Social media. It’s the thing everyone is talking about in the marketing industry. Restaurant marketing is by no means an exception, and surely you’ve heard plenty of sources of advice on how to use social media to make your restaurant the biggest money maker ever.

Unfortunately, social media marketing is no panacea for your restaurant. There are benefits and drawbacks. By and large your restaurant can stand to benefit from engaging your customers in social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. But there are consequences as well, most notably learning to deal with random, anonymous people who don’t have anything nice to say about you or your restaurant.

The best part about restaurant social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is that getting your message out there costs you nothing but time – a precious commodity to be sure, but a heck of a lot cheaper than a local newspaper ad or radio spot. Already many restaurants have employed clever strategies to engage customers and generate business for their restaurant online.

Apart from marketing, there’s another compelling reason to get your restaurant’s brand involved online: reputation management. Whether you like it or not, people are saying things about your restaurant in some sort of online forum. You’ll never be able to control what people are saying, but you can respond and engage, which will result in new relationships that can go a long way towards building your customer base.

A social media marketing campaign, if done right, can become an effective customer making machine. It’s not easy, and will require some work. But if the right strategies are employed, your restaurant stands to benefit.