Mapstr, between social network and SEO tool: a must-have for restaurants

The recommendation power of a social network and the powerful leverage of a referencing tool: that's what the Mapstr platform offers, which since 2014 has succeeded in making its mark on the daily lives of city dwellers and restaurateurs alike. Here's a look back at the rise of this new tool and how it works.

After just 6 years in business, the evidence is clear: the application has succeeded in its risky gamble! It has made its mark on the lives of French consumers, becoming an indispensable tool for discovering places of all kinds (restaurants, bars, tea rooms, clothing stores). Nearly 700,000 users are registered on Mapstr in the capital, and no fewer than 50,000 Parisians use it on a weekly basis (figures provided by Mapstr). The national figures are just as impressive: the platform now boasts over1.5 million active users, and has already announced its intention to go international. And the phenomenon has no end in sight: the application is doing everything in its power to meet the ever-increasing needs of its users, whether consumers or location owners.Mapstr's original premise was simple: to meet the constant need of tourists and city dwellers for places to eat, drink, shop or stroll. To remedy this, Mapstr offers an application on which anyone can create their own interactive map listing places they would recommend to friends and family, and consult those suggested by other users. Mapstr users enter the restaurants, bars or other places they have liked into their map, assigning them the tags of their choice (for example, a user who has visited and liked the Bien Ficelé restaurant can add it to their map and tag it "restaurant", "meat", "brunch", "pretty terrace" or "trendy decor"). Since then, Mapstr's ambitions have only grown. In the space of just a few years, the French start-up has succeeded in establishing itself not only as an essential location-finding platform for city dwellers, but also as an indispensable communication (and soon marketing) tool for restaurateurs.How did they manage this? What communication opportunities does Mapstr offer restaurants? How can you make the most of your establishment's presence on the platform? That's what we'll be looking at in this article.

1. the recommendation power of social media

Mapstr quickly realized that if it was to keep pace with the media consumption habits of the French, it had to take on the appearance of a social network. From the application's first ambitions to the new functionalities offered, Mapstr has never ceased to feed off the qualities of the digital media that have become omnipresent in French people's daily lives.

a) The strength of the tool: a trusted recommendation

At a time when major social players such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are trying to refocus their tools on the notion of community, and when referencing tools such as The Fork (formerly La Fourchette) and TripAdvisor are being criticized for being inundated with false reviews, Mapstr has managed to pull out all the stops, as the app's creators have placed the principle of trust at the heart of their tool. The ingenious, yet childishly simple idea is that users know where the recommendation they are about to follow comes from. The platform is a far cry from the positive or negative comments of dubious origin that can be read on referral platforms, and a far cry from the advertising done by the places themselves on their Facebook or Instagram accounts. In fact, it's their friends' or family's cards that users discover. All they have to do is subscribe to their account. By accepting a subscription, users give access to their digital map and thus to their recommendations.

The user's recommendations appear in two ways: on the interactive map (left), and as a list (right). The mere presence of these addresses on the map or in the list is the user's guarantee of the quality of the place. The power of recommendation is therefore just as strong as the oral advice of the person whose Mapstr map the user is consulting. This is the power of this platform, which has understood that for digital reviews to gain their full value, they must be alienated from the anonymity of the Net.Other important information provided by this list and map: the tags entered by the map's creator. These are to be considered as arguments to convince people consulting the card to visit the recommended establishment.

Clicking on one of the recommended addresses in the map takes you to the restaurant's information sheet, which includes not only the restaurant's main details, but also the tags and comments left by the map's creator. Here, the user recommends Fanfan Dix-Huit. The tags he has entered indicate to people consulting his Map that this is a gourmet restaurant where you can drink cocktails. Users can also leave a more detailed comment if they wish. Here, he has told his subscribers that this is an "excellent address" where you can enjoy dishes with a French-Asian flavour. So his community knows exactly what they're in for when they decide to follow his recommendation and visit Fanfan.

b) New tools to enrich the social experience

But the start-up hasn't stopped there! It continues to offer new tools to enrich the social experience of its users.

• Consult the opinions of other users you follow

First of all, it is now possible to consult the reviews left by the users you follow on places.

Here's an example of a user who clicked on Café Berry, recommended by Paulette Magazine's menu. We can see that Paulette has added this address to its menu and that he recommends it, but that he has not left a more precise comment on the place. The application now lets you consult the opinions left by other people you follow. In this example, the user "AliceGtn" followed by the user consulting Café Berry, indicates that this place serves brunch and that he'd like to try it out.

• Talk to your Mapstr community

The start-up has finally added a chat area to its tool. It allows users to chat with their Mapstr community and strengthen the bond between them.

While Mapstr is undoubtedly geared towards consumers, it is also increasingly turning its attention to restaurateurs, for whom it is trying to meet some interesting demands.

2. A tool that will soon be indispensable for tracking new restaurant customers?

a) Places registered using search engines other than Google

With Mapstr, restaurateurs don't have to list themselves! That's right, the application uses a number of search engines other than Google (which doesn't share its data) to insert the addresses of the towns in which it's based. Thanks to them, Mapstr can indicate the opening hours of restaurants (and other places), their address, add photos, link to their website... All essential information is entered into the application and visible to users. While restaurateurs have no control over their Mapstr listing, they are advised to update their information on the Internet, as this is the place from which the information is retrieved.

b) The app helps restaurants convert users into customers

• Reservations can now be made directly on the app

New for 2020: users can now reserve a table directly on the app. This feature was made possible by the creation of two partnerships: one with the Zenchef reservation system, the other with the referencing platform, The Fork (formerly La Fourchette).

The "reserve" button links directly to the restaurant's The Fork or Zenchef page. These partnerships are significant assets for both the platform and restaurateurs: they enable an even higher user-to-customer conversion rate than before.

c) Soon to be the number one restaurant referral service?

The French start-up intends to hit even harder in the coming months. Mapstr is working on putting its restaurant listings online on Google. The idea is to join forces with Google My Business and automatically create accounts for restaurants on the platform. This would be a significant feature for restaurant owners. While it will remain essential for restaurateurs to manage their MyBusiness accounts by regularly posting content, responding to customer reviews and updating their information on a daily basis, Mapstr could get the ball rolling for those who have not yet embarked on the necessary digital referencing of their establishment .

3. A new distribution channel for media and influencers

a) Influencers share their addresses on their Mapstr account

Influencers understood the benefits of this new tool right from the start. They quickly seized on it and used it as an additional channel for distributing their addresses. And users thanked them! The proof is in the pudding: the most consulted Paris map is none other than that of Laura Hanoun, the influencer behind the Instagram account Lesparisdelaura.[caption id="attachment_9391" align="aligncenter" width="862"]

Source: Lesparisdelaura.fr[/caption]The Parisianfood influencer shares her favorite restaurant addresses in Paris, as well as in the places she visited on vacation, so it's easy to see why it's important for restaurateurs to make sure they work with the most relevant influencers. Ensuring a good presence on Instagram by collaborating with the most powerful players there now enables them to gain visibility on a new platform, Mapstr, and appear there in a relevant way. For, by being listed on the most consulted maps, restaurants guarantee themselves a new window to gain notoriety. For many years now, influencers have acquired a very strong power of recommendation and prescription.

b) The media are increasingly present on Mapstr

Nor did the media have to wait long before establishing themselves on the application. They, too, are making their presence felt, promoting the places they've visited and which the editorial specialists have approved. Konbini Food, Paulette, Gault et Millau, M Le Magazine, Vogue, VanityFair and Elle all have their own map on the platform.[caption id="attachment_9373" align="aligncenter" width="880"]

Source : Konbini.fr[/caption]Here again, restaurateurs find an additional argument for working with the most relevant culinary or lifestyle journalists through press relations. Targeting the media and journalists who will be interested in your project allows you to gain visibility across all their ever-growing distribution channels: your media pages, of course, but also your social media and now your Mapstr page.

Conclusion

Mapstr is undoubtedly an indispensable tool for restaurants, offering them a new channel for gaining visibility and converting Internet users into customers. The application, originally designed to make it easier for consumers to choose a restaurant, is gradually becoming a genuine tool to help restaurateurs in their marketing and communications activities. Marketing, first of all, because it offers a host of features to help convert users into customers, and to help establishments get listed - both on its platform and later on Google. Secondly, in terms of communication, because it provides additional visibility for key players such as influencers and the media, who have a significant power of recommendation and prescription.