Improve Your Restaurant’s Revenue with SMS Marketing

SMS is one of the most opened and most responded-to forms of marketing communication. So, knowing how to use SMS marketing in your restaurant business can be a great way to communicate instantly with your customers. Whether it’s to confirm and manage their reservation, build customer loyalty, announce new menu options, or get feedback on their experience, restaurant SMS marketing messages can help owners drive even more business.

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How SMS is Transforming Restaurant Communication

In the restaurant business, every second counts. Whether it’s waiting to turn a table or preparing the perfect meal, timing is everything. Delivering the right message to your customers at the right time can provide a great lift to your business. And that’s why more and more restaurants are turning to SMS. 

Text message marketing for restaurants is simply using SMS texts to promote your restaurant directly to customers. There are so many benefits to SMS marketing for restaurants, including the ability to continue the conversation with customers after they dine in, take and confirm reservations, offer special text-only promotions, and more. Text messages can be a faster and more personalized experience for customers compared to other marketing channels, too. That means a better ROI on your marketing efforts.

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Immediate and High Engagement

With SMS text messages, you’re delivering your message right to the palm of customers’ hands. This means higher open rates because messages are read within minutes, not hours. With higher engagement and conversion rates, SMS text messages are perfect for time-sensitive updates and promotions.

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Personalized Customer Engagement

As we know, customers like personalization and text messaging offers the ability to personalize messages. SMS gives restaurants the opportunity to send targeted specials to customers, such as a discount on a particular vegan dish to customers who order plant-based meals frequently. This level of personalization can only be achieved through text messaging.

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Constant Communication to Drive Loyalty

By building a texting cadence, you can deliver consistent and personalized messages to customers. From thank yous when they visit to birthday or special occasion texts, sending personalized messages consistently can help improve customer perception and build brand loyalty.

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Our inbound lead-to-sales opportunity conversation rate has improved by 174%... Our sales representatives use it for initial customer outreach, updates, and general communication. We also use it with HubSpot, which allows us to automate lead nurturing, reminds, and promotions.

Kaemon Maggard

Lead Application Analyst, Appsketiers

5-star

Solutions

SMS Solutions for Restaurant Guests

Reservation Confirmation and Reminders

To reduce no-shows, restaurant owners can have guests confirm their reservations the day before, as well as send reminders about reservation details to restaurant guests.

Personalized Daily Specials and Happy Hour Announcements

Restaurants can offer customers exclusive daily deals on their most-ordered items and exclusive happy-hour specials that can only be obtained by SMS text message.

Loyalty Program Updates and Rewards Notifications

Provide restaurant guests with confirmation that they’ve joined the loyalty program and send periodic updates on their rewards earnings and status.

Limited-Time Offers and Flash Deals

Create urgency by sending promotional messages that offer exclusive deals or specials that are only good for a brief amount of time.

Reservation Waitlist Messages

Keep customers informed on how much longer their wait may be, as well as how many guests are in line in front of them. When customers know how long to expect to wait, they’re less likely to get agitated than when they don’t know at all.

Birthday Discounts and Personalized Offers

Utilize personalization in your text campaigns to send customers a birthday discount or other personalized offers based on the customer data you have. This can be a great way to encourage repeat customer visits.

Feedback and Review Requests

Restaurants can utilize SMS to automatically send requests to diners to provide feedback and leave reviews on social media channels. By automating this process, restaurants can save time while amassing more reviews from customers.

Online Ordering and Curbside Pickup Updates

SMS texts can also provide customers with updates on their online or curbside pickup orders, letting them know when they can expect it to be completed.

Features

Key SMS Features for Restaurants

Take customer engagement to the next level with these robust texting platform features.

Reservation Reminders

Reduce no-shows by sending an SMS reminder text that includes the reservation date and time and a “Reply YES to confirm” message. 

Text to Landline

Some customers prefer texting, even when calling a landline can be another option. Therefore, having the capability to text a customer from your landline number can be valuable to reach your customers.

Scheduled Messages

With everything you have to manage as a restauranteur, scheduled messages can help ensure you don’t forget to send messages to customers’ mobile phones. Automation can be used for certain events, promotions, and daily specials.

Two-Way Messaging

Restaurant customers are often seeking certain information, especially about current menu offerings, allergens, and reservation availability. Two-way texting is a way to talk with guests and answer their questions quickly.

POS and CRM Integrations

Keeping track of all of your systems can be a hassle, but Sakari’s robust integration tools make it easy to streamline all aspects of your restaurant. This integration makes it simple to send marketing messages, automatically send reservation updates, and increase customer engagement. 

Mass Texting for Promotions

The ability to text many different subscriber lists is important for any customer-service business. For restaurants, mass texting can help spread the word about new promotions, upcoming events, menu changes, and more. 

Solutions

SMS Solutions for Restaurant Operations

Shift Scheduling and Staff Communication

Send important employee scheduling and restaurant service hours messages to your entire staff and improve the shift scheduling process.

Inventory and Supply Chain Alerts

Integrate your inventory or supply chain management system to get SMS texts when you’re running low, or there’s a product issue.

Event Coordination and Planning

Use SMS texts to help coordinate your staff for special events and operating hours to ensure every aspect of an event is covered.

Automated Guest Reservations

Simplify your reservation management workflow and provide automated updates to diners that confirm their reservations.

Reservation Waitlist Notifications

Keep employees informed on how much longer it will take for seating, as well as how many guests are in line waiting. When customers know how long to expect to wait, they’re less likely to get agitated than when they don’t know at all.

Customer Feedback

Automate asking for customer feedback and reduce the time your restaurant spends reaching out to past customers for feedback. Customers are also used to receiving these automated texts, and they appreciate the professional cadence of automated review texts.

Reminders for Takeout and Catering Orders

SMS can provide a way to nudge customers that they still need to pay without sounding overbearing. Plus, when integrated with a payment processing tool, these texts can help customers pay right from their mobile devices.

Integration with Existing POS or CRM Systems

SMS texting can integrate with your existing systems, making it easier to manage multiple aspects of your operation. Also allows for real-time insights that can help your business make changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

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Examples of Restaurant Text Marketing

As you’ve seen, SMS can be a powerful tool to incorporate at your restaurant to streamline operations, improve the customer experience, and increase business.

  • Reservation Confirmation: Thanks for your reservation at [INSERT RESTAURANT NAME]. We’re looking forward to seeing your party of [INSERT NUMBER] on [INSERT DATE]. Reply “YES” to confirm your reservation.

  • Waitlist Alert: Thanks for signing up for the waitlist at [INSERT RESTAURANT NAME]. You’re currently number [INSERT NUMBER] on the waitlist.

  • Happy Hour Promo: HAPPY HOUR SPECIAL: Get buy one get one free [INSERT FOOD ITEM] today from [INSERT TIME].

  • Online Ordering: Dear [INSERT NAME], your order is ready. Please proceed to curbside pickup and let us know when you’ve arrived!
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“SMS is truly the simplest way to get participation from a busy client type.
Sakari has allowed us a highly scalable, engaging, and powerful way to connect with customers, store structured data, and bring transparency across teams. We've never been closer to our clients!”

Paul Wurth

Head of Sales, RenoRun Inc.

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Frequently Asked Questions

SMS for Restaurants FAQs

How can restaurants benefit from SMS marketing?

SMS marketing tools can help restaurants increase their traffic, gain new customers, foster customer loyalty among SMS subscribers, and manage multiple aspects of their business.

What are the best practices for using SMS for reservation reminders?

When utilizing SMS for reservation reminders, it’s important to keep messages short and concise. It’s also important to send reservation reminders at relevant times – 24 hours in advance, for example. It’s also important to ensure your business does not send too many reminders, as this can be offputting to customers.

Can SMS help with promoting daily specials and events?

Yes, SMS can be a great tool to promote your restaurant’s daily specials and events, especially if you tailor these messages to your audience and send them at the right time, such as an hour or so before a lunch special.

What is the best way to build an SMS marketing list for a restaurant?

There are many ways to build an SMS marketing list for your restaurant, and Sakari helps you every step of the way. See this article to learn the best ways to build your SMS list.

How can SMS marketing integrate with existing POS systems?

With powerful integrations, Sakari makes it easy for you to integrate your SMS marketing campaigns with your POS systems. This integration can help you send more relevant messages, including special offers related to your customers’ most common orders.

Are there specific legal considerations for SMS marketing in the restaurant industry?

There are no specific legal considerations for sending SMS text messages to your customers in the restaurant industry. However, no matter what industry your business is in, you’ll need to ensure TCPA compliance. TCPA stands for The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and it’s a law that protects consumers from unwanted messages. Therefore, to send texts to customers, they must opt-in or subscribe to your list. Sakari helps ensure your messages are always compliant.

How does SMS marketing compare to other digital channels in terms of ROI?

SMS marketing can be a cost-effective way to reach customers, especially because of its immediacy. In today’s world, consumers almost always have their phones on them and open text messages more than any other marketing type. Therefore, working with an SMS marketing platform like Sakari can help you reach your audience at the right time, no matter where they are.

What are Sakari’s pricing plans?

Sakari offers flexible pricing for businesses of all sizes. Our plans have no commitment and no setup fees. Plans start at just $25 per month. Visit our pricing page to learn more about all our pricing options.

Goodbye isolated communications.
Hello Sakari.

Where every message meets its perfect match, right when it matters most.

Get Started with your 14-day free trial

Goodbye isolated communications.
Hello Sakari.

Where every message meets its perfect match, right when it matters most.

Get Started with your 14-day free trial