Today’s CNN News video reinforces the idea that Twitter has become a critical business tool for restaurants. When people tweet about what they eat and what they think about the service, they communicate the bad and the good of a restaurant with their powerful network instantly. Traditional media, such as newspaper reviews, do not allow instant B2C and C2C communications and thus cannot compete with Twitter or other social media tools. The goal of using social media, of course, is to encourage customers to tweet about the good and to respond to the bad in a timely manner. Congratulations to those restaurants who have already communicated with their target customers in social media. For those who have not, what stops you from adopting a social media strategy?
Twitter has become a very resourceful way for businesses to get their good ratings around through a social media site. When a tweeter post a good rating about a restaurant or certain foods they ate its great because it opens the public up to even more places to eat that they will possibly love the same way you did. Restaurant owners will definitely benefit from it because they will increase their profit and gain that popularity that most places strive for in the hospitality business. Once you become the buzz in town your sure to have a flock of customers coming your way. The down side about it is that the tweeters reviews can either make or break your business. Restaurant owners and other tweeters who read those comments might take them to heart and they can do much damage to their business. If a tweeter gives your restaurant an excellent review than your set but if your ratings come out bad that can be a vital breaking point that will turn potential customers away. A different aspect of it is that a bad tweet can come from an angry or unsatisfied customer who can cause a good amount of trouble for you especially if you are a new restaurant and sometimes even if your restaurant is great. All it takes is one mishap that could have changed that one tweeters perception of your service and can continue a chain reaction to other tweeters also.
ReplyDeleteGood point. The key is to provide prompt attention to the tweets and address complaints/problems in a timely manner. One important tactic of using Twitter is to let your audience know how soon you handle a complaint or issue. Sometimes, showing how soon and how a restaurant takes care of the customers could be as important as showing off the positive feedback. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Linchi. It is so important to respond to the good and the bad in a timely manner. People want to know that they are valued, and that you are really listening to what they have to say. If it was all good feedback, it would seem fake. One or two negative comments make you more human and real. No one is perfect and as long as the good significantly outweigh the bad, I think you are in good shape.
ReplyDelete