Mobile Marketing – Finding The Sweet Spot
Let’s face it. We love our phones. We talk, text, surf, tweet, post, check-in, schedule, update and play on them every single day. (And possibly in the middle of the night when insomnia strikes.)
And let’s also face the fact that we love to eat. The extra pounds we put on over the holidays are proof of that.
Restaurants who are able to reach us when our hunger hits, probably when we’re calling our spouse to ask the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”, may have landed on the sweet spot. Mobile marketing can help get diners back in their seats after a rough couple of years.
More and more restaurants are turning to mobile technology and social media to help lure in customers. According to Nation’s Restaurant News Chef Survey: What’s Hot in 2011, 74% of operators already use, or plan to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The mobile application Foursquare elicits mixed feelings in operators. A recent reader poll from the Restaurant SmartBrief shows 47% feel it’s an interesting concept, but view it as a fad, 35% aren’t fans and don’t feel compelled to give away free things to Foursquare’s “mayors” and a solid 18% think it’s a great marketing tool to drive loyalty and traffic.
A few local restaurants we think do a great job with mobile marketing and social media are:
Punch Pizza: This terrific Neapolitan pizza place generates loyalty through Facebook and Twitter, offering up frequent coupons to keep enthusiasts excited.
OM: This Minneapolis hot spot did a great job with Twitter when they opened. They had customers vote on everything from the colors and upholstery used to the type of soda they would carry.
Parasole Group Restaurants: This uber cool line up of restaurants does a bang up job of getting the word out via Facebook and Twitter.
Joe’s Garage, Barrio Tequila Bar, La Belle Vie and Rudolph’s Bar-B-Que are a few of the many local restaurants offering up deals on Foursquare. Check in and find out more!
What do you think? Who’s doing mobile well? We’d love to know!