Why Using Twitter(X) for Restaurants Can Ignite Your Sales

Twitter for restaurants, now renamed X, has become an essential tool for promoting your business. Did you know that 50% of foodies visited a restaurant or ordered a meal based on food recommendations on Twitter? 

Your tweets need to be bold and interesting for your customers to pay attention to them. By the end of this article, you’ll know more about how you should harness the power of social media to make your restaurant more popular & profitable. 

What is Twitter marketing for restaurants? 

Twitter marketing is the process of promoting your restaurant brand on Twitter, from posting about your menu items to sharing updates about new services, opening hours, promotions, and more. Twitter marketing also involved building a community and interacting with your followers.

Why restaurants need social media like Twitter 

You know how difficult it is to bring new people through your restaurant’s door, especially when there’s so much competition. Using social media platforms, like Twitter, can help with that and much more. Here are the benefits you will enjoy if you start using Twitter for restaurants: 

• Provide your restaurant with more online exposure to increase your food sales and brand awareness; 

• Expand your audience: you can attract people who regularly use Twitter to search for new places to eat; 

• Increased conversion rate: 94% of Twitter users plan to buy something from the small businesses they follow; 

• More engagement for your restaurant: use it as a great customer support medium and respond to what people say online about your business; 

• Offers an opportunity to better your business: learn how to improve services from happy and unhappy customers. 

Learn from successful food Twitter accounts 

The best restaurant Twitter accounts should give you plenty of ideas for how to promote your restaurant business and communicate with customers.

Some of the best restaurant social media ideas come from major chain eateries like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. These corporations have a lot of money to spend on marketing, so it’s not surprising that they come up with such creative ideas, yet simplistic ideas.

The best Taco Bell tweets 

For the most part, Taco Bell focuses on promoting its menu items, contests, and news. The brand isn’t afraid to throw out some hilarious responses, though. When Men’s Humor tweeted:

 

“This morning I gave birth to a food baby and I think @tacobell is the father,”

 

Taco Bell responded:

“I want a DNA test.”

 

On July 20 (4/20, the popular cannabis holiday), Men’s Humor tweeted that:

 

“If Taco Bell delivered, they would make so much money today. #420.”

 

To which Taco Bell responded,

“We’re probably going to make a lot of money today anyway. #Ballin”

 

The thriving fast food restaurant doesn’t just have fun with other brands, though. It gets involved with customers, too. For example, back in 2013, Taco Bell tweeted:

 

“#SingleBecause I like TacoBell more than most humans”

 

A man named Jack Barakat responded:

“I’m in your drive thru.”

 

Taco Bell got a little creepy (in a funny way) by replying

“We know.”

 

Wendy’s Twitter frequently flames its competitors 

Taco Bell isn’t the only fast food brand willing to clap back at its followers. Wendy’s takes it to a whole other level, though, by making fun of its competitors. Wendy’s gets especially vicious when it comes to McDonald’s.

When a random person on Twitter asked:

“@Wendy’s can you find me the nearest Mcdonalds?”

 

Wendy’s responded by posting an image of a garbage can.

 

Another person asked:

“@Wendys how much does a Big Mac cost?”

 

Wendy’s tweeted back,

“Your dignity.”

 

On Black Friday 2017, McDonald’s practically begged for Wendy’s to make fun of them when it posted “Black Friday **** Need copy and link****”, Wendy’s jumped into action with “When the tweets are as broken as the ice cream machine.”

Not everyone should try to roast competitors and customers on Twitter. When you have a good humor game, though, you might as well use it.

The best McDonald’s tweets 

McDonald’s has more than 37,000 locations around the world, making it one of the largest restaurant brands in the world. Only Subway has more locations (43,000). As much as Wendy’s likes to troll McDonald’s, you should clearly pay attention to one of the world’s largest brands.

McDonald’s uses Twitter more professionally than Wendy’s and Taco Bell often do. Humor doesn’t work well for all brands. Instead, McDonald’s usually sticks to more traditional marketing ideas. For example: 

• McDonald’s used the summer of 2019 as a reason to share images of its most unique locations. Until the tweet, most customers probably didn’t know that a McDonald’s had a bright blue arch or a neon hamburger sign. 

• McDonald’s also likes to highlight its products by associating with national events. The company posted several images on National French Fry Day. All of them looked delicious! Do you also want to celebrate popular food holidays and attract more customers to your restaurant? Download this free food holiday & promotions calendar. 

• McDonald’s also retweets from its customers. When YouTuber and professional gamer Ninja posted a picture of him getting a McDonald’s delivery from Uber Eats, McDonald’s shared the tweet with everyone. The shared marketing gave a boost to Ninja and his favorite fast-food joints. 

Get inspired by effective Twitter for restaurant campaigns 

Some of the best social media post ideas come from smaller restaurants. While you need to follow national brands, you should also follow these best restaurant Twitter accounts. They will teach you how to use humor, images, and customer replies to your advantage.

• Sprinkles Cupcakes posts beautiful pictures of its baked goods while promoting its specials.
• Myers + Chang shows off its best recipes while reposting tweets from socially conscious celebrities.
• Union Square Cafe uses photos to emphasize the joy of sharing food and drinks with friends.
• Momofuku shares reviews, pictures, and information about its locations in NYC, LA, Las Vegas, DC, Toronto, and Sydney.

Find restaurant marketing strategies you like by following these brands. You don’t have to copy their style, but you can draw inspiration from their posts.

8 Strategies to ace Twitter for restaurants 

When you first start using Twitter for restaurants, you might feel a little intimidated. Don’t worry. The platform has similar features to other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Try the following strategies to make social media posts work well for your restaurant.

1. Include photos to entice customers 

Include beautiful photos of your food, drinks, and locations when you can. If a happy customer will let you snap a photo, don’t hesitate. Your followers will love seeing a satisfied person hanging out at your restaurant.

Pictures of food also stimulate appetites. A person scrolling through Twitter probably isn’t thinking about breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As soon as that person sees pics of your food, though, mealtime becomes an important thought.

Read more: 6 Restaurant Photography Tips & Tricks 

2. Use the same marketing materials across social media 

Save yourself some time by using the same marketing materials across social media platforms. Equally to the restaurant Instagram hashtags, the twitter hashtags are very important. If you can use the posts to build a larger audience, then your restaurant should attract more sales.

You can also alter marketing materials to suit the top features of each platform. Instagram is great at displaying pictures. Facebook gives you plenty of space to discuss issues and promotions. Twitter is a good place for quick replies and shares. 

Adjust your content to keep followers interested. No one wants to see the same post on multiple platforms. A little synergy never hurts, though. You’ll save time and improve your marketing efforts.

3. Post links to your website’s content 

Twitter isn’t the best place to post lengthy content. You can, however, use it to direct your fans to longer pieces on your website. You can also use Twitter to redirect visitors to your website’s menu, online ordering page, and reservation page. Give people gentle nudges to visit your restaurant.

If you don’t have a restaurant website or are not happy with the one you have, you get a sales and SEO-optimized website from us in less than 10 minutes. Start converting visitors into customers: 

 

4. Form alliances with other brands 

A lot of restaurant owners and managers worry about how they can reach new customers. They love their loyal customers who come in every week, but they need more people to make their businesses profitable. Twitter can help you find new customers.

You can start by: 

• Following other businesses in your area. Focus on restaurants that share your passion for specific types of food. If you run a vegan bakery, become friends with other vegan businesses and groups near you. They’re likely to retweet your posts. 

• Do good deeds to gain more followers. Try donating food to a local fundraiser. In return, the fundraiser’s organizers should give you a shout-out online. It doesn’t sound like much, but advertising can increase your brand’s identity and visibility. 

Read more: How Restaurant Partnerships Can Help Your Business Grow

5. Reply to customers as fast as you can

One study shows that 60% of consumers expect immediate responses to customer support questions. 

If someone tweets at your restaurant, you have to respond ASAP. You have to respond within minutes. You can’t wait a few hours for the lunch rush to end. Otherwise, people will go to a restaurant that can answer their questions immediately.

6. Market your irresistible restaurant promotions

If you want to increase your Twitter conversion rate, you must post about your promotions. Free delivery, 2+1 for free, and combo meals are all great options that customers won’t be able to resist. 

Use the free online ordering system from GloriaFood to create attractive promotions in no time: 

 

Read more: How to Use Restaurant Promotion Templates Effectively to Boost Sales

7. Promote special menu items

Did you just launch a new menu item? Or maybe introduced a whole new seasonal menu? If you want to get people to try your food out, use Twitter for restaurants to get the word out about it. 

Mention what makes the menu item special, be it the ingredients, mode of preparation, or presentation. You can also make it a limited-time offer to create some fear of missing out among your followers and tempt them to place an order as fast as possible. 

Read more: How to Promote New Menu Items Without Breaking the Bank

8. Tell people about upcoming events

Events are a great way to fill your seats and get your community to be more involved with your restaurant. It also adds more to the simple dining experience which will attract positive reviews. 

To get people to make a reservation, get on Twitter and tell people to hurry up and book a spot for your next event as there aren’t many available seats left. 

Read more: 15 Restaurant Event Ideas to Get Customers Through the Door 

Final words 

All social media platforms have features that can benefit your restaurant. Learn how to make the most of Twitter for restaurants so you can grow your brand, boost hype about your restaurant, and attract more customers! 

You might also like: 

• 9 Tips on How to Create the Best Restaurant Social Media Campaigns 

• 5 Best Social Media Platforms for Restaurants & Why You Need Them 

• 100+ Restaurant Social Media Post Captions That Will Attract Customers