19 May 2010

Using Mobile Technology for Restaurant Marketing

Posted by Crystal under: Recession Tips & Tricks; Restaurant Business .

Traditional marketing for restaurants used to include door flyers, print ads, hired PR, and e-mail campaigns. However, technological advancements over the last several years have expanded the ways in which a restaurant can market its services. Recent popular marketing trends include the use of mobile applications by restaurant owners. There are certainly a lot of mobile marketing opportunities available on the market. However, because the notion of mobile technology marketing is so new, many restaurants do not feel comfortable around mobile technology and thus do not fully utilize it. Here are a few ways in which mobile marketing applications can help a restaurant:

Collect Data. Ask your customers to join your loyalty program by texting them via their mobile phones. You can import an existing list of customer phone numbers into a text-messaging software or mobile marketing application of your choice. You can also organize your customers under various lists and groups. Customers can easily unsubscribe from this service by sending a text message. Once you built your list, you can send out mass texts whenever you need to communicate with your patrons.

Event Promotion. Mobile marketing technology enables a restaurant to hold mobile marketing campaigns, where restaurant guests have a chance to win a free dinner, coupon, or a gift card for a special upcoming event. Send mass text messages prior to and on the day of your special event, informing your guests of special events at your restaurant. You can easily integrate mobile marketing campaigns into any other existing promotional campaigns at your restaurant. When your customers come in the door for a special event or promotion, instead of a paper coupon they can show you the message on their phone that brought them to your restaurant for a special drink, reduced dinner price, and so on.

Track and Analyze. Your mobile marketing software will provide you with the demographic data about your customers and will help you to target your customer more narrowly. You will also get a better idea of the general profile of your current customers, their habits and behaviors.

Mobile Marketing Campaigns. Restaurants can tailor mobile marketing campaigns based on customer’s personal information and preferences or even daily weather forecasts. Some mobile marketing companies that provide targeted marketing such as informing customers of certain restaurants or specials on days when a customer is physically located in the vicinity areas of such restaurants. These marketing campaigns allow restaurants to have locally based, dynamic campaigns, creating personalized, direct marketing.

Text-Messaging remains the key element in mobile marketing. According to statistics, majority of cell phone users use text messaging. Text-messaging can be used to improve customer loyalty by creating personable campaigns and leading effective text messaging promotions. Many text-messaging software applications, tailored to the restaurant industry, are very easy to use, web-based, affordable, and do not require installing any programs. You can also use text-messaging to send any type of last minute announcements, such as specials, new live music band, new discounts, etc. Send mass messages from your own mobile device or from the web-based software. Promote sales and special offers.

Customer Retention. More customers these days use their cell phones to research the restaurant information in a specific geographical area. Mobile applications have a capability to provide such information accurately to customers. Many internet review sites, such as Yelp, provide mobile applications to cell phone users that help automatically reveal the locations of the restaurants in the proximity to the customer’s location, as well as provide information about how many mobile users liked that particular restaurant location.

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