Marketing automation has come a long way since its inception. In the current age, a huge part of marketing operations can be left to AI-powered systems. Regardless of the industry you belong to, there are automation tools that are sure to increase your business performance.
If you are part of the restaurant industry, either as a restaurateur, manager, or marketing executive; you definitely know the amount of importance it holds in terms of business growth and stability. With the help of marketing automation tools, you can actively ensure that various aspects of the marketing process are always being carried out at top-notch standards. What’s more, is that these systems can provide services that would be extremely difficult for a person to perform manually.
Are you new to the world of marketing automation and don’t know where to start? Here is a quick list of 5 automation tools that any restaurant can use to achieve a holistic marketing operation.
Email-campaigns
Restaurants and emails, doesn’t sound right, does it? But you’d be surprised to know that at least 50% of restaurant reservations are made as a reply to some form of lead campaign. And when you use a well-written email to invite your prospect customers to make a reservation at your restaurant your chances of success are definitely increased. With the help of an email campaign automation tool, you can send out such invites when you have a special offer or event at the restaurant, or even on their anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
This is not the end of the functions that an email campaign serves you. You can use such tools to send personalized emails to guests after they visit your restaurant. This allows them to remember your brand better and provides an overall warm experience. Email campaigns are one of the best tools that any restaurant can use to uplift its customer experience.
Customer review generation
It is imperative for a restaurant to have good customer reviews on their page. This draws in more customers and also increases overall online ranking. A prospect customer is highly likely to choose a restaurant that has a better rating and reviews than others. And with the help of automation tools you can have your customers generate easy reviews. This form of automated marketing is even more important when it comes to cloud kitchens.
You can also customize these reviews with the help of these automated systems. For example, you can have the basic star rating for overall experience, and then ask for further review of the food, the ambience, etc.; and end it with a small personal message. This not only provides a great overview of your restaurant to prospective customers but also makes your reviews look unique. Automated review generators will be able to send review requests to your guests on their smart devices, and also have the reviews shared on your website and social media pages. So, you get to sit back while the presence of your restaurant grows automatically.
Click here to know how to effective ways to do social media marketing for your restaurant.
Customer content generation
Sometimes you need to go one step ahead of asking your customers for a review of the restaurant alone. And in such a case asking them to click a photo of their food and send it to you, which you can then instantly share on your social media pages, is one of the best marketing strategies available. The ability to perform this in real time provides even greater benefits as other prospective customers are highly likely to order from a restaurant when the food that has just ordered from an establishment pops up in their newsfeeds. So, cloud kitchens once again can gain added advantage from the use of customer content generators.
The online world has ensured that customers trust other customers. And there is no better way to cash in on that than using image based marketing tactics.
Personalized offers and deals
Giving out a good offer has always been one of the best marketing tactics for a restaurant. But with automation, you can take it one step further and provide personalized offers to your guests. If you have someone who comes in for coffee and breakfast often then they can be provided with a free coffee voucher, whereas if someone likes to eat pizzas, then you can give them a pizza discount.
This will automatically increase the value of your restaurant and provide you with more returning customers. Such automated systems work with the help of customer data so you need to make sure that you are storing all the necessary data and using high-end analysis systems. This allows you to know the personal aspects of your customers and use them for marketing purposes.
GPS based automation
Do you serve in a busy locality? Automation can help you achieve the best usage of the busy hours. If guests who have visited your restaurants are in the vicinity you can use GPS based marketing automation tools to send them personalized invites to your restaurant. If it’s lunchtime or after office hours you can send out an invite for a special pizza offer or discount coffee hours to all patrons who are nearby.
This makes their process of choice much easier, and your brand will always stand out when they make the choice. Real-time marketing is something that is only possible through automated tools and every restaurant should make good use of them.
Summing Up
Marketing automation tools have revolutionized the restaurant industry. Whether you serve as a regular restaurant, a breakfast joint, or a cloud kitchen, you are bound to achieve a competitive edge with the help of these systems.
This list gives a good round-up of the most useful marketing automation tools out there, but you can always find more options that serve your purpose more accurately. Always keep in mind that getting the guests to share their personal information is the primary means of allowing these systems to work their best, so make sure you are investing in data management infrastructure as well.
