SMS Marketing for Restaurants - How SMS Marketing Will Help to Boost Sales and Effectiveness of Restaurants?

It is crucial to get your restaurant at the forefront of consumers mind since more restaurants are popping up every day. With hundreds of evolving restaurants and cafeterias in the city, it is important to attract, retain customers and keep them coming back.

There are various marketing channels that restaurants are currently using to promote and attract new customers, such as social media, email marketing, billboards, flyers, along with TV and radio and the cost of these mediums can be very high.

Here are 3 ways that restaurants and cafeterias can use SMS to increase sales and customer satisfaction:

1. Send special offers via SMS – Send a personalized SMS with special offers which need to be used within a certain period, where the customers need to use it quickly. Customers will feel special and wanted when they receive personalised offers.
Eg: “Hi Lisa, we are offering a discount this weekend – 20% off all orders of RM30 or more. Bring your loved ones to enjoy the meal and save on us”.

2. Message customers when they made a reservation – send a reminder SMS to customers with their reservation details and thank them for making a reservation.
Eg: “Hi Simon, thank you for making a reservation with us tonight. Just to confirm your table for two is booked for 8.00pm. Please call us on 01******** if any changes occur”.

3. Send an SMS survey after their meal – Send a SMS to customers and ask a couple of questions about the food, service, and ambience. This can be sent an hour after they finish the meal or the next day, whichever you find best. This is because improving the dining experience of customers is important for an upcoming restaurant.
Eg: “Thank you for eating with us yesterday, would you mind answer a couple of questions so that we can improve our service to you. Reply ‘Yes’ to start the survey”.

Here are a few ideas for your restaurant SMS marketing campaign:

• Brand awareness and promotion. Promote your brand with short and precise SMS offers. Add your brand name and website in the SMS and never assume that customers know who you are.

• Attract new customers with exclusive deals. Exclusive restaurant offers such as student deals, monthly offers, vouchers and coupons can be used to attract new customers.

• Staff rostering. You can also use SMS for internal alerts to inform staff members of work schedules and recent updates.

People generally don’t think too much when their stomach is growling. Sending the right message at the right time will notably boost the sales with better ROI. SMS marketing is cost-effective and cheaper than other forms of advertising.

If you think SMS can help your business, be it in the food and beverage sector or another, you can set up an account with us completely free!