Tag: Marketing

Supercharge Your Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are nothing new, from simple punch cards to sliding magnetic stripe cards, most loyalty programs involve some kind of physical card you carry around all the time. Customer loyalty is a major component of any business especially when considering the fact that it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one.

Traditional Loyalty Program Benefits

For years, loyalty programs have been a proven way to increase repeat customers, increase customer spend, and ultimately increase sales. Businesses have seen consistent returns and continue to pursue some form of customer retention or loyalty initiative. Customers enrolled in loyalty programs become more engaged and build a stronger relationship with businesses that reward them for their loyalty, as they feel the business is giving back to them resulting in an increased perceived value from the customer. Traditional examples of loyalty program setups include “Buy 10, Get 1 FREE” and “Spend $50 and get $5 back.” These linear, standard, and non-dynamic rewards are a very simplistic and basic program. With today’s technology, businesses should look at rewards programs differently, and be more proactive vs. passive to leverage the power of their programs. Continue reading Supercharge Your Loyalty Program

3 Ways To Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing

By far, the most effective form of marketing is word-of-mouth marketing.  I trust my friend over a random advertisement I see on a TV spot or on a billboard at a mall.  If my friend recommends that I eat at Jamba Juice, then I’m very likely to go to Jamba Juice the next time I crave a smoothie.

The hard part is getting customers to tell their friends, family, and co-workers about your location.  Even harder is tracking referrals so that you effectively reward only successful referrals.

This post highlights two easy methods that increase the possibility of referrals, and one proven, advanced method that has shown to not only incentivize referrals, but also provide you with the ability to track and reward successful referrals (this method utilizes the RewardMe product).
Continue reading 3 Ways To Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Can Your Restaurant Afford to Make this Mistake? (Part 1 of 2)

I once went to a presentation by the President of Blenz Coffee, George Moen. Blenz is an international coffee chain that has over 85 stores internationally and growing. George offered this piece of advice for any business: If there’s time to spare, use that spare time to market and advertise your business as much as possible.

Marketing isn’t as simple as printing up business cards, and having people handing out flyers at the door during a slow night. Marketing requires discipline and understanding the habits of your customers and their use of technology.

Great Marketing Depends on Technology Trends:

Much or marketing depends on the trends of technology and the relationships that customers have with technology. What happens is that when a restaurant grows successful is that it often becomes complacent and uses old forms of media to continue to promote the restaurant. Continue reading Can Your Restaurant Afford to Make this Mistake? (Part 1 of 2)

Top 3 Social Media Tools to Market Your Restaurant (Part 2/2)

Welcome back! In the first part of this series we looked at how Facebook was used to market a restaurant, int this article we’ll look at how Twitter and Mobile Marketing can be used to promote your restaurant to customers so that they always think about you.

Social Media Tool Number 2: Twitter

I’m going to say it again. It’s all about the two way interaction.
Twitter was designed so that people could interact with others but they had to do it under 140 characters. The first pitfall is that most restaurants don’t have a Twitter ID. Please go to Twitter and get one. By not having one, you’re missing out on some free promotions. I’ve been on Twitter where people asked around “Does anyone know if (name of a restaurant) has a Twitter handle?”

The second pitfall that many restaurants have is that they just send out a bunch of tweets of what’s happening in their restaurant, or what kind of deals they have, or “please retweet this message to get a discount. ” This doesn’t leave a lot of room for interaction. Customers want to feel valued, not ignored.

When you have a Twitter account, follow local people and start tweeting with them. Interact with them and respond to their comments. When someone tweets you back, start to have an online conversation with them. Retweet messages of others that may be relevant to your local community. Trust me, those that love you will tweet about you often. Check out @sweetmandarin to see how they’ve successfully interacted with customers. Continue reading Top 3 Social Media Tools to Market Your Restaurant (Part 2/2)

The Modern Barcode: Integrating The Physical And Online Worlds

QR codes, or “Quick Response” codes as the abbreviation stands for, are becoming more prevalent in American life every day. They can be found on store windows, on the side of buses, at cash registers, and even in bathrooms. What are these things, and where are they all coming from is the question that runs through many of our minds. For the vast majority of Americans, QR codes, pioneered by technology leaders such as Adobe, are still new. But quick education and mass adoption seem to be under way.

QR Code Origins

QR codes were originally developed in Japan in 1994 by a Toyota subsidiary primarily used for tracking parts of manufacturers. Ever since then, southeast Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea have been quick to adopt QR codes into everyday life. These special barcodes scan very fast and have the ability to display text, compose an email, link to a URL, or take a specific action if scanned within a particular application. The majority of mobile phones in Japan and South Korea have built-in QR code readers which almost instantaneously decipher and generate the link or action designed to take place. Continue reading The Modern Barcode: Integrating The Physical And Online Worlds

The Best Way to Attract New Customers

One of the biggest issues for restaurants is getting new customers to come a restaurant.  While most restaurants will have a loyal following of customers, many of these customers will only be around for so long. Some will move to a different part of the city, others may not be able to eat out as much due to the recession, while others will go to the newest and hottest restaurants in the city.As the former manager of a cafe myself, I believe the best way to get new customers in the door is through referrals. No coupon, website, or paper advertisement can be as powerful in getting a person to try a restaurant as a close friend recommending a restaurant.

Why referrals are so valuable

Here’s the trouble with referrals: they tend to come sparingly. They either come when someone has just finished eating at a restaurant a day or two later at most or they only recommend when someone asks for a great restaurant for a special occasion. If you’re lucky, a customer that likes your restaurant will recommend it 3 or 4 times a year. Continue reading The Best Way to Attract New Customers