Twitter is a micro blogging social media network where all posted messages have a limit of 140 characters. This may seem to be extremely constraining, but restaurants should not question the platform’s value for their marketing efforts. The fast-paced, real-time nature of Twitter is highly suited to the time-sensitiveness of the food and beverage industry.
Converse With Your Followers
This is the aspect of Twitter that has gotten brands into trouble and turned off their fans the most, it is all about the conversation. Talking at people with restaurant marketing messages is a quick way to lose followers. Start out by just listening, and then join in when you have a feel for the discussion. Answer any questions asked about your restaurant in a timely fashion. Ask questions of your followers in return, for example, what new menu items would they like to see? What is their opinion of certain dishes? Make sure to include hashtags (#) connected to significant keywords in every tweet. People follow hashtags around keywords of importance to them. Just like all social media, quality content is key and will result in your posts being retweeted.
Have a Complete Profile
Twitter gives all accounts a place to make a memorable first impression: the Twitter profile. Make sure it is complete rich with keywords within the bounds of the 160-character biography. This vitally is important to the Twitter search engines. The profile needs to also be as visually eye-catching as possible.
Monitor Your Mentions
The quick pace of Twitter means brands, especially restaurants, need to monitor everything said about them. Twitter’s advanced search features make the task much simpler. You can see every time your restaurant is mentioned, whether it is positive or negative, giving you a heads-up in case any situation should arise that requires your immediate attention. With these features, you can also keep on the lookout for anytime specific terms are mentioned, for example, “restaurant New York” or “steak Miami”. A quick response on your part can bring in some new business for your establishment, while being helpful.
It is important to keep in mind why a person would follow a restaurant on Twitter. They want special deals. Twitter followers like to feel unique, so on Twitter only offer specials to your followers and they will keep coming back for more. In the next part of this series, we’ll examine a network seemingly tailor-made for the food and beverage industry, Foursquare.
Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.
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