“Have you recently been scrolling your phone and stopped because you saw an ad that was exactly what you’re thinking? That’s not a coincidence,” says Brittany Oat, CEO and founder of bSocial Strategy. “Your competitors are (customizing messages). If you’re not, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.” “Oat spoke about the criticality and evolution of personalized marketing during the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago,” reported Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) in a recent article.
Personalized marketing is increasing in popularity, so much so that some of the largest chains in the restaurant industry are committing large portions of their budget to it. The NRN article begins with the claim that it is now a necessity for restaurants wanting to reach their target audiences.
Part of this is the normalization of personalized marketing—consumers have come to expect easy access to what they want to find. And according to NRN, “62% of consumers now say a brand will lose their loyalty if they deliver an experience that is not personalized.”
“To achieve such personalization, Oat said it’s important to leverage customer data, like income levels, demographics and interests, from email lists, app memberships, and leads. Finding such data is easier than ever with tools like AI and social media listening,” cites the NRN article.
It is the growth of AI and the uptick of phone usage after the pandemic that have contributed to the steep rise in personalized marketing, which was already ramping up pre-Covid with personalized loyalty programs and targeted social media ads. Now, customer data mining is an easier task, making the necessary information readily available to business owners.
“Be transparent with communication with customers. If you tell people why you’re doing it, they’re going to be ok with it,” Oat advises. She says to create a detailed strategy, and then, “pick three audiences per quarter to focus on. What audiences drive the most sales, or are you looking to grow? What audiences are you missing?”
Capturing customer data and utilizing social media marketing tools to refine your target audience reach will feed the algorithms to maximize your marketing reach. Richard Weil, owner and principal of National Restaurant Consultants weighs in on this trend. “A key business strategy is, to not only stay on top of what is the latest and greatest, but to also be at the top of the learning curve. No matter if your operation is a chain, regional or independent, the technology is available to learn and execute.”
Our restaurant consultants have been designing menus and marketing plans for specifics target audiences for decades. Now, with social media and AI, targeting the right audience is easier than ever. Working with our consultants to engineer your menu and then marketing with advanced social media tools creates a customized, personal experience that will reach existing and new customers in an inviting, effective manner.