Before Jimmer, the “Mexican” restaurant Café Rio held (and still holds) a special place in the heart of many current and former Jello-O Belt residents, and for good reason since it beat Chipotle, In-N-Out Burger, Chick-fil-A, and Pei Wei for the best Quick Service Restaurant in 2011.  Today, the restaurant is opening a new location in Olney, MD here in the DC area – its first east of the Mississippi River.

Yesterday Inside Facebook detailed three new advertising opportunities that organizations can use to turn ordinary posts from people into ads.  While these are interesting developments, I argue that these are not the best tactics for advertising on Facebook.

So, what does this have to do with Café Rio?

Today, I have seen several Facebook posts from my DC area friends who are salivating about the new nearby Café Rio, and these were not sponsored posts.  These were event invites (for lunch on Saturday – I think I’ll brave the crowd and go) and status updates asking for people who want to go on a road trip.  The restaurant provides quality and addictive food (I’ve been told that people theorize that the chain caffeinates its lettuce to hook people on its food #cuckoo), and that is why people are so excited.  I don’t know about you, but items in my news feed are eye catching.  That’s wonderful word of mouth advertising.

While researching the various advertising Facebook options and running campaigns is important, the best thing an organization can do to enjoy positive buzz on the social network is to provide quality products – like sweet pork barbacoa salad with cilantro lime dressing – and services that people like and would recommend to others.