Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry™
2013 Digital and Social Media Guide
for Restaurants
In order for the Dine Out for No Kid Hungry to be a success and meet our collective goals, it will require us to utilize
all of our assets to raise awareness of the event. In that spirit, we have prepared the following online guide that
demonstrates how to promote your participation in the event throughout your online platforms. Below you will
find tips on how to incorporate your involvement in the Dine Out For No Kid Hungry into your website, your email
communications, your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your YouTube channel and any location based social
networks (Foursquare, Facebook Places etc.). Let’s get started and thanks for doing your part to ensure there is no
kid hungry in America!
KEY ACTIVATION DATES FOR 2013
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Summer through mid-September: Announce your involvement in Dine Out For No Kid Hungry and your
promotion details. Engage your audience by asking them to take the No Kid Hungry Pledge and commit to
coming to your restaurant during the week of September 15.
September 10: Blog to invite your community to participate in the Dine Out.
September 15-21: Dine Out for No Kid Hungry! Encourage people to dine with you this week!
September 16: twEAT OUT to drive consumers into participating restaurants at the beginning of the week.
Post-Dine Out: Celebrate your brand’s successful promotion and thank diners for participating.
Your Website
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Include the No Kid Hungry logo, a banner ad, a No Kid Hungry pledge widget, and/or a blurb about the
program and your involvement on your website. You can find these materials in our Participant Resource
Center.
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Email Blasts
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Share the No Kid Hungry logo and a blurb about the program in your email messaging and remind readers
to save the date (September 15-21, 2013, or when you’re running your promotion) so they can make
plans to visit your restaurant during that time to support the No Kid Hungry campaign.
Here’s an email blast from O’ Charley’s. NOTE: Please use the No Kid Hungry logos this year, not the Dine
Out For No Kid Hungry logos. You can find them in the Participant Resource Center.
Facebook
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The easiest way to activate on Facebook: Hit the “share” button on status updates about Dine Out For No
Kid Hungry found at Facebook.com/NoKidHungry.
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Be sure to “like” No Kid Hungry at Facebook.com/NoKidHungry
If you have already “liked” No Kid Hungry (see above) you can tag the page in your status updates by
putting the “@” symbol in front of our name.
Be sure to include status updates about your Dine Out For No Kid Hungry promotion as your promotion
window approaches. Remind your fans that you are a part of this event and encourage them to dine with
you and to check out www.DineOutForNoKidHungry.org for more information. A map, searchable by zip
code, is also available on the website, providing a comprehensive database of participating restaurants
that can be referenced if traveling or to share with friends in different cities.
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Add a No Kid Hungry Pledge tab to your Facebook fan page:
o
Login to Facebook as an administrator or your company's fan page.
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o
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Click this
link: https://www.facebook.com/dialog/pagetab?app_id=185032388290085&next=http://nokid
hungry.org.
o When prompted, select your company's Facebook fan page and select the "Add to Page" option.
To see an example of one of these tabs, please visit Facebook.com/NoKidHungry and click on the Take the
Pledge button below the cover image.
You may also consider launching an “event” for your promotion on your Facebook page, inviting your fans
to RSVP periodically leading up to your promotion.
Twitter
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The easiest way to activate on Twitter: Retweet messages about Dine Out For No Kid Hungry from
http://twitter.com/nokidhungry.
Follow Dine Out for No Kid Hungry (@DineOutNKH) on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DineOutNKH.
Follow Share Our Strength (@nokidhungry) on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nokidhungry.
To mention Dine Out For No Kid Hungry or Share Our Strength in a tweet, include @DineOutNKH or
@nokidhungry (include the @symbol).
We recommend using the hashtag #NoKidHungry whenever possible. For example: So excited to be part
of the 2013 @DineOutNKH for #NoKidHungry!
We also ask that you promote the Dine Out For No Kid Hungry website whenever possible so that diners
can find a participating restaurant in their area. The URL is http://DineOutForNoKidHungry.org.
On September 16, participate in the Dine Out twEAT OUT, a one-day social media blitz designed to drive
the public into participating restaurants. Last year’s twEAT OUT was a huge success, resulting in more
than 10,000 tweets and causing the event to trend in some markets. Engage your customers and
employees in the twEAT OUT!
Sample Tweets and Facebook Posts:
These examples are written for Twitter, but can be easily adapted for Facebook. For the purpose of these
examples, we have not shortened the URLs as you would typically do for Twitter, so that you can see the
destination URLs. The URLs can be easily shortened using a URL shortener like http://bit.ly/.
May 5 through September 1: Building Momentum to Dine Out For No Kid Hungry
 Join us in taking the #NoKidHungry pledge; Help end child hunger in America! http://nokidhungry.org
 Save the date: @DineOutNKH is coming Sept 15-21! Get ready to Dine Out with us!
 Fellow restaurants! We’ve registered! Will you? www.dineoutfornokidhungry.org #NoKidHungry
September 15-21: Dine Out Week!
 We’re proud to be supporting @DineOutNKH. Support the causing by dining with us this week!
www.DineOutforNoKidHungry.org
 Ditch the dishes! @DineOutNKH and help end childhood hunger in America.
www.DineOutforNoKidHungry.org
 Make meal time family time by dining out together & fighting hunger at the same time!
www.DineOutforNoKidHungry.org
 Help us help hungry kids. @DineOutNKH with us this week! #NoKidHungry
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September 23nd and Beyond: Thanking Those Who Dined Out
 A giant THANK YOU to those of you who supported #NoKidHungry and dined with us last week.
 Thank you to all who participated in @DineOutNKH last week! Continue the fight by taking the
#NoKidHungry pledge http://NoKidHungry.org
 Our restaurant raised $[fill in the amount you raised] to help @Nokidhungry @DineOutNKH thanks to
YOU!!
YouTube and Utilizing Video
If your company has a YouTube presence or another channel through which you utilize video, we would love to
work with you on using that resource to promote Dine Out For No Kid Hungry. Videos do not have to be highly
polished in order to be effective. In fact, some of the most well received videos are shot with low-cost cameras.
Here are six ideas for videos you could create in conjunction with your Dine Out For No Kid Hungry promotion:
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A video that encourages viewers to ask their favorite restaurants to join you in Dine Out For No Kid
Hungry this fall by going to http://dineoutfornokidhungry.org.
A video that speaks to the fact that you will be participating this fall and asks individuals to join you in
your commitment by taking the No Kid Hungry pledge at http://nokidhungry.org.
A video featuring someone from your restaurant that encourages them to come in during your
promotion.
A video featuring your staff or managers that explains your promotion and the cause.
A video shot during Dine Out For No Kid Hungry that features customers talking about the cause and
having a good time.
A video thanking diners who joined you during the week of September 15.
Example of a video from 2011 Dine Out For No Kid Hungry:
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Amanda Hite shot a video inviting individuals to participate in the event:
http://youtu.be/yVgW_8m3dMQ.
Instagram
If your company is looking for a fun and creative way to share your Dine Out For No Kid Hungry experience, check
out Instagram. Instagram is a fun & quirky way to share your life with friends (and customers) through a series of
pictures. Once you take a picture, you can add a digital filter making it timeless and unique.
Here are some tips on how to use Instagram effectively:
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Snap a cool picture. Try to incorporate a No Kid Hungry sign or other material.
Add a fun/unique digital filter to your photo.
Share the photo on your Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Add the hashtag #NoKidHungry to the description of your photos
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Pinterest
Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based
image collections such as events, interests, hobbies and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration,
’re-pin' images to their own collections and/or 'like' photos. Pinterest's mission is to "connect everyone in the
world through the 'things' they find interesting" via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing. Share your
Dine Out For No Kid Hungry experience and encourage your customers to do the same! You can also repin No Kid
Hungry’s pins from Pinerest.com/NoKidHungry.
Checking-In To Your Restaurants:
Location Based Social Networks
Location based social networks are growing in popularity, with more of the general public becoming aware of the
leading networks: Foursquare, Facebook Places, Yelp, and Gowalla. The general idea is that users “check in” to a
location using their smartphones and then broadcast their location to friends.
This is useful for marketers on a number of fronts. Chiefly, it provides an opportunity to message to these
consumers through the location services themselves. Some of the services also provide a way for you to reward
those customers who check-in, via a promotion or coupon.
The ideas below outline how you can take advantage of these location based social networks to help drive
awareness of your Dine Out For No Kid Hungry promotion.
FOURSQUARE
Foursquare offers extensive content for merchants at https://foursquare.com/business/venues. Here is the basic
information you need in order to take advantage of Foursquare for your restaurant.
How-To Get Started on Foursquare
1.
Claim Your Business: In order to set up a promotion, you first have to Claim Your Business location. You
can start that process at https://foursquare.com/search. Search for your venue, on the business’s listing
click “Are you the manager of this business?” and proceed from there.
2.
Create a Special/Promotion For Your Business on Foursquare: Foursquare offers extensive information
about how to create a promotion for your restaurant (https://foursquare.com/business/venues). Here
are a few ideas for how you can create a promotion in conjunction with Dine Out For No Kid Hungry:
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A Check-In Special: Create a check-in special that notifies Foursquare users of your promotion
once they check-in.
o Example for a percent of sales promotion: It’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry week! Every
time you dine, all week long, 10% will be donated to end child hunger in the U.S.
o Example for Check-Ins for Donations: It’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry week! For every
check-in to our restaurant this week, we’ll donate $1, up to $10,000.
Swarm Special or a Friend Special: Encourage foursquare users to bring their friends during your
promotion week by offering a swarm special.
o Example: Check in with 4 or more friends during Dine Out For No Kid Hungry week and
[insert promotion].
How-To Promote and Track Your Special
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Promote It: Foursquare users will see your special on their phones when they’re nearby, driving awareness of
the fact that you’re offering a special promotion for Dine Out For No Kid Hungry.
Monitor the results: The Campaigns tab of the Manager Tools shows you exactly how many times your special
has been viewed and how many it’s been unlocked.
FACEBOOK PLACES
The set-up of Facebook Places is similar to that of Foursquare. Deeper information is available at
http://www.facebook.com/places/. The general idea is as follows:
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Create or Claim your restaurant in Places.
Create a Deal & Promotion once you have established yourself as the owner of the place. The deal
templates offered by Places are very similar to those on Foursquare, with the exception of a specific
“Charity Deal” that uses a template for a donation for every check-in to a charity of the restaurant’s
choosing.
YELP
Similar to the networks above, Yelp allows restaurants to feed messages to users who check-in at their locations.
For instance, those who check-in can receive a message about your Dine Out For No Kid Hungry promotion.
Information about how to get started is at https://biz.yelp.com/support.
Questions? Comments?
For more information regarding promoting your involvement in Dine Out For No Kid Hungry and Share Our
Strength’s No Kid Hungry month all September long via your social media platforms, please reach out to Ashley
Davis at adavis@strength.org or (202) 734-3534.
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