategy to monetize from your efforts. I have 3 simple tips for you to incorporate into your next event.

1. Collect Emails– Only ONE restaurant bothered to collect emails addresses from attendees! Email marketing allows you to directly target people who have actively signed up to receive your updates. Heavenly Cupcakes collected emails through hosting a contest. If you submitted your email, you were entered to win free cupcakes. I recommend emailing a follow up to everyone who attends your event a thank you and to start building a relationship for any future email marketing you do with them. It was a delicious and smart idea for Heavenly Cupcakes to collect emails. (Heavenly Cupcakes also has a Cupcake Mascot that you’ll find roaming the Gaslamp at times)

Heavenly Cupcakes Mascot

Heavenly Cupcakes Mascot

2. A reason to return-  Create an offer or discount, exclusive to event  that encourage attendees to return. This tip is very similar to one I shared on how to attract loyal customers with daily deals. A discount may not be right for every type of restaurant and it’s important not to devalue your food. However, if done strategically, discounting does help drive traffic back to your location. Burger Lounge gave out $5 gift certificates to all attendees. Hardly anything on their menu is $5 but it’s a good enough discount to encourage people to come back and buy something.  Probably only 4 or 5 restaurants did something similar to encourage people to return with offers such as a free appetizer or free dessert.

3. Connect with attendees on Social Media- Many people attending your events are on their phones tweeting, sharing their experience on Facebook and checking in on Foursquare, etc. Reach out to people who have mentioned you on their social networks. This really personalizes someone’s experience and puts you at top of mind when someone has visited 20 other locations. I only had one restaurant connect with me on Social Media regarding Taste of the Gaslamp. @BarleymashSD retweeted the photo I posted at their spot. I thanked them and they also replied to my thanks!

Barleymash Tweet

Well there you have it! I had a delicious time at Taste of the Gaslamp, discovered so many new restaurants that I want to go back to and trust that I was able to offer a few valuable marketing tips based on my experience from attending the event.

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