As a restaurant owner, you always have to be thinking of different ways to market your restaurant. In working through your marketing strategies, one strategy you should never ignore is SMS.
Mobile penetration is extremely high in Jamaica. There are over 3M mobile subscriptions on the island. With this statistic, text messaging is too great an opportunity to market your business and engage with customers to not be using it.
So, let’s look at how SMS can benefit your restaurant.
Text messaging for restaurants
One recommendation that is often given to business owners is to always collect email addresses. We want to go one step further and say that if you own a restaurant, you should also get cell numbers. And here’s why.
Emails can end up in the junk folder, be undelivered because of lack of data services, or could be lost in a sea of emails and not be read. However, most mobile phone owners will read their text messages. So, in addition to emails, you should include SMS marketing in your restaurant marketing strategies.
3 Ways SMS can make a difference in your restaurant
- Reach customers faster
Text messages have a high open rate as texts are more likely to be read quickly than other message formats. And with the instant nature of text messaging, you can get your restaurant promotions and specials in front of your target group faster.
- Improve customer service
Sending personalized messages or keeping the communication lines opens with customers is crucial to building a good relationship. Plus, you can use this avenue to create customer feedback mechanisms to ensure you are getting the information you need to improve your business.
- Drives sales
Text messaging is an important addition to an integrated marketing approach. Most consumers need to see your promotion at least 7 times before making a purchase. So, incorporate text messages as one of your marketing avenues to get your restaurant in front of potential patrons.
3 tips on how to leverage SMS for your restaurant business
Now that you’ve seen how text messaging can make a difference in your business, let’s look at how to leverage SMS to increase sales.
- Engage your current customer base
It is easier to get a repeat customer than to attract a new one. So, leverage your current customer base. They will remember to visit and eat at your restaurant – if you ask them to. You can also use text messaging to remind customers of their reservations or to allow them to make reservations.
- Offer special promotions and improve brand awareness
One of the easiest ways to get special promotions in front of an audience and to track how well it works is via SMS. With a system such as our SMS Connect, you have intuitive features to manage campaigns in real time and track your results.
- Create polls
Use SMS to create polls to gather information to make sure your next mobile marketing campaigns are a success. This also boosts customer engagement in your businesses.
SMS equals more results for less work
SMS is the modern restaurant management solution for businesses that want quick action and fast results. It is also one of the most affordable and cost-effective measures that gives you more for your investment.
How much easier is it for you to simply insert your promotions and manage your campaigns from an intuitive and easy-to-use site? To carry out all this and take advantage of SMS you need a system that can be automated, and which gives you control of your messaging.
If you would like to find out more about enhancing your restaurant business and improving sales, then download this SMS information booklet. You can also schedule a consultation with me and we can discuss how soon we can get SMS working for you and not the other way around.