Social networks have invaded our personal and professional lives. But what uses do bartenders make of them in 2023? To find out, ForGeorges, in collaboration with Social Shake by Bacardi Martini France, interviewed three French bartenders with different perspectives to understand and uncover their secrets. Today, it's Camille Thouin, owner of the Code Bar in Strasbourg, who explains her strategy.
Your establishment, the Code Bar, is present on which social networks?
From the beginning, we created a Facebook account. A little later, we opened an Instagram page, but it was only really taken over a few years ago.
Are these tools that have been important for making you known to your clientele?
It's a tool that has mainly allowed me to show what we do at the Code Bar to the rest of France, and more specifically to Paris. Without it, we would have remained under cover.
For the clientele, it's more the quality of what we offer that has helped us to be known: the friendliness, the welcome, the attention to detail during service, the research and development on cocktails, and the wide choice of spirits that we offer.
We have always had this positioning of being a mix between a palace bar and a nightclub. I am extremely rigorous about service rituals with codes established by luxury hotels, but in a relaxed way with music, humor, etc.
Are you succeeding in translating that through social networks?
I don't think so, because we're talking about feelings. Social networks allow people to say 'hey, I want to see what that's like'. It's visual, you can play with textures, colors, and glassware to create a marketed product, to arouse desire.
But the quality of service and the atmosphere are on another level, something we'll never manage to convey through images. I have this issue in terms of communication: I work with photographers and videographers, but when I see the result, I think it's not the Code Bar. And I don't think we'll ever get there, because we're not a nightclub, with its associated codes. It's a moment that is experienced, and you can't explain it through a photo or a video.
For content creation, how do you manage that part?
I have two master's degrees. One in business management and one in communication and marketing, so I handle that part myself, but it's hell for me even though we have content and information to convey. I've always been reluctant about excessive communication. I know it's essential in 2023. So, we're thinking about finding an independent person to manage this part: tracking stats, knowing when to post, with what targeting, and maintaining graphical cohesion to have a beautiful, coherent, and interesting Instagram presence.
How much time do you spend on it?
I operate on a media plan: when we release a cocktail, we have all the cocktails shot by a photographer.
I pester my teams to create content, but they don't care. They much prefer spending 45 minutes on a clear Milk cocktail than spending the same amount of time taking a beautiful photo with the right angle and lighting. In terms of personality, we don't have any star bartenders, or people living a second digital life. They thrive in real life but don't share it on social media.
So when I see that we haven't posted anything for 5 to 6 days, we take a photo and post it immediately. That's pretty much how it goes. But overall, we communicate poorly: for example, we've had many very good placements in bartender competitions in the past, but we never communicated about it. Whereas it energizes the establishment and the person, and it therefore creates a virtuous cycle. We should have understood the benefit of social media positioning much earlier.
And regarding the budget?
It changes all the time, from month to month. When it brings us a benefit, we invest money, otherwise not. We do occasional social media sponsorships, but I feel like I'm begging for likes when I do that... even though I understand the benefit of being visible on social media.
Have you ever tried video?
That's my focus for communication in 2023, because I really want to do it. But in Strasbourg, I can't find the right people who master the subject, without asking me exorbitant sums, and who understand what we're looking for.
What is your strategy for stories?
I wasn't raised on social media, so I'm not very good at using the tool. I'm a bit of an old fuddy-duddy: I discovered how to make a GIF six months ago! So I repost what people post in their stories. Otherwise, we do a succession of photos with information during our guest appearances, but there's no real strategy.
With what equipment?
We do it on our phones. We're not equipped with super equipment that would allow us to take magnificent shots...
Since the advent of social media, has your way of creating cocktails evolved?
No, we are open seven days a week, from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. The menu is influenced by the interaction with the customer you have daily. Then, we show it on social media, because it's not Instagram that pays the rent. The customer is at the center of our establishment, and of the reflection on the creation of menus. We don't make cocktails so that someone from Kuala Lumpur likes our photo! He's not the one who will come to drink at the bar.
What benefits do you get from being on social media?
It gives me visibility and credibility in the market. We are in a political environment that has repercussions on competitions, rankings, invitations, and even subsidies. The market favors people who have the most buzz on social media. To paraphrase Sacha Guitry, "whether for good or bad, the important thing is that people talk about you." Today, that's still relevant.
Do social media serve as a link with your customers?
We are contacted through this channel by foreigners who want to make reservations. We are now in the Top500 Bars. French people don't care about it, but Germans, Swiss, Luxembourgers, and Americans are more sensitive to these rankings. But the real connection with customers is really when they are at the bar.
What is your relationship with other platforms like Trip Advisor?
We have been number 1 on Trip Advisor in Strasbourg since 2014, and on Google, we have an average of 4.9 out of 500 reviews. I often ask myself, why should I bother communicating, even if it's very egocentric to think that customers will come to your bar just because of that...
Tik Tok, Twitch, do you follow what's happening?
The proliferation of all these networks is a nightmare to manage. But I find these new platforms cool for independent guys. Not for an establishment. There could be an interest for contests or an event, otherwise, I don't see the point for a bar.
For Tik Tok, I think one of my young employees created one for the bar two years ago for fun. There must be a post on it... If you start going on these platforms, you have to play the game to the fullest with the codes associated with them. It takes a crazy amount of time and you would almost always have to have a phone in your hand!
If social networks were to disappear, what would change for your business?
How wonderful that would be! It would be the advent of the human being!
I'm lucky to have a bar with very little network. It's always been said: here you are forced to talk to the person next to you. I don't think it would change much for the longevity of my business, but we would be more on our own. And we would surely have fewer guests from all over Europe.
