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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.

"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, reminders, and promotions."
 
Kaemon Maggard
Lead Application Analyst, Appsketiers

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SMS Solutions for Restaurant Guests

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

Key SMS Features for Restaurants

SMS Solutions for Restaurant Operations

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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Frequently Asked Questions

SMS for Restaurants FAQs

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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