Online restaurant reviews are growing in influence! Spread the word about AllergyEats!

Marketing Daily recently published an article (linked here) referencing a dining survey conducted by Market Force Information. Though food allergies were not the focus, I couldn’t help but get excited about their data related to the influence of online restaurant reviews.

“About half [of restaurant patrons] now indicate that they sometimes read online reviews and blog and tweet about restaurants. In the past 30 days, almost one in two had read an online review, blogged or tweeted about a restaurant to get a recommendation.”

Why should you care? Because restaurant behavior continues to be dictated more and more by online reviews, such as those on AllergyEats!

“’Because of the long-term effects that recommendations have on a restaurant’s reputation, a one-point disaparity in a rating scale can spell the difference between real sales growth and a stagnant business,’ stresses Market Force CMO Janet Eden-Harris.”

One ratings point!

The article also mentions that 13% of diners had posted an online review after eating out in the last 30 days. That’s an extraordinary number, in my opinion, because most of these 13% likely have little motivation beyond wanting to simply share their thoughts. In other words, most would not be part of a galvanized community, such as ours, that shares an additional incentive to post reviews (i.e. safety, and the understanding that we are all in this together).

So theoretically, members of our community should be likely to rate restaurant experiences more than 13% of the time. Unfortunately, until recently, there wasn’t a suitable database for sharing allergy-specific reviews.

My intention in creating AllergyEats was to fill that gap.

So far, your reviews have been quite numerous and fantastic. Word of AllergyEats is also spreading fast. We can see it in our membership numbers, expanding social media fan base, website hits, and most importantly in our fast-growing number of restaurant ratings. AllergyEats has by far the largest base of allergy- and gluten-related restaurant ratings on the web… thanks to you!

But we’re still just scratching the surface.

AllergyEats still needs your help. You have shown through restaurant reviews that you care about this community and believe in the potential of AllergyEats. Now, I have one further request. Given that the value of AllergyEats grows with each new rating, and since ratings cannot be added without members, I am humbly requesting that you consider helping spread the word about AllergyEats.

Just telling one potential new member can yield great benefits. Tell a friend dealing with a child’s food allergies. Mention it to the person next to you at the food allergy fair or walk. Inform your local food allergy-friendly bakery. Share AllergyEats with your allergist!

Any help you can give will pay dividends to you and our entire community through a more robust and informative website. The potential is staggering if you consider 12 million Americans with food allergies, 3 million with Celiac, and potentially much greater than a 13% willingness to share restaurant experiences.  The sky is certainly the limit!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t rated a restaurant recently, but have dined out, please go to the main AllergyEats site and take a minute to share your experience.

Thank you for your support of AllergyEats.