Social Media Success for NYC Burger Chain

Tom Galis is not a vitriolic man. But comments by the founder and owner of New York-based burger chain Goodburger in a February interview swayed some opinions in that direction.

"Oh, don’t get me started," he told the website Burger Business in response to a question regarding the importance of online bloggers and social media forums, such as Yelp. "It’s a forum for the average consumer or wanna-be food critics to give their opinions. It gets out of control, you know? I say they should only be read with a grain of salt, so to say. … Let’s just leave it that they shouldn’t be taken very seriously."

Galis sighed when asked about that comment, knowing he hadn’t expressed himself properly. He does not think such forums are unimportant; he personally responds to nearly every Yelp review written about a Goodburger chain. He’s genial and easy-going, not bitter, in conversation.

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"I think it’s very important to engage and I want to hear what [the customers] have to say," Galis said. "We’ve actually made some minor tweaks to our menu as a result."

For one negative review – "officially the worst burger place in the world" – he apologized, offering to replace the food if the reviewer ever is dissatisfied again. In other situations, he promised to speak to management about each specific issue.

Galis’ decided to actively expand Goodburger’s social media presence several months ago by hiring AMP3 Public Relations, a New York-based PR firm. Together they designed a "comprehensive gameplan," as Galis put it, to target Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare users. Galis saw the importance of social media as three-fold: engage new and current customers, generate customer loyalty and provide accurate information for public forums.

Goodburger interacts daily with its roughly 10,000 Facebook fans – up from 7,000 prior to the "gameplan" – running t-shirt giveaways, commenting and posting pictures. On Foursquare, all users get a free order of fries for every fifth check-in to a Goodburger. Each Goodburger location’s mayor (the Foursquare user with the most check-ins) is granted a free burger for every Monday check-in. Goodburger has also nearly doubled its Twitter followers in the same time span.

In a crowded burger market increasingly dominated by more nationally-prominent chains like Five Guys and Shake Shack, Galis thought it essential to raise Goodburger’s profile through social media engagement.

And now the efforts led to updates in the Goodburger menu, with customer feedback through social media channels a "definite contributing factor," Galis said. An ounce of meat got added to the patty, crispy leaf lettuce replaced iceburg, thicker-cut Roma tomatoes replaced standard 5 x 6 tomatoes – "A nicer balance between the bun, burger and toppings," Galis called it.

"Now our burger has the flavor appeal and the value appeal," he said, a respose to a recurring complaint on Yelp that Goodburger is too pricey. Galis used his newly-formed blog to compile a Goodburger, Shake Shack, Five Guys and Schnipper’s cost comparison, showing Goodburger to be comparable in price to all three. Updated weekly, Galis’ blog also features behind-the-scenes burger production video and riffs on burger grilling techniques.

"[Our promotions] brought in some new customers who ended up becoming loyal customers," Galis said. "Social media got them in the door, and we rely on our product to keep them coming back."