A couple of weeks ago after work, my friend and I decided to hit up @SeitoSushi for Happy Hour before heading over to the grand opening of Pinkberry in Orlando . I wanted to see what kinds of rolls were on the Happy Hour menu but when I went to the website, all I could find were the lunch and dinner menus.
My best friend did a quick search and sent me this status update where Seito Sushi had responded to someone else who had asked about their Happy Hour.
Inspired by how they responded to one of their followers, I sent my own Tweet to them hours before meeting my friend:
They promptly responded back with:
It’s that kind of customer engagement that makes Twitter an invaluable tool for businesses, in particular restaurants. I am now following @SeitoSushi so I can stay up to date on their specials/promotions and ask questions about items on their menu.
Ichiban , another local sushi restaurant was also silently listening to the online conversation and it looks like they had their Twitter feelers out for the keyword “sushi” and “Orlando” when they saw my Tweet:
But that was just their opening line to inquire more into my sushi whereabouts and tastes:
I knew where this conversation was going since I work in the industry but it was interesting to see how they would continue to engage me online. After one or two Tweets back and forth they Tweeted their call to action:
Not a restaurant? No problem! You can still get some great benefits and possible leads from using Twitter. Use your status updates to alert followers about your most recent blog posts, company news, industry tips/trends and of course retweets from others in the Twitter community whose advice you find invaluable. You never know who is out there listening for your brand-name and Twitter can be the first-step towards a life-long business relationship.