Pinterest is a new social media tool that can be used in your F&B operation. Since it is web-based, you can engage all your customers and far-flung global restaurants using this tool. In addition, you can create your own restaurant “group” on Pinterest for your managers and associates as a training and education device. For example, you can “pin” articles from trade magazines, any guest comments, new recipes with photos, etc., to share with your staff (anywhere in the world).
Think of Pinterest as a giant bulletin board for employees (and guests) to see. You can also engage all of your operations to share new recipes, marketing ideas, and guest comments, all in a very user-friendly and fun space on the Web.
You can even set up a Pinterest board for your guests to share photos of their visits, photos of menu items, and new recipes. The sky is the limit for using Pinterest as a free marketing tool and providing training and educational materials in your hotel F&B operation. I’ve included instructions below.
Instructions to use Pinterest for group learning in food and beverage operations:
The group board creator should have a list of all the members’ email addresses used to create the account. Make sure everyone has a history. Once the creator logs in, go to “Create a Board.” After filling in the Board Name, select a Board Category in the “Who can pin?” section and type in each member’s email address to invite them individually.
Other members should receive an invitation email, leading them to the group board to accept the invitation. After all the members have accepted the invitation, it’s time for pinning.
Everyone should scroll down to find the “Pin It” button and drag it to the browser toolbar. Then, when you see the article you want to pin, click the “Pin It” button on your browser toolbar and Pin the article’s picture. Remember to select the group board when pinning.
