Exploring Twitter for Restaurants – Idea No. 5
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’ve added a few more ideas to the end of this post.
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. 5:
Twitter about everything and comment on others’ tweets.
People like to feel like they’re an insider. That’s why knowing their name when they come in time and again, remembering when they celebrated their birthday in your restaurant and knowing you on a first-name basis is so important. It builds loyalty and establishes a relationship. And it’s something that independent restaurant owner can do better than any chain out there.
Loyal customers who are your friends will dine with you. Create more of them. And do it on Twitter!
Tweet throughout the day about what’s going on in your restaurant. Feed your followers the secrets of your restaurant. Who’s working today, what was delivered fresh, did anything funny happen when the driver brought in the food? Did a sauce get neglected and ruined. Did you discover a new flavor match by accident? Did you get a new catering contract? How about bookings at festivals, farmers’ markets, chamber luncheons, etc. Ask for advice and insight.
Don’t forget to share it all with your tweeps.
And since Twitter is a community, it’s a place to build relationships. And you can’t do that if you only talk about yourself. Read the tweets of your followers, retweet their content and reply with your thoughts and ideas.
Don’t forget to go back to the first four tips in this series of posts to remember how to bring it all back to the restaurant, how to drive traffic and increase sales with Twitter.
BONUS: As I’ve drafted these posts and spent more time on Twitter, I’ve noticed a few things I want you to think about. If you’re an independent restaurant, you don’t need followers from around the world. You need followers who are likely to come to your restaurant because they live or work near your location.
BONUS 2: Use the “Bio” space on your Twitter account and put a face to the account. You are the owner. Put a name and a personality behind your tweets, behind your restaurant. Use your picture. If you can’t do the tweeting, use your GM or marketing person. But use a person.
BONUS 3: Dig even deeper into what will make you successful on Twitter with this blog post. The post discusses a restaurant, Naked Pizza in New Orleans that put its Twitter address on a billboard outside its restaurant. This restaurant has tracked its sales tied to Twitter. Always measure your efforts; know your ROI.
I look forward to reading your tweets!
Find me @jennybrooks and David Scott Peters, restaurant expert, @restaurantXpert.
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.
