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When West Loop company Food Genius first joined Twitter in 2010, company founders aimed to build a client roster of restaurant groups and food-service manufacturers. But six months ago, the company renewed its commitment to the social media site with a different goal, says Eli Rosenberg, co-founder and vice president of marketing. Now it consistently displays its expertise in, and knowledge of, the food-service industry.

Rosenberg chooses tweets that he hopes will spark conversation among his clients, and he uses the site to debut products. In August, Rosenberg began sending teaser tweets about Price Bite, a new service that gathers prices of dishes from large restaurant chains that clients can use as a benchmark.
To prospective employees, the service “shows we’re building new things,” he says. The company expects to hire two more people, most likely software engineers, this year.

Rosenberg’s social media activities require two to three hours a week. “It’s definitely important to (handle the feed) in-house so we can share the stuff we want to share,” he says. He spends 15 or 20 minutes every Monday composing and scheduling posts on Hootsuite, a social media management tool, and checks daily to see if posts or shout-outs require attention. Consistency helps the company build its followers, a total that has reached 3,800. “When you disappear for a few weeks or a month, people might forget why they follow you,” Rosenberg says.

For posts, he focuses on Food Genius news and data—articles about health and labeling laws are of particular interest to followers—and avoids politics and controversy. He has steered clear of the discussion about a potential Chicago tax on sodas, plus the syrups and powders used to make them, because several Food Genius clients are in that industry.
Some posts portray the company’s work as fun and interesting—that’s crucial considering the competitive hiring market for software engineers. But posts don’t paint Food Genius as a bring-your-dog/pingpong-type workplace: “It’s more about showing off the work we’re doing,” Rosenberg says.

Even before the renewed focus, Food Genius’ Twitter account portrayed it as a “dynamic” place to work, says Joshua Sim, a senior data analyst who started working there a year ago. After he was contacted by a recruiter, the 25-year-old checked out Food Genius’ social media before deciding to interview.