Last week we spotlighted social media tips for Food Trucks in honor of the Vendy Awards. Now we’re back with news that will help restaurants – and diners – of all kinds. Location-based check-in social app and business directory, Foursquare, now allows users to perform local searches for specific menu items. Whether you’re craving spaghetti and meatballs for dinner or you have a hankering for ice cream after your meal, the app will now allow you to track down restaurants that serve your desired menu items.

What This Means for Businesses

This latest offering from Foursquare is yet another example of the importance of mobile and local strategies for restaurants. Combining the two with this new Foursquare featured provides an opportunity for your business to be found by the ideal guests: customers who are searching for dishes already on your menu! Don’t miss out on these promising users because you were not listed to be found. Explore and leverage each and every local and mobile opportunity that comes your way.

Get Your Menu Listed

Hopefully, you have already listed your business in Foursquare, not only because it helps local customers find you but also due to the fact that it provides a credible backlink to your site! If not, you should list your restaurant as soon as possible.

Once your restaurant is listed on Foursquare use SinglePlatform to post your menus. This service allows you to disseminate and manage your information for your website, including menus, hours, specials and more, across multiple platforms from one centralized listing. Current site listings updated through SinglePlatform include YP – which offers a similar type of menu search – urbanspoon, TripAdvisor, and Yelp, all popular sites with diners looking for great restaurant recommendations! Though there is an annual fee associated with the service, it more than makes up for the time savings and ability to share your menus across the web.

Ongoing Devotion to the Local & Mobile Movement

The one caveat to this incredible service: you have to be dedicated to its upkeep. Much like the need to update your menu on your website (and mobile site) as it changes, you will also need to keep it up to date on SinglePlatform. Leaving outdated information on the platform leads to disappointing customers who were looking forward to dishes you no longer serve, leaving a bad taste in their mouths. The good news? When you make changes in SinglePlatform, it will automatically update your listings on all of you associated listings, living up to its name.