Garrido’s Restauarant in Austin, Texas has designated manager Nicole Maddocks to monitor and post on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and other social media sites. In an interview with SmartBrief, she says that while she wishes Twitter would prove to be the most useful in driving traffic to the eating establishment because she spends so much time and energy on the site, Yelp has proven to be better.
That’s because for restaurants, most people seem to rely on Yelp for reviews and advice. She monitors comments and responds quickly – though privately – to negative reviews. With complaints, she frequently will offer them a free appetizer to entice them to come back.
As for Twitter, she tries to post something roughly every other day, so as to not irritate followers with constant postings. Plus, she tries to reply to anyone who mentions Garrido’s on Twitter – even if it’s just a quick thank you.
The restaurant also is starting to use Foursquare, offering prizes to whoever becomes the “mayor” of Garrido’s by being the most frequent person to check in from that location.
