The art of conversation; does is still exist?
Many would say no, but if we have a look at the current ways people now communicate, things have definitely changed.
Twitter has been at the forefront of one of the ways we now communicate, not only with those we know, but those we admire or wish to know.
Look at some of the ways Twitter can assist your restaurant to reach out and find new customers.
Your Best Salesman
For business, Twitter can be viewed as the perfect training ground for developing a sales pitch. Streamlining your product or business’s worth into only140 characters can be daunting but with all those people out there watching, condensing what you’re trying to say is definitely key.
Keeping it short and sweet is not as easy as it first may seem
Be careful, though, not to make your statements it too much of a sales pitch. People want to know about you, but really don’t respond favorably to the hard sell.
There’s a fine line.
Customers of course, are being, and need to be targeted in terms of marketing, but that process should be quite seamless to them.
Honestly, Twitter can be your best salesman and is one of the best forms of small space advertising.
We used to do this with promotional products, pens stickers and all that jazz, but Twitter as the new improved alternative, has now trumped some of the old ways.
Now we are allowed to promote and sell our business to a wider group of people with the click of a send button.
Be Nice
That may seem like a basic concept but can be quite an interesting topic. Customer service is very different to what it used to be.
The etiquette involved is similar to that of other social media.
Check your messages about your restaurant and reply accordingly, as a matter of courtesy.
Twitter is a marketing tool with an immediacy about it. Like most social media, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy, when it comes to your customers.
Involve Your Followers
Just getting people to follow you on Twitter is one thing but keeping them involved is an entirely different kettle of fish.
Doesn’t one equate to the other? I hear you say.
No. Actually it’s harder to keep people interested in your business, now more than ever before. There’s a lot, and I mean a lot, of competition out there.
Make yourself heard and have a point of difference.
Level Your Market
Twitter is a great leveler among your customers. This form of communicative expression has the ability like no other to have people from all demographics on the same playing field.
What is meant by that is there is not social exclusion. When marketing to people you are doing so whether they live on the high end of town or are from out of town.
Customers of restaurants all have one thing in common, the desire for yummy food, friendly service and excellent value for money.
That simple fact will bind them all together.
Sure, some event nights can be directed to those followers you know will be more interested than others, and you target accordingly, but not to the exclusion of anyone else.
It is that which makes Twitter the every person’s voice, and that what also makes it so excellent for restaurant owners.
Invite Comment
Like all social media people enjoy and are more than happy to have the ability to comment.
This will also mean telling you what they don’t like.
It’s not always rainbows and lollipops, but the astute restaurant owner will take the good with the bad and turn it around. Some even go to the lengths of forming training manual from comments received on service and customer experience.
Imagine someone tweets something not so great about the service, while in your restaurant.
Scared? Don’t be. You now have the opportunity to fix things right then and there. The problem won’t linger or snowball if it’s made right, on the spot.
Consider Twitter as the biggest customer focus group in the world.
You can’t buy that stuff. This is real feedback from real people.
These are invaluable tools for seeing how it really is. If you dare.
Making It Work For You
There are not too many free marketing tools around that will give your this kind of interaction.
Twitter can be the most honest experience you will ever have when it comes to your diner’s and their experiences.
Eye-opening? Yes. Confronting? Hell yeah, and with everything, it needs to be a considered aspect of any social media plan, or marketing plan in general.
If you’re having trouble with workload and seriously do not think you have the time to be involved with this kind of vehicle, I have one word for you. Delegate.
Your staff may be right into it, and be quite happy to be the frontrunner for you.
You can always have an external party manage it for you, but give those around you that know your business well, a chance first.
People are more capable than many give them credit for.
This may just be the things that unites your floor staff and that can only be a good thing.
To Tweet Or Not To Tweet
There are some who feel this may not be the right vehicle for their restaurant, given that the food service industry is a very visual one. Yes there are other forms of social, media that have you covered if it’s just the pretty pictures you’re interested in.
Diversification and inclusion of all the social media is industry wide and Twitter is in the top three. One may be favored by your customers, or even by you, but they all have their place.
Like peas in a social pod.
Of course, when trying to get the word out about your restaurant, the visually stunning photographs of your food are a great tempter. There still is however, room for the spoken, or should I say Tweeted word.
Keeping tweets funny, interesting and of course personable can see your business grow, from an interaction point of view.
Amusing facts about your industry or your restaurant can be a winner.
Connection is everything.
The great thing about social media is that you don’t have to be Starbucks or McDonald’s in today’s marketplace.
Brand loyalty comes from engaging customers and involving them with even the smallest of things.
Tweeting is the new texting. The difference being that a tweet can reach so much more of your market and has the potential to go viral.
So the moral to this tale is that more than likely we would use Twitter like any other social media you find works for your establishment.
Ten million users can’t be wrong with some of them more than interested to know what going on in your restaurant.
A picture may say a thousand words but a Tweet can be mightier than the sword.
