FOOD + DRINK RESTAURANTS

Restaurants are Embracing Twitter to Reach their Customers

Boston restaurants on twitter

I told you on my other blog that Twitter can be an efficient marketing vehicle for businesses. One type of business that benefits well from the free marketing platform that Twitter provides are local restaurants.

What I like is that I decide which local stores and restaurants I want to follow on Twitter. This way, I can learn in advance what is on today’s menu and when they host special events.

Cheap and On the Spot Survey

The benefits for small businesses do not stop there. Twitter is great to survey the opinions of customers. You can directly ask questions. Or you can set up a Twitter poll in less than a minute. I recommend twtpoll.

Myers + Chang‘s chef and co-owner Joanne Chang used this method to validate a request from a customer. She tweeted: “Should cilantro be listed on menu item when it’s an ingredient?” Four hours later, she received enough answers to be convinced that plenty of customers would like to know which dish has cilantro in it. She went further and decided to give the option to have the dishes without cilantro.

Twitter allows businesses to quickly find information, features and services valued by their customers and to react accordingly. In a competitive market, it is an opportunity that small businesses cannot afford to miss.It costs almost nothing to tweet a few times a day. You can tweet with any smart phone. It does not require a computer or any technical knowledge. Your account can be up and running in less than a minute. Unlike a blog, it could take only a few minutes a day to maintain.

I now follow a few Boston restaurants and restaurant reviews accounts on Twitter. I will be in the know when I will go there next August. You could also explore the Alfresco dining options in Boston for some clues on where to eat.

MORE:
+ Restaurants using Twitter for cheap, effective marketing by Devra J. First for The Boston Globe
+ Pictures: L’espalier on Twitter and Myers + Chang on Twitter

  • Eden Spodek
    June 30, 2009 at 13:06

    Le Gourmand Café in Toronto (@legourmandyonge) recently started a Twitter account to let customers know when their fresh cookies have come out of the oven. I don’t know how effective it’s been for them since haven’t used it in 10 days.

    Le Gourmand Café has a thriving lunch and catering business at all of their locations thanks to people in nearby office towers. It would be a lot more effective if they tweeted their lunch specials and/or took orders on Twitter. Wouldn’t it be great to order your lunch with a quick tweet and have it ready for pick up?

  • At Home with Kim Vallee
    June 30, 2009 at 13:29

    Eden: You are right. We should probably tell them. They could even make abbreviations to order a full lunch in less than 140 characters. This is why it is important for business to take part of the conversations. Users are will often tell a brand how they wish they would use a service like Twitter. This is how you improve customer service.

  • KimVallee
    June 30, 2009 at 16:38

    Restaurants are Embracing Twitter to Reach their Customers http://bit.ly/AzZ2T

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter