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all a-twitter

By Lisa Bertagneli
Chain Leader

It’s small—8.9 million users compared to Facebook’s 200 million. But Twitter has become the social-networking tool of choice for many restaurant chains wishing to court a young, hip clientele.

Twitter enables users to write 140-character microblogs as many times a day as they please, which in turns enables their friends to keep constant track of them. Like Facebook, the site is free. Unlike Facebook, Twitter users can connect with, or follow, whomever they want; no permission is necessary. Generally speaking, new users choose to follow current users in hopes that the favor will be returned.

BROADCASTING SPECIALS
Erik Oberholtzer, chef and co-owner of Tender Greens, a three-unit, fast-casual health-skewed chain based in Los Angeles, began “tweeting” earlier this year after some prompting from his publicist.

“Honestly, the microblog culture was not something we understood right away.” Oberholtzer says. “The perception was that it was a lot of people sharing a lot of useless information.” He no longer feels that way. “The benefit is getting a message out there and building a community.” he says.

Oberholtzer ‘tweets,” or sends Twitter blogs, about three times a day; most messages advertise the restaurants’ daily specials or tell followers about his finds at the Santa Monica farmer’s market.

Oberholtzer also wrote about construction updates on the chain’s West Holywood location, which opened at the end of March. The store opening had been delayed due to a permitting snafu: “We didn’t know until 5 p.m. if we were going to open or not,” Oberholtzer says. The store ended up opening the next day. “and Twitter was the best way to get that out.” he says.

GATHERING FOLLOWERS
Tender Greens’ publicist initially built the chain’s Twitter list by choosing to follow food bloggers, writers and other interested parties in the Los Angeles area.