HOW TO HELP YOUR RESTAURANT GROW

Restaurants thrive or die by their ability to reduce loss and fulfill orders. To grow your business and keep revenues consistent, a multi-channel marketing plan is critical. Traditional methods of advertising like flyers, radio ads, commercials, and email have their place, but are expensive and increasingly ineffective. That’s why restaurants are increasingly turning to SMS marketing to promote online and in-house specials and increase traffic. In this article, we will review 7 ways for restaurants to use SMS marketing to improve their bottom line.

#1 INCREASE FOOT TRAFFIC

One of the most powerful advantages to text communication is its instantaneous nature. The average response time for a text message is just 90 seconds! With SMS messaging, restaurant owners can quickly alert local customers to increase traffic to underperforming franchise or dining locations. Text messages let you contact your patrons and loyal guests in real time, letting you communicate daily deals and promotions, available tables, and changes in operating hours. 

#2 MOVE SPECIALS QUICKLY

Food waste is the one of the top sources of lost revenue in the food service industry. Restaurants need to use available ingredients at the peak of freshness, or they risk throwing money down the drain. Use iZigg messaging to promote your weekly specials and increase specific item orders. Have too much of a certain ingredient or dish? Get those dishes out the door and onto diners’ plates with mass texts promoting your daily specials. Increase sales, reduce spoilage, and keep ingredients fresh with smart messagin campaigns.

#3 SEND MOBILE COUPONS

Mobile restaurant coupons are more than 10 times as likely to be redeemed as paper coupons! With SMS & MMS coupons, your offers are more likely to get customers through your doors to patronize your restaurant. Send subscribers coupons and special offers tailored to their dining habits, and increase the likelihood they will become a loyal, return customer.

#4 RESERVATION REMINDERS

People are busy and plans can change. It is important for restaurants to make sure tables are filled and reservations are not forgotten. When you send a text reminder to your customers about their reservations, you can improve reservation fulfillment rates. Add two-way texting, and your customers can cancel or reschedule their reservations well in advance. iZigg can show you how to virtually eliminate empty tables, allowing you to better anticipate staffing needs and revenue.

#5 SURVEYS & FEEDBACK

Communication is key to customer satisfaction. If you want to address customer service and quality issues before bad reviews show up on Yelp or Google, iZigg can help. Text message surveys can help you gather feedback from your diners about what you’re doing well – and what you can improve. Poll diners about new dishes and seasonal or specialty menu items, and reward participants with priority seating or meal discounts.

#6 TABLE RESERVATIONS

If you have tables empty, send out notifications via SMS to let loyal customers know they can reserve a table for rapid service. Real-time table opening alerts allow your guests to use two-way text messaging to reserve their table. Once a guest makes a reservation through texting, give them a taste of their dining experience and improve fulfillment. Send guests with reservations a picture of their specific table, menu specials, or live entertainment.

#7 MMS MENU PROMOTIONS

Traffic dropping to your website? Post a list of your top-selling items or dishes on your website. Then craft a beautiful MMS message to tease your diners’ palates and get their mouths watering. Combine your MMS message with a link to your menu, a coupon or special, or even a reminder of seasonal dishes. MMS messages can help increase online customer orders, foot traffic to your restaurant and text or app-based delivery orders.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

Follow the practices above to improve client engagement and watch satisfaction rates soar! And check out our other articles for more advice on specific industries and use cases.