August 4, 2018 Posted by Pocketstop in Other Social Share
When customers search for a restaurant, 72% of people use a mobile device to find out information and 50% of these people are in a car, or on the go. Therefore, mobile marketing plays a huge role in customer relationships even before a potential customer enters the premises of your eatery for the first time.
Is your restaurant website mobile friendly? Has it been built in order to be responsive to both tablet and mobile devices?
Also, before choosing a restaurant, consumers will scour the internet using websites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp to see what other people have said about your establishment. Therefore, it’s crucial that you have a review strategy in place.
Many restaurants are turning to SMS marketing as a way of enhancing brand awareness and promoting various offers that offer exclusivity and unique benefits for their patrons. SMS marketing is also a way to build a well-organized database of contacts and customers, share menus, specials and sales, and also boost internal communications. SMS marketing is convenient, effective, and an instantaneous way to keep in touch with both staff and customers.
There are several ways by which to enhance your marketing effort and build your restaurant business with SMS marketing. Below are some points to consider that include best practice tips that will both educate and offer confidence in SMS marketing for restaurants.
Ensure That People Opt-In To Receive Texts From You
Every SMS marketing professional needs to adhere to this text message marketing regulations when contacting their customer database via SMS. By ignoring this rule, businesses may incur hefty fines if they are not permitted to utilize mobile numbers for their SMS marketing campaigns.
Just because a customer has made a purchase from you, or signed up to your mailing list, this doesn’t permit you to send a txt message to their mobile phone. People can be very protective around their personal mobile data and information, so air on the side of caution and keep email and SMS sign-ups separate.
A perfect example of how to encourage opt-ins from customers is to send out a short code opt in text to existing and new customers. Simply ask customers to reply back to your SMS with a short code word in order to opt-in for your exclusive marketing offers. Many businesses have successfully used this method to generate hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Learn To Write Concise, Effective Calls To Action
If you’re text message marketing recipients aren’t told exactly how to react to your SMS, the chances are they won’t do anything at all. Therefore, when crafting an effective SMS marketing campaign, ensure that you include calls to action that guide the recipient into taking the next steps.
Below are some of the effective calls to action that you can utilize to generate more business and traffic by way of SMS marketing.
- “Drop by today”
- “Like our Facebook page”
- “Reply to this message”
- “Use this unique discount code”
- “Show this to a member of staff”
- “Order online now”
- “Visit this website now”
Effective CTAs are brief and to the point. One of the most common SMS calls to action is “Reply X to X.” This and all other CTA variants help guide recipients to the next sequential step in order to make a purchase.
Before sending out your SMS to customers, think about how you would react if you received the same text. Would you respond? Are you happy with the overall tone and call to action? Does the SMS add value to the customer experience?
Consider Which Feelings Lead To Sales
When pitching a sale to a customer or potential customer, their emotions are ultimately what drive people to take action. People buy into brands and products because they believe that the product or service will make them feel something. There are six emotions that are proven to drive sales: greed, fear, envy, altruism, envy, pride, and shame.
Some companies utilize emojis to take the emotional aspect of sales to a new, relevant level. Domino’s recently asked their customers to send them a pizza emoji to let them know that they are ready to order via SMS.
Use Relevant Power Words To Evoke Emotions
The text messages that you send should reflect the emotion that you are trying to trigger from your customer or potential customer. Plan your words carefully, use words such as ‘VIP’ and ‘Exclusive’ when evoking a sense of individual importance inside a customer. Use words that evoke feelings and make your customers feel special and important. Sell your products using descriptions that make the customers feel real emotion as they read through your SMS.
What other words can help you trigger specific emotions? The list is endless, but the bottom line is this: choose words that are relevant to your brand. Just like a vegan cafe wouldn’t use the same phrases to appeal to customers as a five star–restaurant, neither should you.
Where Domino’s uses emojis, most restaurants rely on powerful language to make their point. Among the restaurants that prove the power of word-choice on SMS campaigns is Chick-fil-a, who used witty misspellings – “Chikin” in place of chicken – to grab their readers attention. The results of the campaign? A 65.3% spike in new website visits via social shares, including text messaging.
By knowing the ins and outs of opt-ins, to mastering the art of CTA writing, and everything in between, these four tips will help take your restaurant’s first text messaging campaign from good to great.
Pocketstop built M360 to streamline your restaurants SMS marketing campaigns from one simple interface. Our user-friendly platform contains powerful mobile tools and gathers instant results. 29% of recipients click on links in texts, 47% of those people make a purchase. By choosing M360 your restaurant can easily capture new leads whilst creating customer loyalty starting today.
Why not try a demo now?
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