23 May 2012 Last updated at 19:08 ET By Karen Weintraub Boston, Massachusetts

Clover Food Lab, a trendy food truck and regional restaurant chain, has been experimenting with parsnips lately.

The soups and fritters worked well from the start, but the sandwich, offered at one food truck, needed some tweaking.

So, the chef used the food truck's Twitter feed and blog to solicit opinions about the sandwich's flavour, and the texture of the root vegetables.

He tinkered twice with the recipe according to suggestions, and then put version three out for public consumption.

Asking for such responses helps improve Clover's food - and its connection with customers - according to the company's president and founder, Ayr Muir.

"When you ask people for help, you deepen the relationship you have with the person," says Mr Muir, whose rapidly expanding Boston-area chain currently includes six food trucks and two restaurants.

For many small businesses like Clover, social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs offer a relatively inexpensive way to build brand loyalty and reach potential customers.

Twitter's a neat way for me to hear what people have to say

But many companies are still very reactive - coming to social media only because they know everyone else is using it, says Zach Hofer-Shall, an analyst with Forrester Research.

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Restaurant chain's recipe for social media success