Twitter is one of the ‘Big Three’ social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). When it comes to marketing your restaurant on social media, these are the three essential platforms that your campaign should work off of.
Facebook provides a solid ‘home base’, where your customers come for every kind of information about your restaurant. Instagram provides mouth-watering photos to show your audience what you can provide. And Twitter provides a connection to a highly engaged community of foodies.
Twitter is a constant conversation between a very active and engaged audience. Tweets can include links, pictures, or short text, and spread a message far and wide within moments.
Why market your restaurant on Twitter?
The proof is in the pudding when it comes to marketing restaurants on Twitter. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth it, just look at the stats from the platform itself. Twitter’s research found that (in the UK):
- 55% of users log on to Twitter when they are in a restaurant.
- 60% of users have tweeted about a restaurant they visited, or tweeted directly to a restaurant they plan on visiting.
- 2 in 3 users identify as “somewhat of a foodie”.
- 1 in 2 users have visited a restaurant because of a recommendation they saw on Twitter.
- 73% of tweets directly to restaurants are positive.
These results are hugely telling of how powerful Twitter is as a marketing tool. They show us that your audience are on Twitter. If you’re looking to get your name out there, get it out on Twitter. On Twitter, not only are people talking about restaurants, they’re talking about them positively. More importantly, people are listening.
How to market your restaurant on Twitter
In that same study by Twitter, of the people who visited a restaurant because of something they saw on the site:
- Over half said it was a promotional offer or discount.
- 73% said it was a tweet about the food.
- 43% said it was a photo of the food.
- 39% said it was about great customer service.
This demonstrates that Twitter users are looking for shared information. They want to know about what promotions and specials you’ve got going. They want to know if the food is good, and they don’t necessarily care as much as Instagram users if there’s a picture or not. They just want the facts and they want them now.
Marketing your restaurant on Twitter is about giving your audience some valuable information. Let them know what you’ve got on offer.
Tweets about how good your restaurant is, rather than tweets by your restaurant, hold even more sway. Encouraging your current customers to tweet about your restaurant is a great way to get some user generated content supporting your venue out into the Twittersphere.
You could achieve this by running a promotion, or you could simple ask. Twitter is a massive group conversation, and people love to chip in their 2 cents worth. If you tweet asking your followers what they’re favourite menu item is, they’re going to tweet their answer right back at you. Not just at you, but all of their followers as well. The potential reach of Twitter is like no other.
Making an impact on Twitter
As with most social media platforms, the more followers you have and the more people you engage with on Twitter, the greater your reach. Successful restaurant marketing on Twitter relies on a large amount of connections on the site. As well as offline encouragement to follow you on the site – such as signs in your restaurant or on your business card- you can grow your follower base through online efforts too. The simplest ways to do so are:
- Follow as many relevant, local people and businesses as you can find.
- Make sure you include your location information in your profile, so people searching in your area can find you.
- Maintain Twitter etiquette and follow back anyone who follows you and tweet them your thanks for following you.
- Use relevant hashtags (but not too many – this isn’t Instagram) to make your tweets more visible.
Keeping your followers interested and engaged relies on your tweets being valuable to them, whether that’s through humour, information, or amusement (whatever best suits your brand). Twitter is very two-directional – start using it to purely broadcast promotions for your restaurant and you’ll lose followers. Ideas for appropriate posts include:
- Retweeting other people’s content (keep it relevant and in line with branding).
- Links to interesting and relevant articles.
- Questions which ask for input or feedback, i.e. “Our new menu is out now, what do you think?”
- Special offers or discounts for Twitter followers.
Let us help you!
Like all social media marketing, you get out what you put in when you market your business on Twitter. It’s a powerful platform where you can get the message out loud and clear, far and wide. But it takes time, patience, and a bit of nous.
If you don’t have the time to commit to following, following back, tweeting, and retweeting, we’ve got you covered. Here at The Social Savior we know how to get your restaurant out into the Twittersphere to get the Twittersphere flocking to your restaurant. Twitter is about staying engaged and staying abreast of what’s going on. Your followers need to see you as a valuable contribution to their feeds. As experts. When it comes to social media, that’s what we are. So let us take care of the tweeting so you can take care of the #foodporn.