Exploring Twitter for Restaurants – Idea No. 4
by Jenny Brooks
In a post on April 23, I provided five ideas for restaurants to use Twitter. I promised to explore each of these a little deeper, so I’m going to expand on them over the course of the next week.
As a bonus, I’ll add a few more ideas to the final post, so keep coming back.
To recap, the five ideas were:
1. List the daily specials for all the day parts you serve.
2. Tweet about any daily offers, such as discounts, promotions, events.
3. Create special Twitter promotions and tweet about them.
4. Host a Tweetup in your restaurant – a social gathering formed through posts/invitations on Twitter.
5. Tweet from your restaurant throughout the day, keeping people up to speed on what happens in your restaurant throughout the day.
Twitter for Restaurants, Idea No. 4:
Become a desirable Tweetup location.
A Tweetup is a social gathering formed through posts/invitations on Twitter. It’s formed by somenone on Twitter who wants to get together in person with the people he or she chats with on Twitter. Usually it’s only those on Twitter and following you who will know about it, plus those they invite to come along. It’s like an inner circle where entrance into the group is through Twitter.
You want to be a Tweetup-friendly place. The best way to do that is to show how you would do a Tweetup yourself.
To kick off Tweetups, just promote a special night and time for all of your Twitter followers. Create an invite. Let them know that you want to meet them in person and that your restaurant is the perfect place to do this. That’s the idea behind a Tweetup after all. Take your relationship from digital to in person. When your followers on Twitter come in that night for the Tweetup, be available. Mingle, hang out and make some friends. Be a member of the Tweetup.
Make note of all of those who do attend your Tweetup and then later, let them know you would love to be a place where they have their own Tweetups. Offer an incentive to have the events in your restaurant, such as a private patio, server on staff exclusively for the Tweetup, a free round of appetizers (with limits, of course), or give coupons for those who come back the next time.
And advertise the idea in your restaurant as well. It reminds people of your happy hour times and prices, gives them a reason to have a social event and reminds them how much they love your restaurant.
Tweetups won’t apply to all restaurant types. And you have to make sure you have a high number of local followers on Twitter as well.
Another thing to do if you have your own Tweetup – make sure you have people that will be there in case only a few of your Tweeps shows up. You know, no one wants to come to an event where they are the only ones. So have about half a dozen people you know who will hang out and mingle.
I think you’ll be one of the few restaurants in your marketplace promoting yourself as Tweetup Friendly, so take advantage.
Jenny Brooks is a public relations professional providing expert and strategic tactics for businesses trying to increase awareness about themselves and their products. She is also the editor of SMART Systems Insider, a monthly newsletter from Restaurant Expert David Scott Peters. Questions about PR and how she can help your restaurant? Email her.
