Restaurant Texting

Bring Business to Your Restaurant with These SMS Marketing Messages

There is a lot of competition among restaurants, so it is important to find ways to reach your potential customers and get them to choose you over the competition. One way to do so is SMS marketing, which has a high engagement rate and is very popular with customers. To take full advantage of this lucrative marketing channel, it is important to find the right messages that resonate with your clientele. If you are having a hard time coming up with ideas, try one or more of the following messages.

Happy Hour Specials

Happy Hour is a long-standing tradition in the restaurant and bar business. Promote your Happy Hour specials to your SMS marketing subscribers with a text. Text messages are typically opened within just a few minutes of receipt, so you can send the message just a few hours prior to the start of Happy Hour. This provides the idea to people to head to Happy Hour at the end of the workday without time for them to forget or decide upon another venue.

An example of this type of text message is

"Join us for Happy Hour today and get 2 for 1 drinks by showing this text."

Easy Deliver Options

When people are stuck at work all day unable to head to your restaurant for a meal or wish to remain at home for a nice relaxing day in, they will be interested in your delivery options. If your restaurant is equipped to handle delivery, remind your SMS marketing subscribers about your services. Provide a deal just for delivery or highlight your delivery menu. This works really well when sent right near lunch or dinner time to capitalize on an already hungry crowd.

This type of text might look like

"Enjoy a delicious meal without any work on your part with our delivery service. Call or click here to order and get 20 percent off."

You would just include your phone number or a link to your website if you have online ordering enabled. This makes it very easy for people to order as soon as they see the text.

Offers and Deals

Any offer or deal works well for your SMS marketing program. There are special times that it makes sense to promote, such as happy hour or lunchtime specials. However, you always want to provide value to your customers to retain them as subscribers. One way to do this is to send out exclusive coupons for your restaurant through your texting program. For extra motivation, include an expiration date on the coupon so that people feel motivated to take action right away.

An example of a strong coupon is

"After a long day at work, you deserve a treat. Enjoy a free dessert with an entrée purchase after 5 p.m. by showing this text. Deal expires on [date]."

New Menu Poll

Although many restaurants turn to SMS marketing for driving business through specials and coupons, this is only a small part of text message marketing. There are many ways to engage with customers through your texting program. One way to really get customers involved is through sending out a poll. The perfect time to do this is when you plan to make changes to your menu. Ask customers what they would prefer added and provide a few keywords with which they respond to vote. The keyword with the most texts wins. This helps you to continue to provide items on your menu that meet your customers' desires.

An example of this type of text is

"What dessert should we add to the menu? Click here to view the options and text the corresponding keyword to [shortcode] by [date] to vote."

Create a page on your website with pictures and descriptions of the options and the corresponding keyword. Alternatively, you could text something like

"Which type of pie should we add to the menu? Text apple, pumpkin, peach or key lime to vote."

These are just a few examples of texts you can send to your SMS marketing subscribers to drive business to your restaurant. A combination of coupons and offers with texts that engage the customers will help you to get repeat business and turn customers into loyal diners.

Ready to implement a texting program for your restaurant? Try ClubTexting for free to start taking advantage of this powerful marketing channel.

 

 

6 Ways to Incorporate Text Message Marketing to Boost Your Yogurt Business

Frozen yogurt shops are a popular business. One way to help your yogurt or ice cream shop stand out from the competition is to incorporate text message marketing. This marketing channel is highly versatile, easy to use and cost-effective, which is why many businesses, both small and large, have decided to add it to their overall marketing strategy. If you are wondering how to incorporate text messaging to give your yogurt business a boost, then try one or more of the following text message campaign ideas.

Poll for Help to Decide a New Flavor

One selling point for yogurt businesses are the different, unique flavors you offer beyond your simple chocolate and vanilla. You have the opportunity to get creative with your next concoction, and you can get your customers and potential customers to help, too. Run a poll to determine which flavor to add by assigning special keywords to two or more possible flavors. Your customers simply have to text the keyword that matches their flavor of choice to vote. The keyword with the most texts wins, and you have your newest flavor. This also helps to build customer attention and engagement, which draws business during and after the poll.

Run a Text to Win Contest

A popular way to incorporate text message marketing to boost business is to run a text to win contest. This type of contest is easy to run and helps you to gain more subscribers for your texting program. By marketing the contest through your regular channels, including social media, TV, radio, and print ads, you can increase the excitement about the contest, as well as widen the potential audience pool. Adding an incentive, such as a coupon just for entering, increases the number of people who join the contest. If those who join your contest also opt in to your texting program, you have a much larger pool of potential leads to convert to customers in the future.

Situational Offers and Deals

Text message marketing is the perfect forum for situational marketing, or marketing that takes advantage of a current event. Most people open a text message within just a few minutes of receipt, which means that any time-sensitive or last-minute deals will be read right away. By making a message time sensitive, you encourage customers to take action right away, increasing the potential for success of the offer. Send out offers and deals based on sporting events, holidays, the weather, or simply to increase business on a slow day. You might take advantage of an unseasonably warm day to get people to come into your yogurt shop with a special, texted coupon offer.

Loyalty Program

Start a loyalty reward program that provides incentives for customers to return to your yogurt shop rather than visiting a competitor. Text message marketing provides a forum through which you can do this that is also attractive to customers. About 70 percent of consumers believe that texting is a beneficial way to get their attention. Texting services make it easy to group your customers based on demographics and behavior, so it is possible to have a group designated as your loyal customers or VIPs. Send special, exclusive discounts or other rewards to those customers to reward them for their patronage.

Digital Coupons

One of the most common ways that companies incorporate text message marketing is to send out digital coupons. Many people carry their phones with them at all times, so mobile coupons have become increasingly popular and convenient. Text customers a discount or offer for your yogurt shop, and many of them will decide to take advantage of it and head to your shop. They may even do so immediately or without having planned to do so, since they do not have to print anything or otherwise worry about having to carry something additional with them.

Call to Action

It is possible to simply include texting as a call to action as your other marketing collateral. It is a powerful call to action with a high engagement rate and high open rate. It is also easy to include on your regular ads, since you simply need to include a keyword and short code. Use a keyword that matches your advertisement to help it stand out. To further increase the success of your ads, offer customers a reward for texting back and opting into your program.

There are many more ways to incorporate text message marketing to boost your yogurt business. Many of these complement one another, making it easy to create a texting program that retains its value and does not get stagnate over time.

Ready to see how texting can boost your yogurt shop's business? Try ClubTexting for free.

 

 

How to Use Text Message Marketing to Organize Your Valentine's Day Event

It's almost time for Valentine's Day, which means that you only have a few weeks to organize your special holiday event. One invaluable tool to help you is text message marketing. It not only be used to promote your event, but it also provides a way to communicate with guests, volunteers and staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly. If you are unsure how to get started with text message marketing, try one of the following approaches.

Promote Your Event

Effective text message marketing is a fantastic way to enhance your promotional capabilities. You can add a text-based call to action to your marketing collateral, which gives your prospective attendees an easy way to engage with your promotional materials. Add a keyword, phone number, and other information about your texting service to TV, radio, and print ads, as well as any flyers you hand out. Then, ask your customers to send a text to find out more information about your event or even RSVP.

Increase Attendance with Last Minute Reminders

Promotion with a SMS-based call to action is one of the first steps of getting people to your event. The second step is to use your text message marketing campaign to remind your subscribers about the event. People's schedules get busy, making it easy for them to forget about an event. The day before your event, you can send a reminder to those who have tickets and/or all subscribers to increase attendance. Texts have an almost 100 percent open rate and are read within a few minutes, so you can be sure your subscribers will see your reminder.

Poll Your Audience

As you create plans for your Valentine's Day event, you may start to wonder about what your audience will want. Use text messages to collect their input. You can send out a poll asking your customers what they would like to see, along with a few keywords that stand for each possible outcome. Then, your customers can text the keyword that best matches their preference, and the keyword with the most texts wins. Use text message polls to help you figure out a decoration theme, music, menu items, and more.

Organize Your Staff and Volunteers

Text message marketing does not just have to be about you interacting with your customers and guests; it also works as a way to interact with your event staff and volunteers. It is possible to create groups in your subscriber list, and send targeted messages. You will also be able to receive texts, allowing your staff members and volunteers to get in touch with you with any questions or problems. It is often much easier and faster to send a quick text than it is to email or call, making it a much more efficient way to communicate with your staff and volunteers to ensure a seamless event.

Text message marketing can help you spread the word about and organize your event. If your organization is planning a special Valentine's Day event, use a texting service to ensure it runs smoothly. Try ClubTexting for free to enhance your Valentine's Day event organization.

6 Ways to Use SMS Marketing to Drive Your Food Truck Business

If you own a food truck business, it is important your clientele can find your truck no matter where you park. Many food trucks rely on social media to inform followers of their next location, but SMS marketing provides a better way to update customers on where you are. There are several ways to use text marketing to grow your business and ensure that your patrons always know where to find you.

Text Your Location

One of the best things about this communication channel is that text messages have a high open rate, increasing the chance that your subscribers get your message. When you post your current location on your website or social media accounts, there is no guarantee that your customers will actually see the update. Alternatively, when you text your customers directly, they will be able to pick up your message quickly and make their lunch plans.

Specials

Your food truck may offer special menu items every day or simply do occasional promotions. Sharing your menu specials via text message can help to increase your business for the day. If you have several specials, then you can highlight one and include a link to your website that details the rest of the information in the text.

Offers and Discounts

It is also beneficial to use texting to share exclusive offers and discounts to your followers. These offers provide a little extra incentive to stop by for a bite. After all, everybody loves a good discount!

Turn Around a Slow Day with Last Minute Deals

Text messages are the perfect way to share last minute deals. If you're having a slow day, send out a text to your subscribers with a last minute deal that is only redeemable that day. If you time it well, you can reach them when they are deciding what to do for lunch. A limited time deal will motivate them to choose your food truck over the competition.

Contests and Scavenger Hunts

Another way to use SMS marketing to boost your food truck business is to develop contests and scavenger hunts. Text to win contests are easy to run and have the added benefit of growing your texting subscribers. You can promote your contest on print ads, your website and social media, and on your truck itself. Your customers can text a keyword for a chance to win something, such as gift cards, free meals, and more. It is best if everyone gets a small reward for entering.

As a mobile business, it is also possible to create a game out of letting people find you through a scavenger hunt. Although you do not want to make it too difficult, it can drive business and excitement by engaging your customers. If you choose to do this, consider providing a special incentive for customers who participate.

Polls and Other Feedback

You can also choose to receive feedback from your customer via text message. Many people prefer to handle customer service communication through text messages, but a lot of companies do not think to offer this service. Furthermore, it is easy to send out polls to your subscribers to gain invaluable insight. You simply have to send out a question along with two to four keywords. Your subscribers text back the keyword that matches their answer choice. Then, the keyword with the most texts is the winner. You can use polls to develop a new menu or decide where to park the next day.

SMS marketing is a great way to communicate with your customers and enhance engagement. Clever text message campaigns not only let them find your food truck; they also motivate them to choose you more often

Try ClubTexting for free to see how it can help you reach your customers.

 

 

5 Creative Text Marketing Messages to Increase Sales at Your Bakery

Starting and running a bakery seems simple enough -- create delicious treats with sweet, gooey frosting and watch the money roll in. However, no matter how yummy or sugary your baked goods, you have to open your doors and get the customers to your bakery if you want to share your pastries, bread, cupcakes, and other treats with the world. One quick and easy method to increase sales at your bakery is through creative text marketing messages.

Don't Forget National Donut Day

Effective text marketing is more than just blasting your subscribers with random text messages. Bakeries have an edge over other types of businesses simply because of the many holidays and events in which customers rely solely on baked goods. Make sure you are sending out text messages on the big dates but don't forget the holidays and events that aren't always as popular like Secretary's Day, Boss's Day, and of course, National Donut Day. Even if your particular bakery doesn't offer donuts, it doesn't hurt to give your customers an excuse to stop by for a treat.

Send Drool-Worthy Picture Messages

If the popularity of platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram are any indication, people love pictures of food. In fact, the top Pinterest pins are often those including some type of exquisite dessert or baked good. When you send out your text messages, make sure you include a picture of the bakery's cake of the day, an assortment of pastries, or products that are brand new to your bakery. Just like the aroma of bread baking, picture messages can lead hungry customers directly to your bakery.

Skip Boring Messages and Opt for Text to Win and Exclusive Offers

While it's important to occasionally include special deals and discounts in your text marketing campaigns, make sure you aren't sending offers that are too easy to ignore. Unless it's during the holiday season, customers are unlikely to go out of their way for a 10 percent discount on a $2.00 pastry. However, if you can text an offer to win big or an offer that feels exclusive to the customer, you not only establish a more personal relationship, but there's a better chance he or she will stop in at your bakery.

Spread the Sugary Love and Bring a Friend

At first glance, it might seem difficult to involve others in personalized texting campaigns. However, you can encourage your customers to share and forward text messages in order to help spread the word. Further, consider text marketing campaigns asking customers to bring a friend with them to the bakery in exchange for a special treat or offer. This not only gets your customer to your bakery but can translate to new customers in the future.

Inspire Sharing in the Workplace

Let's face it. Everyone at work loves the person who brings in the donuts and the day just goes better if you start out with treats. When you send out your text messages, make sure you include offers for the workplace. Provide special deals for coworkers and employers, and before you know it you'll turn entire companies into fans of your baked goods.

You have an assortment of delicious baked goods, now you just need to get your customers to the bakery. Contact us to get started on a creative text marketing campaign for your bakery.

 

 

How to Drive Business to Your Cafe with Mass Text Messaging

To compete with other cafes, especially the large national chains, you need to stand out from the crowd. Mass text messaging offers an ideal way to do this. It is relatively inexpensive and the open and conversion rates for marketing texts are high. The following ideas should help you start driving more business to your cafe with an SMS program.

The Perfect CTA


Include a CTA about your texting campaign in TV ads to increase your opt in rate.

If you want to encourage customers to opt-in to your text marketing campaign, start with a call to action related to your program. You can include a keyword and short code or long code on your print ads, television ads, radio ads, and digital ads. That way, no matter where your customers are, when they see or hear your ad, they can sign up for your texting campaign instantly.

Offers and Deals

People love to save money, so one of the best ways to drive business is to offer special deals via text message. Routinely sending out valuable offers for food or beverage items at your cafe can help turn one-time or occasional customers into loyal customers.

Take Advantage of Perfect Advertising Spaces


Use the space in your own cafe to promote your program.

You don't need to spend a lot to advertise your text marketing campaign; you can take advantage of spaces you already own in your shop. For instance, you can advertise on your menus, napkins, napkin holders, table cloths, cups, and anywhere else that you also have your logo. Just add two simple lines of text with your keyword and short code and other pertinent information. To increase opt-ins, consider offering a special deal for signing up that can be redeemed that day.

Text to Win, Polls, and Surveys

Get creative with your text messages to engage with your cafe customers. Polls and surveys help you to discover what your customers want from your business so that you meet -- and even exceed -- their expectations. You can also develop a text to win contest, offering your customers a special grand prize, such as free coffee for a month. Text to win contests are easy to run, easy for customers to enter, and can help generate interest in your business and drive sales, especially if you include a small prize for entering, such as one free coffee or a special discount.

Loyalty Program


Reward the loyalty of your text message subscribers with occasional special deals.

Your mass text messaging program can be used to support (or in lieu of) a card membership loyalty program. It is easy to segment your text message subscribers into groups. For example, you can track your customers' purchasing data and send exclusive offers to those who spend a certain amount at your cafe to thank them for their loyalty. This helps your business all around, since 82 percent of customers shop more frequently with businesses that offer loyalty reward programs.

Mass text messaging is a simple way to engage with customers and drive business. Because it has a significant impact and a relatively low cost, it is a marketing channel that helps level the playing field for smaller cafes interested in competing with larger chains. Contact us to get started on your first campaign.

The SMS Liqor Store Has Arrived!

During the early 2000s, a shadowy organization called Dial-a-Booze delivered vodka and beer to thirsty Glaswegians who were poorly served by the city’s strict licensing laws (which prohibits the sale of alcohol after 10pm and before midday). It’s ‘marketing’ was entirely word-of-mouth, everyone knew what it was, and enough of them had the latest phone number to keep the party going at 3am. A text message was all that stood between revelers and a trunk-load of drastically marked-up beverages.

Despite being treated by locals as if it were a vital public service, it was, of course, completely illegal. Skip 12 years and an ocean and the concept pioneered by Dial-a-Booze has become a legit enterprise. 

Drinkeasy is an SMS-based liqor store that doesn’t stop at the already-appealing idea of drinks-to-your-door. In true hipster style, the service peddles craft spirits produced by microdistilleries. It provides specific information on the source of each tipple. This is a smart move considering 24 hour grocery deliveries are already available to deliver the big brand products at cheap prices. Simply offering Smirnoff and Jack Daniel’s to mobile drinkers is not a USP; opening the door to a world of small-batch delights, not necessarily available at supermarkets, is.

The service is the brainchild of Nick Manning and Harry Raymond, the guys behind Swig, a drink-friendly social networking app. Since launching the app, they began receiving requests for drink recommendations, prompting the idea that they could combine their knowledge of local, small-batch liqor with a delivery service.

Right now, Drinkeasy is only available by invitation. But that, along with the selection of alcohol (which is currently limited to hard liqor) is expected to change in due course.

Take a Cue from Starbucks for Text Message Marketing Success


Coffee and text message marketing are two things Starbucks does very well.

Are you a restaurant owner interested in creating more effective text message marketing campaigns? Look no further than your nearest Starbucks. The coffee giant is known for creating engaging, unique campaigns which never fail to grab the attention of customers. Here are some of the ways the Starbucks team has achieved success with text message marketing, and here are some key lessons other business owners can learn from their example.

Build Engaging Content Campaigns

Sometimes a successful text message marketing campaign isn't about sharing coupons with your audience; it's about engagement. Last summer, Starbucks launched a unique content campaign which used humor and timely texts to promote their popular Frappuccino beverage. The "Frappuccino Fun All Summer Long" campaign featured short messages coupled with hilarious photos, which were sent to customers throughout the summer. Mobile subscribers who opted-in to Frappuccino Fun were treated to a handful of amusing texts monthly. The marketing team at Starbucks relied on engaging content to keep their brand in the forefront of their customers' minds.

Create Text Message Contests

Everyone loves participating in a good contest, especially if the prize is something appealing. In the past, Starbucks has launched a number of text message marketing campaigns related to contests. One good example of a successful contest was their recent promotion which offered a limited number of prizes to lucky mobile subscribers who answered a trivia question correctly. The first hundred people who shared the correct answer received a copy of a popular movie soundtrack, for instance.

Starbucks has also launched contests where participants submitted entries via text message for the chance to win free coffee. Contests like these are beneficial for a couple of reasons. They are a great way to generate buzz about your business and broaden your reach. Contests with prizes that can be redeemed in-store may also help increase foot traffic.

Share Special Promotions

In addition to content-based campaigns and text-to-win contests, Starbucks also distributes promotional offers to their mobile subscribers via text message. A simple text message marketing promotional campaign is easy to create and one of the most effective ways to drive sales. Whether you are offering your mobile subscribers a free cup of coffee or a discount on their next meal purchase, it's likely that many of your customers will be excited to take advantage of your special promotion. After all, it is difficult to resist a good deal - especially when the offer comes from a business that you patronize frequently.


Starbucks focuses on creating engaging, useful text message content for mobile subscribers.

If you are interested in taking your text message marketing efforts up a notch, consider following Starbucks' example. In the past, the popular chain has created engaging content campaigns to connect with customers, offered text-to-win contests, and used texts to deliver special coupons and promotions to their mobile subscribers. By keeping things light and fun and offering something of value to their audience, Starbucks has achieved mobile marketing success. If you are interested in writing your own text message marketing success story, try Club Texting for free today.

The Art of Making Mouths Water with a Text Message


A well-crafted text message can make potential customers hungry.

There are few things more delectable than getting a good deal on good food. If you are a restaurant owner that's interested in exploring how you can use text message marketing to increase foot traffic to your business with mouth-watering offers, there are a number of approaches you can take. Here are some tips that can help you craft a delicious text message marketing campaign that will whet your mobile subscribers' appetites.

Give Them Something Special

The easiest way to get a potential patron's attention is to offer them something special. Are you trying to increase foot traffic during dinner hours? Consider offering diners a free drink or appetizer with the purchase of their dinner entrée. Or perhaps your restaurant just opened and you are trying to raise awareness about your business. If this is the case, you may want to share something more general like a promotion that gives customers 15 percent off the total bill. Sharing a good deal with your audience is likely to catch their attention and entice them to take the next step and book a reservation.

Use Descriptive Language

Effective text messages strike a delicate balance between using descriptive language and keeping things relatively short. Messages should be appealing and interesting, but under the 160-character limit. If you are a restaurant owner, using descriptive language can get potential customers' mouths watering. For example, which of the following short passages is more delectable? "Get 10 percent off a burger" or "Hungry? Here's a ten percent off coupon for one of our delicious, juicy burgers." Adding a little bit of descriptive language goes a long way towards making a message more appealing for your customers.

Create an Informative Call to Action

Your call to action is much like dessert. Dessert is the most important part of every meal, and CTAs are the most important part of every text message. Potential customers need to know where your business is, when your offer is valid, and how they can redeem it. The call to action for your messages should clearly explain all of these things. An example of an effective call to action is as follows: "Show this message to your server at our 123 Oak St. location to get 10 percent off your meal. Offer expires Saturday at 5PM EST." It provides customers with the restaurant address, the offer, how to redeem, and how long it's valid. An effective CTA eliminates all confusion, making it more likely that potential patrons will take advantage of your restaurant's special promotion.


Using descriptive language in your campaign can encourage customers to stop in for a meal.

Want to increase foot traffic at your restaurant? Reach out to your customers via mobile! Creating a mouth-watering text message marketing campaign is as simple as following these three steps. By creating an enticing offer that uses descriptive, direct language, you'll increase the likelihood that potential customers will take the next step of booking a reservation at your restaurant. If you are interested in getting started with your first text message marketing campaign, try Club Texting for free today!

How Mass Texting Can Make Your Super Bowl Event a Winner


Super Bowl Sunday is a popular time to socialize with friends.

Super Bowl is a big deal in the world of sports. A record-breaking 111 million people tuned in to last year's matchup between the Broncos and the Ravens. Sports fans plan parties at home and search for the best bars and clubs in town to enjoy the game. If you are interested in attracting more patrons to your business for this year's big game, there are a number of approaches you can take. Among the most effective is creating a mass texting campaign to grab the attention of local consumers. Here's how mass texting can make your Super Bowl event a winner.

Raising Awareness about Your Event Quickly

February is approaching fast! New Years is over and the next big social event for many people is the Super Bowl. Many bars and clubs have already begun marketing their businesses leading up to the big game. Potential customers are mapping out their monthly calendars and thinking about their Super Bowl plans. If you feel like you're a little behind with your marketing efforts, a mass texting campaign can help you get ahead of the game again. Long code text marketing campaigns can be set up quickly, and mass texting is an effective way to raise awareness about your business in time for the Super Bowl. Recent data estimates that text messages have a 98 percent open rate. Mass texting represents a huge opportunity for your business.

Sharing Information about Special Promotions

Many bar and club owners choose to run exclusive promotions related to the Super Bowl. Perhaps you're planning to offer customers a discount or your business has a special menu featuring delectable game day appetizers. Consider using mass texting as a channel to share information about any specials you're having in honor of the big game. Many potential customers have a hard time resisting a good deal, and a well-crafted text marketing campaign can help you attract their attention as the Super Bowl approaches.

Ongoing Benefits of Mass Texting

Not only is mass texting an effective way to connect with mobile users before game time, it can also be used as a tool to improve customer loyalty for the long haul. Once potential patrons opt-in to receive communications from your business, you can connect with them over time to share information about promotions, new menu items, etc. Mass texting is a great way to raise awareness about your business and keep customers coming back again and again.


Make this year's Super Bowl Sunday a smash hit at your club or bar.

If you're interested in attracting more customers to your business for the Super Bowl this year, mass texting is an effective way to do it. Long code mass texting campaigns can be created quickly and used to transmit information about special game day promotions your business is offering. Open rates for text campaigns are high, especially when you're providing an enticing incentive for your audience. Text message marketing can also be used to improve customer loyalty over time. If you're interested in launching a mass texting campaign to reach new patrons ahead of game day, try ClubTexting for free!

4 Reasons to Use Text Messaging for Your New Year's Eve Promotions


Many of your customers will be out celebrating on New Year's Eve.

It's hard to believe that 2014 is already coming to a close. With New Year's Eve just around the corner, many business owners have begun developing creative strategies to reach potential customers on the evening of December 31st. After all, it is one of the most popular nights out of the year. If your restaurant or club is hosting a special event in honor of the holiday, you may want to consider adding texting to your New Year's Eve marketing toolkit. Here are four reasons text marketing is an effective channel for your upcoming promotions.

New Year's Eve is one of the Most Popular Nights Out of the Year

Visit any major city or small town on New Year's Eve night, and you'll notice that the local establishments are packed with patrons decked out in their finest attire. The sheer amount of people out on the town represents an important opportunity for business owners. Chances are good that potential customers will be checking their phones frequently to see where their friends are hanging out. A well-crafted text promotion can help you connect with all these people directly.

Potential Patrons are on the Move

Restaurants and clubs can count on their customers being out and about on New Year's Eve. While some may have purchased tickets for events in advance, many others will be hopping from place to place meeting up with different groups of friends. A text campaign can help you connect with potential customers while they're on the go. Well-timed promotions could entice them to make their next stop at your establishment.

Your Customers are Texting

Just four short years ago, approximately 60% of smartphone users sent and received texts. Today, over 81% of smartphone users communicate via text message. If you're interested in attracting the attention of younger customers, the numbers are even more promising. In recent years, the average number of texts sent and received has been climbing steadily. Potential customers in the 18-24 age demographic send and receive an average of 2,022 and 1,831 texts each month, respectively. Their older peers in the 25-34 demographic send approximately 1,130 and receive 1,110. These numbers represent a key opportunity for businesses interested in reaching younger audiences on New Year's Eve.

Open Rates for Text Campaigns are Impressive

If you're investing in a marketing campaign, you want to be sure that you're getting a good return. Text marketing provides one of the best returns in the business. Open rates for text messages are close to 100 percent, whereas average email open rates are only about 22 percent. When customers opt-in to receive text communications from your business, you can feel confident that they're getting your message.


Connect with potential patrons via text message this New Year's Eve.

Text marketing should be a key component of your marketing toolkit this New Year's Eve. The fast-paced nature of the evening aligns perfectly with a well-crafted text campaign. Your customers will be on the move, checking their phones and communicating via text frequently, and they'll be looking for fun places to spend their evening. If you want to connect with new customers over the upcoming holiday, try ClubTexting for free!

Author Bio: Jess Shepard is a content writer who enjoys researching and writing about marketing, small business, and entrepreneurship.
<img src="http://www.mediashower.com/content?Action=tp&cid=18880" height="1" width="1" alt="" />

3 Lessons Learned From Starbucks' SMS Marketing

Starbucks is one of the most popular brands in the United States, but did you know that they're also an innovator when it comes to SMS marketing? Starbucks was one of the first companies to fully embrace mobile applications, and they continued their mobile focus by launching several successful SMS marketing campaigns.

Here are three lessons that you can learn from the success of Starbucks:

SMS Helps Increase Brand Loyalty

Major companies are investing in mobile marketing efforts, such as SMS, to help boost their brand loyalty. By closely tying in SMS marketing to mobile apps, loyalty memberships and exclusive perks, customers will have more reasons to choose your brand and return repeatedly.

After Starbucks SMS marketing push, they found that their mobile sales had increased a whopping 75% over last year. In addition, they found that twice as many customers were using their mobile app for payments (ten million people total). Because of the SMS campaign, these customers are now more fully integrated with Starbucks, and much more likely to continue returning to them.


SMS marketing campaigns sometimes feel like they're printing money!

It Helps You Stay Relevant

One of the most difficult challenges marketers face is staying relevant in an increasingly agile world. Marketing campaigns can be outdated before they go live, but SMS marketing is instant. Starbucks was able to take advantage of this by launching an extremely successful campaign for iced coffee drinks throughout the summer. They offered coupon codes, happy hours, and random deals throughout the summer. They added to the campaign by adding humorous, surprising touches, like a picture of a cat in outer space.

Starbucks has also had great success with their 12 Days of Christmas promotion where they offered a different gift for sale each week. Some of the most popular items they offered included refillable coffee mugs that could be used throughout the next month of January. By offering deals to drive the Starbucks brand for Christmas gifts, they were also able to incentivize the recipients of the gifts to return often the next month- turning them into customers, as well!

SMS Marketing Works Hand-In-Hand With Social Media

One of the reasons that Starbucks' SMS campaigns are successful is their terrific integration with social media. Starbucks uses their online presence to drive traffic to SMS, and vice-versa. This provides a great opportunity to grow your social media presence while also focusing on customer loyalty and sales!

This is how Starbucks was able to leverage their social media presence:

 

    • Offering incentives. Many of the opt-in forms posted by Starbucks promised gifts, coupons, or other promotions. Incentives have been proven to drive email subscriptions, so it isn't surprising that it would help boost SMS subscriptions, too.

 

    • Using media to stand out. Starbucks was able to grab attention by posting Facebook pictures of frappuncinos with faces in them, and tweeting pictures of dogs with coffee on a beach. The pictures were relevant, humorous, and demanded attention.

 

    • Drove awareness. Throughout their summer campaign, Starbucks continued to send out social media messages, which continued to get shared, favorited, and commented on. Their tight, relevant marketing message reached enough people to have a significant effect on mobile sales and app signups.

 


Social media is an SMS marketer's greatest ally!

Do you think you have what it takes to match Starbucks success? Give it a try for free by taking advantage of our free trial here!

From Fast Food to Fine Dining: Why Your Restaurant Needs SMS Marketing

The key to the success of any restaurant is developing a reputation that keeps current and new customers coming back. Word of mouth for a restaurant can mean the difference between success and failure. At Club Texting, we can put together an SMS text marketing campaign that will bring business to your restaurant and keep your business growing.

According to Mobile Marketing Watch, nearly nine out of every 10 text message recipients open the messages they receive. With Club Texting's SMS text marketing expertise, you can start generating more business for your fast food or fine dining restaurant and build the kind of reputation you have always wanted.


Get your restaurant marketing message in front of hungry customers.

Text Messages Are Environmentally Friendly

Since you are trying to establish a positive reputation for your restaurant, you should start with the fact that SMS text marketing does not waste paper or other materials. This environmentally friendly angle is extremely important to a large contingency of potential clients and will help to enhance your restaurant's reputation.

Text Messages Are Instant

People often make their meal plans in an instant. In some cases, you can get people to clip a coupon from the newspaper and then make the trek out to your location, but you can bring in even more customers if you cut down on the amount of work a customer has to do to enjoy your food.

A text message is delivered in an instant and you can have customers show your text message at the door of your restaurant to receive instant discounts. Your customers never have to worry about clipping coupons and you get to attract that crowd who is not sure what they want to do for lunch.

Text Messages Are Effective

According to Mobile Marketing Ratings, a restaurant owner can spend a small amount of money on a text messaging campaign and see big results.

For example, if you decide to put out an SMS text marketing message that offers a free drink with every meal purchased, then you know that at least 90 percent of those messages will be read. When new customers start cashing in that coupon to take advantage of the deal, that is when you will see the significant return on your text marketing message.


Fill your restaurant with happy customers by using SMS text marketing.

Text Messages Are Easy

Most restaurant owners are used to having to pay high prices for glossy newspaper ads that include coupons and color graphics. But with text messaging, all you need to do is write up a very short message and then reap the rewards. Text messaging is extremely simple and Club Texting can show you how to turn a very concise marketing message into a significant increase in business.

Whether your restaurant serves fine cuisine or you pride yourself on owning the best burger joint in town, you can benefit from the power of SMS text marketing. You will be able to reach a large audience who will read and respond to your message. When compared to the costs of doing most traditional forms of marketing, SMS text marketing is extremely cost effective and has a very high return on investment.

George N Root III is a professional freelance writer who has expertise in topics such as Internet marketing, business, advertising, and personal finance.

6 Ways a Restaurant Can Use Text Marketing

Text marketing is an affordable and highly effective marketing solution for restaurants of all sizes. Whether you own a corner cafe or are a Michelin starred restaurant, text marketing can connect you with your customers quickly, in a more personal way than e-mail marketing can offer. There are a multitude of ways that text marketing can be used to your business's advantage- but these six are among the most popular.

1. Run Giveaways for Subscribers

One of the easiest ways to bulk up your subscriber list is to offer a giveaway via text messaging. Customers text in to win the advertised prize and a winner is randomly selected once the giveaway is over. Mobile contests are a proven way to get customers excited while creating a useful database for future text promotions.


Text marketing is an affordable way to reach customers 24/7 and expand your business.

2. Accept Orders for Pick-Up or Delivery

Looking to expand your restaurant's pick-up and/or delivery services? Texting is an easy way for customers to order food, anywhere at anytime. Simply advertising the number on your website or in your restaurant can spread the word. A customer profile can be made by number which allows you to create orders instantly when a text comes in. Customers can then text what they want, when they want it, and payment can be automatically taken from the card registered with that particular person.

3. Announce Daily/Weekly/Monthly Specials

Have a new dish on the menu you want to promote? You can text customers an hour before lunch service with specials or promote a new season over the month. Reach all your loyal patrons instantaneously and update them with all the latest news and happenings in your restaurant.


Reach your customers when and where you want to.

4. Offer Special Coupons and Discounts

Coupons and discounts are always well-received. 2-for1 drink specials, free appetizers with dinner purchase, or even a 10% discount off the bill can be automatically sent to every person in your database. There is no printing or fuss required, they can simply show the mobile coupon at the table. Text marketing makes filling up those tables easy work.

5. Promote Your Online Presence

Domino's Pizza ran a highly successful text marketing campaign to promote their Facebook page and increase their likes. Text messages are ideal for connecting mobile users to a webpage, whether you want to reach more people on Twitter or simple expand exposure on your website.


Text marketing automatically connects your customers to your website or social media platforms.

6. Create Customer Loyalty Programs

Everyone wants to feel special and your customers will appreciate feeling like they are part of an exclusive club. Text marketing is ideal for getting in touch with a particular demographic and offering special incentives such as invites to events or member-only discounts. You can add a sign-up widget onto your website, and interested customers can enter their information and be contacted right away.

As you can see, restaurants are prime candidates to take advantage of text marketing and connect with their customers in new and innovative ways.

How Can My Restaurant Use Mobile Marketing?

Depositphotos_33263829_xs
 

Mobile marketing is a godsend for the restaurant business. Whether you’re running a franchise within a global chain of fast-food outlets, or trying to reach out to locals for a mom ‘n’ pop diner, leveraging the power of smartphones should be a central part of your marketing strategy. Here are the best applications of mobile technology for restaurants:

 

  1. Texting. This is the kicker. Cheap, fast, reliable – bulk texts can fulfill all sorts of dreams you may have for growing your business. You can use texting to send out menu updates, courtesy messages and reservation reminders. Set up an opt-in text list by offering promotions to customers who sign up. What’s the best way to do that? Read on…
  2. Mobile coupons. If you doubt the efficacy of this emerging form of discounting, think on this: mobile coupons have a redemption rate nearly 25% higher than printed internet coupons and around 10 times higher than mail or newspaper distributed coupons! Guess what else? They’re significantly cheaper than any other form of coupon, so if you’re considering getting into the coupon game, there really is no other option.
  3. Geo-fencing. This emergent technology uses GPS to define the geographical boundaries of a specific mobile device. It allows restaurants to trigger texts and emails to that device when it comes inside the boundaries. So if one of your customers is in the area, you can send them special offers based on their favorite dishes.
  4. Surveys and polls. Engage your customers directly by asking them what kinds of combination deals they might be interested in. For instance, would they prefer a lunch deal with two free sides or a starter and a dessert? Send out surveys to get feedback on customer service by asking for star ratings on your latest daily specials.
  5. QR codes. These are ideal for out-of-hours engagement. Set up sign on your store front with a QR code so if hungry customers are constantly walking by when you’re closed, you can think about the possibility of extending your opening hours.

 

Mobile marketing offers so many opportunities for localized, targeted customer engagement. For small restaurants, texting is an affordable way into the mobile marketing revolution, so if you’re hungry for customers, start changing the way you do business today.

4 Ways Text Message Marketing Benefits Bars & Clubs

Entry By Linda Doell

Like attention-grabbing neon signs pointing the way, mobile marketing can help bars and nightclubs attract and keep customers. A forward-thinking establishment can improve its connection with customers by offering coupons and other incentives right over their mobile devices.

For big nightlife holidays like Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, a mobile campaign can be the difference between a normal Tuesday night and a hugely profitable event.

Mobile marketing provides a huge potential market. In the three-month period from June to September 2011, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices, according a comScore MobiLens report. A whopping three-fourths of those used text messaging with the number of users increasing from 69.6% in June to 71.1% in September.

4 Tips To Make Your Bar Or Club Roar Like The Twenties
 

Bars and clubs can tap into that mobile clientele with a variety of mobile marketing approaches, including short message service (SMS), email, and quick response (QR) codes. Think of all the opportunity to get the word out about your business with an effective text message marketing campaign. Here's some of the top benefits of using mobile marketing, in no particular order:

  1. Target the audience: With mobile marketing, the message goes directly to the cell phone of the potential customer, unlike traditional advertising. Studies show that an average of 90% of text messages are opened and read, unlike the 20% average for e-mail advertising campaigns. Take a cue from TAO, one of Las Vegas' premier nightclubs, which started a successful text message marketing campaign as a way to inform customers about its weekly parties and DJ nights. TAO posted fliers throughout its establishment inviting customers to text a keyword to a short for exclusive deals.
  2. Control the message and its impact: Use a short code and a keyword on fliers and posters that give potential customers a simple call to action to respond. Each person who responds is actively interested in what the bar or nightclub has to offer. A nightclub could encourage customers to text to several different keywords as a way of managing its database. Sandbar Cafe in New Jersey manages its customers this way, with separate key words for its general mailing lists and VIP reservations. Separate lists for reservations are handy on heavy-traffic days like St. Patrick's Day.
  3. Build a relationship: Cultivate your database of customers and actively interact with them to keep them interested in your business. One way to do that is by regularly notifying them about promotions, sales and new products. Your business can also keep customers by sending them coupons for their loyalty. Use a mobile coupon on search sites like Google to offer discounts on drinks, food and cover charges. Valentine's Day is a couple night, so another good coupon would be a two-for-the-price-of-one promotion. On the other hand, St. Patrick's Day tends to be a group outing, so why not offer a coupon for a discount for groups of three or more? Mobile banner ads are another way to get that coupon out there. Use Foursquare and ValPak Mobile Coupons to reach consumers too.
  4. Grow clientele base: Use QR codes to link in with an SMS campaign to allow potential clients to sign up for the texting list. Use a street team to hand out VIP cards with the QR codes or short code and keywords. Allow customers to sign up for the text messaging from the nightclub's Facebook page or Twitter account, which will drive customers to the message list. Got a special for Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's? Send it out to the customers you have cultivated through mobile marketing and social media. Why not give them an extra incentive -- like a discount -- if they share the text, tweet or Facebook post? It would be more money in your pocket when their friends also respond.

Mobile marketing is all about reaching and connecting to people on one of their most-used personal devices - their cell phones. Potential customers who actively respond and are kept interested can be converted into loyal patrons.

Location Based Marketing For Restaurants...To Explode!

As consumers use their mobile devices -- especially smartphones -- more and more, you can expect a dramatic shift in the way restaurants market to their patrons:

Restaurants' use of location-based marketing to promote to and drive consumers to a particular restaurant while they are mobile will "explode" in 2011, predicts research provider Packaged Facts. 

As consumers' uptake of location-based services continues to mushroom, with check-in services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, Twitter geolocation and competitors "not only becoming ubiquitous, but also more sophisticated," context-aware restaurant advertising will take off "sharply" this year, the report notes.

Of course text message marketing is going to play a role here, given that the vast majority of consumers have never used location based services.

Learn more about how restaurants can market to their patrons using text messages.

Chili's Grill & Bar Offers Coupons Via Foursquare

For a limited time, foursquare subscribers who check in at Chili's Grill & Bar will receive a free order of chips and salsa. This restaurant, known best for its 'casual dining', is trying to connect with their customers by technological means, and its working!

 

“Chili’s Grill & Bar wanted to capitalize on the popularity of Foursquare to offer a cutting-edge incentive with our guests,” said Nicole Cochran, director of marketing at Chili’s Grill & Bar, Dallas, TX. “Additionally, our Foursquare offer is a unique way to leverage mobile marketing that is current and relevant.We feel this initiative is a great fit for our social and tech-savvy guests.”

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about mobile marketing for restaurants, visit Club Texting's restaurant page.

Bars Turn to Texting to Warn of Rowdy Patrons

Another great way to use text messages:

Bar owners and the police here have started a text messaging system to alert one another when a patron is removed from a bar, is overly belligerent or is seen fighting. The texts will include the person’s name, if it is known, a physical description or photo, and what the person was doing.

Read more @ NY Times.

McDonalds Launches Mobile Marketing Campaign To Introduce The M Burger

When McDonald's decided to roll out a new burger in France, they turned to the mobile channel:

The launch of the McDonald’s Corp.'s M Burger in France stood out for its innovative use of mobile advertising.

The fast food franchise ran banner ads on the Microsoft Advertising Mobile Media network. The brand used animated banner formats instead of traditional mobile banners.

The goal of the campaign was to drive awareness of the new McDonald’s M Burger among 25 to 44-year-old men and stressed the premium ingredients used to create it.

Read more @ Mobile Marketer.

Head over to Club Texting to read about mobile marketing solutions for restaurants.

Pages

Get started for free!

Sign up now