Guy Posts

Twitter, once obscure and sort of weird, is gaining serious mainstream traction. People I ACTUALLY KNOW are joining and overall search engine volume is picking up.

Now is the time for local businesses to start killing it on twitter.

Websites used to be the rage, now everyone has them. Not everyone is on twitter… yet. A local eatery, among many others can use this to their advantage right now. Let your customers know you’re on twitter (and what your account is). Those who have twitter won’t care, and this is fine. Don’t worry about them. Right now they’re all bitter that they aren’t getting enough credit for having joined twitter “before it was cool.” The people who aren’t on twitter are the key. Let me explain why.

People who aren’t on twitter have heard of it, they just don’t understand how or why it works (“you post status updates…… uhhh cool, i guess”). By taking the initiative and making it clear that your eatery is on twitter, you get to define the value of twitter through the lens of your business.

Hypothetical Business Scenario:

“What’s twitter?” says a customer pointing to your bright pink sign in front of the cash register that reads: WE’RE ON TWITTER! twitter.com/stuff_your_face.

“Haven’t heard of it? No? Yes? Well, it’s a way to keep in touch and stay informed. We use it here to let everyone know if we have a daily special, a new soup, a live band or something like that. I actually follow a couple other places to help me figure out a good place to go for lunch or happy hour.”

“Wow, you guys are so hip. I will tell all of my friends, join twitter, and re-tweet everything you send out.”

Here, you’ve given the customer a real, tangible, immediate resason to join and follow you on twitter. Most importantly, you’ve taught and helped him understand something they’ve heard of, but don’t have a productive use for yet… this is a serious value added.

You’re not spamming customers—they’ve made the choice to receive your updates—they follow you because your tweets deliver value. They find value in knowing that their favorite deli has a new sandwich on the menu. They find value in a tweet from their favorite bar about a happy hour special. They find value in a 10% I-heard-about-it-through-twitter discount. YOU may actually find value in your customers’ questions, feedback and suggestions.

By the end of the year Twitter will be at our near the tipping point. Reap the benefits by establishing your twitter presence now, before it becomes cool.