7 Ways to Run a Better Restaurant By Using Twitter

There are so many businesses using Twitter. Many of them are using it incorrectly, and it hurts so much to watch. Although much of the content of this post can be used across many different fields, I wanted to take the time to show restaurants that the right use of Twitter can, in turn, increase customer satisfaction, increase business, and turn them into lovable heroes.

This is not meant to be a definitive guide or rulebook on using Twitter. These are just some great ideas which are being put into practice by successful businesses.

1. Talk about your daily specials

If you offer daily specials, that’s a big deal. It would behoove you (yes, I said behoove) to let others know about it. This doesn’t replace your menu or your sandwich board. But, what does it cost you to post a little update? Nothing. Tweet about your daily specials. Your followers on Twitter are likely to be your fans and patrons. This is information they would like to know about.

An example could go something like this:

Today’s special is our mouth-watering Reuben Sandwich. Do you know what transcendental tastes like? Come find out.

2. Be a follower

It’s going to be very hard to get people to follow you if you don’t follow others yourself. Follow locals. Follow other businesses. Follow food lovers.

Twitter already has great built-in search capabilities. Search locally for instances of people mentioning certain foods or dishes, or looking for a place for lunch. Why not conduct searches for the name of your business or the name of a competitor’s business. See what people are saying.

Respond when you have something interesting or helpful to say (don’t be tacky and self-promoting or it will turn people off)

Look at this following interaction. All the business did was provide helpful advice with absolutely no selling.



Here's the simple response:

3. Contests and Giveaways

It doesn’t have to be much to generate interest. Be yourself. Do something fun. You can have a codeword that you tweet out, and the first person to order while using that word gets a complimentary dessert, or a cup of coffee. Or you can announce that you will give something away to a follower who retweets your message. It doesn’t even have to be anything monetary. What if you just name a sandwich after the winner? Feel free to hold contests and giveaways but align them with your own personality and with the spirit that you want to bring to your business.

Look at this example from Denny's:

4. Share your passion

Passionate people are interesting. Share links with your followers that show why you're in the business. If your passion revolves around food or the theme for your business, then share it. This separates you from boring restaurants, and gives you so much more personality. Don't limit yourself.

You can post a picture of one of your most popular, tasty drinks or entree's. Or, post a link to a video that followers would find useful.

Here's a great step-by-step post on Throwing a Dim Sum Party.

5. Be human

I get a little bit of acid reflux and a micro-migraine when I go to a business’s twitter profile, and they have no accounts of interaction with other people. It’s all, “Hey, look at me. Buy from me! Yay! Social Media!” Almost all of us dislike self-consumed personal marketers, so why do so many of us attempt to market to others in the same way that we hate to be marketed to? Here's a great example of a restaurant's interaction. Notice how it's a little silly...but make no mistake, this does make an impression.

6. Promote Neighboring Business

This will let others know that it’s not all about you. It shows you care about the success of the business community and the enjoyment of the citizens. For example, you can welcome a new business that just opened shop:

Oda Mae’s consignment has a sign out front with big bold red letters “50% off”. Check her out.

7. Celebrate, Acknowledge and Share Customer Experiences

Promote, celebrate, and share with your customers. In some situations, you may have to get permission from the customer, but imagine the impression you leave others with if they see a tweet like the following:

Congrats to Oscar & Penelope on their 50th Anniversary. Thanks for sharing it with us. Here’s to 50 more years.

 

This shows that you, not only care about the customer experience, but you are sharing it with them as well.

If a customer comments on your food or service, by all means, THANK THEM!

It’s just good manners. The interesting thing is that so many businesses rarely answer or get back to customers, that when they do, the customers are completely blown away.
Look at this example. He wasn’t even saying anything about the food. All he did was mention Chipotle in some capacity, and they were considerate enough to make a comment about it.





The fact that Chipotle thanked him for doing something nice, made such an impression on this customer that he retweeted the comment for all of his followers to see.

Do not underestimate the impression that a simple "Thank you" can leave.

 

That's it. Now, some of you out there may have that whiny little voice inside that goes, "Well, that's fine for the big guys who can pull this all together. Wa wa." Stop it. I'm not suggesting that you spend 8 hours a day on twitter. Most of these suggestions were minimal. Why can't posting the daily specials be a part of your opening routine? It takes 1 minute. Not to mention interacting and posting on twitter can be done from a smartphone.

Maybe you'd love to use twitter, but you don't know where to start. Well, I'd love to chat about this stuff, and I could even get you some resources to get you started. I mean it.

Either e-mail me at angel(AT)modernactive(DOT)com or send me a message on our twitter account.

 

For more on twitter, check out some of these resources:

A Brief and Informal Twitter Guide

Restaurants Turn to Twitter to Talk to Clients

Comments

[Trevor]

Yo, I think this is good. My ways are bogus.

[Modernactive]

It is good, Trevor. It really is.