Restaurants are now using Twitter as a cost-effective way to connect with customers and improve their profits. Though many may think that not much can be said in 140 characters or less, this assumption is completely incorrect. Restaurants can post any number of things, including daily specials, offers of complimentary appetizers, pictures of kitchen life, new menu items, or even happy customers.

Twitter allows restaurants to have conversations with their customers via Tweets and re-Tweets, share expertise using forwarded or original content, get immediate feedback, and grow the business. Here are some basic twitter rules to get started.

Do not sell the restaurant on Twitter. No one wants to hear that you are selling a product at a certain price, and they certainly do not want just posts of that showing up on their Twitter feed. Twitter is about engagement and conversation. If you are promoting a product, write a benefit of the product that will promote discussions or a question related to the product. For a pizza place, it could be, "Our four-topping large pizza is now only $12.99. What four toppings would you put on your pizza?" It is only 95 characters, it drives a message but also engages followers. Do not just post "Four topping pizza now $12.99." Twitter is not an advertisement forum and if restaurants do not have the time to be social, then Twitter is not the best choice.

Keep customers engaged. There is quite possibly nothing more annoying than a Twitter account that only posts news articles and press releases. Twitter should not be used as a newspaper and Twitter needs to be used to talk WITH people, not AT them. At the same time, just writing, "Visit our restaurant for amazing food," might garner a few followers, but it will not provide the restaurant with a following. Keep customers engaged by announcing new drinks, specials, different events and even any celebrity appearances. A bar might do a Twitter Beer Tasting meet-up where individuals can only participate if they register for the event via Twitter. Traveling restaurants can use Twitter to announce their new location. A coffee shop may offer the first 50 people a free muffin if they say the "secret word" the café posted on Twitter earlier.

Build up relationships. Gathering a very large number of Twitter followers may seem an important part to overall twitter success, but in actuality, it is never about quantity but more about quality. If a restaurant has 500 follows but no one is spreading news about the restaurant or advocating going there, then the restaurant will only reach 500 people. However, if you only have 100 follows but 20 of the followers, who each have 75 followers, spread the news about the restaurant because of the relationship built, the restaurant will reach even more people. Therefore, it is essential to talk with customers. It will keep them coming back to the restaurant and ensure they tweet about the restaurant as well. If they tweet that they had a great meal at the restaurant, reply to their tweet and ask what did they liked the most. As previously mentioned, restaurants should use Twitter to engage customers with questions and then actively respond to each of their answers.

Create a Hashtag. Hashtags are an innovative tool that many people & businesses use to categorize as well as collate tweets about a particular topic. Hashtags put comments about a specific subject on one page and allow customers to access and search these tweets. Because the hashtag is part of the tweet, keep it short because of the character limit. The hashtag should match the business. If ABC Pizza wants to make a hashtag for Twitter, it could be #ABCPizza. Not only does it provide an opportunity for customers to search through the tweets, but it allows the restaurants to see what others are saying about the food, the service, and the ambiance. It is a great way to gain more followers because restaurants can respond to the tweets in that category.

Do not do these things on Twitter. Just like there are things restaurants should do with Twitter, there are also things they should not do.

Don't Get Personal. First of all, businesses owners should never Tweet about themselves. If a business owner wants to use Twitter for their own personal reasons, they should set up a personal account.

Don't Be Cryptic. Do not use cryptic replies, like "@JoeShmoe: I know." Customers will be reading this and it will sound like a personal conversation. They want to know what is known. If it is about the change in a recipe write, "I know the recipe has been changed, but do not worry, because it tastes even better than the original." Not only will customers know what is being discussed, they may even be intrigued to try the new recipe.

Don't Just Link. Do not only put a link up on Twitter - explain what the link is and let people know why they should click it. It may be the latest blog entry on the restaurant's website, a new photo posted on Flickr of current renovations, or it could be to a website with a coupon for a free item from the restaurant. Let customers know what they are clicking.

Don't Auto Direct Message. One last no-no is auto direct messages - do not use them. A better idea would be to send each new follower a personal message. It could be, "Hi [insert Twitter handle here], thank you for adding me. What is your favorite meal at the restaurant?" This will not only make the new follower feel special, but also engage them in a possible conversation.

For restaurants, Twitter has become an amazing tool to promote business, engage clientele, and monitor chatter and feedback. 140 characters may not seem like much, but many restaurants are using it correctly to grow and expand.

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