SMS Marketing for Restaurants

SMS Marketing for Restaurants

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SMS Marketing for Restaurants

Did you know that restaurants have a great tool at their disposal in the form of SMS text messaging? Rather than relying on more traditional methods of engaging restaurant patrons, such as television ads, printed flyers, and even email newsletters, SMS marketing for restaurants provides a new opportunity for creating personal connections with those who dine out frequently.

Most SMS messages are opened three minutes of being received, which provides a great indication to the value text messaging can afford the restaurant business. Wouldn't you like to know with near certainty that your messages were not only being received but that they were also being read?

So, how can you include SMS in your restaurant marketing strategy?

Get customers to opt into receiving communications from your business by including a card or flyer at each table with a phone number for them to text to subscribe to receive coupons and promotions via text message. Once customers are subscribed, it is easy to offer them exclusive coupons and deals toward subsequent visits to make sure they become repeat customers.

SMS coupons can be great for limited time or one-day offers as they have such a high and quick open rate. Restaurant marketers can even personalize these messages to each recipient to increase the feeling of exclusivity. This can be done through the use of merge tags, which allow for the automatic insertion of subscribers' names, locations, or any other piece of information you have stored about the subscriber.

Adding these little touches of personalization serves to help make each customer feel valued and appreciated by the restaurant. This will make them want to keep coming back — especially if they now have a coupon they can use!

Another way restaurants can utilize SMS as a marketing tool is by configuring a shortcode number and associating keywords with it. A shortcode number is a five or six-digit phone number that is much easier to remember than a standard "longcode" number with an area code followed by seven digits. Shortcodes allow customers to easily text a certain keyword to the number to receive a quick, pre-configured message with information regarding the keyword used.

For example, a restaurant can use this method to provide customers with the daily menu specials. All someone has to do is text a keyword (such as WEDSPECIAL) to the shortcode and then they will automatically receive a reply with Wednesday's special. This is a neat, hands-of method for increasing engagement with restaurant patrons. Apart from pre-configuring the messages for each keyword, restaurant staff do not have to worry about monitoring the process manually and can let automation take control.

Interested in trying SMS marketing for restaurants?

Implementing SMS marketing for restaurants is not difficult at all. Especially if a restaurant takes advantage of an SMS automation tool that can provide an intuitive interface for creating messages and configuring shortcode keywords. SimplyCast's SMS Marketing tool has what your restaurant needs in order to obtain the maximum number of benefits from text messaging marketing. To learn more about this tool or to discover the rest of the automation tools SimplyCast provides, be sure to contact us today!

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