Twitter visits Billy's Donut Shop.
Billy’s Donuts went viral after one son’s Tweet about his sad dad. On Saturday afternoon, the son of a Missouri City donut shop owner Tweeted rocketed his father’s new business into the Twittersphere. “By Sunday afternoon his tweet was retweeted more than 150,000 times. By Monday morning? More than 260,000 times,” reports Houstonia Magazine.
My dad is sad cause no one is coming to his new donut shop 😭
As of Tuesday evening, it was retweeted 336,000 times. Billy’s Donuts sold out of donuts and kolaches on March 10 and sold out entirely on March 11.
Billy’s is one of many reports of viral social media small business success stories. Today reports on other viral Twitter success stories.
Just wanted to update yall! We completely sold out of donuts and kolaches! You are all amazing. I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out and supporting local businesses. This means so much to my family ❤️
The donut shop is named after the owner’s son. Billy’s Donuts is located in Missouri City, Texas, within the Houston–Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, southwest of the city.
Twitter Paid A Visit
“Several festival-goers from South by Southwest made the three-hour drive just to help support the local business. Twitter itself even made a visit to the doughnut shop Monday morning and is covering the tab on all visitors’ doughnuts for the rest of the day,” reports ABC News.
“This is my dads new donut shop, idk why he painted the walls yellow”
This is my dad’s new donut shop, idk why he painted the walls yellow
The best part of Billy’s Donuts Twitter story is how ready the shop was for success with the one Tweet that preceded its skyrocket. Seemingly without trying, the owner created a very social media friendly decor, something restaurants now work to curate.
“You #donut Know how Much This Means to us.”
For everyone asking for the address of my dad’s donut shop.
Mon-Fri, 5am-12pm.
Sat-Sun, 5am-1pm
7022 Hwy 6 suite 800 Missouri City, Texas
On March 12, @BillysDonuts Tweeted “Thank you for all of the continued support! You #donut know how much this means to us. Please remember that my mom & dad are trying their best to accommodate everyone and their donut cravings! We hope everyone can understand that we may be selling out early due to the high demand.”
Billy’s is on Instagram, too.
There is a lot of advice about how to launch a viral Twitter marketing campaign, but an authentically good-effort tale of a small business owner who names his dream of opening a donut shop after his son, paints the walls yellow, and turns his frown upside down after that son’s Tweet brings donut hungry customers through the doors is not in any playbook.
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