According to the National Restaurant Association’s “The 2023 State of the Restaurant Industry” report, 75% of restaurant operators believe they’re already in “the new normal.” Customers are dining more often, which means “the focus is on sustaining growth.”
Key takeaways are the growth trend will continue, the industry overall is growing, costs are up across the board, competition is becoming more intense, and last but certainly not least, “84% of consumers say going out to a restaurant with family and friends is a better use of their leisure time than cooking and cleaning up.” (Source)
DINING IN = RESTAURANT SUSTAINABILITY
Customers dining in a restaurant have big benefits. For one, the restaurant can provide a more immersive dining experience that includes ambiance, service, as well as social interaction. Restaurants generate additional revenue through the upselling of drinks, appetizers, and desserts, which are less commonly ordered for delivery. Dine-in customers may also be more likely to leave tips, which can further boost the restaurant’s profitability.
It is often the case that dine-in customers provide more significant value in terms of revenue and customer experience. Motivating new and repeat customers to walk through the doors, encouraging repeat visits, as well as increasing their spending during those visits, are key performance indicators for restaurant sustainability and growth. “Great, but how can I do all that?”
First, understand who you want to bring into your establishment(s).. what are the demographics? Families of 5 or more? Professionals or blue collar? Average household income? Pets? Who is your ideal clientele that you must market to? “Market to everybody!” Unless you’re Coca-Cola or McDonald’s, that’s not a recipe for cost-effectively gaining customers.
A white-cloth restaurant equipped with a sommelier in an elite area code of concentrated wealth will have a vastly different customer base than a family chain in the suburbs of Any Town, USA. Know who you’re targeting.
Second, know how to motivate your targeted demographics to spend their money in your restaurant. What offers are enticing? “1 free app with $25 spend” is a proven winner, recipients often spend 2 to 3 times the $25 minimum.
Third, get your offer into the hands of those that will be profitable to your restaurants. It needs to be easily remembered and easily accessible, always. A break-out of a die cut plastic postcard fits this perfectly. It sits in a wallet or purse, indefinitely, until it’s redeemed. In this way, it resembles a gift card.
NOT ALL DIRECT MAIL IS EQUAL
Direct mail can be a way to stand out from the crowd and reach consumers who may be overwhelmed by online ads and email blasts. It’s also fair to note that direct mail has some potential drawbacks. It can be more expensive than other forms of advertising, and there is no guarantee that recipients will even open or read the mail. It’s important to carefully consider all factors when deciding on the best advertising approach for a direct mail campaign. Junk mail is called “junk” for a reason.
Here’s the thing… a restaurant’s direct mail piece needs to win you over, immediately. First impressions, and all. What’s the most effective direct mail piece? The postcard is, by a country mile. And the most effective postcard is the AcclaimMailer™ die cut plastic postcard, by another country mile. It generates greater redemptions and a lower cost-per-conversion. Read here to learn why 7,500 AcclaimMailers is greater than 10,000 paper postcards.
It’s the look and feel of the AcclaimMailer™ die cut plastic postcard that makes it noticeable and ultimately gets your restaurant cost-effective redemptions. When your offer hits a mailbox, recipients probably don’t have a clue about substrates, manufacturing, printing, mailing lists, demographics, or any part of the process that went into the piece they’re examining. It doesn’t matter. What matters is they intuitively know the piece represents quality. Here’s an example, someone unfamiliar with automobile manufacturing will instinctively comprehend the disparity in quality between a Yugo and a Rolls Royce. A single word wouldn’t need to be said. “Ooh, that’s nice. But that other one, what a pity.”
That’s a secret to the AcclaimMailer™ die cut plastic postcard. Its look and feel implies that it has an intrinsic value. Early on, we did a mailing for a restaurant that used no promotion. It simply said, “This is who we are, this is where we are.” No offer, no nothing. A year later they still had people bringing in the cards. It gets noticed and its breakouts get kept in a wallet or purse until they are redeemed. That’s what creates unmatched return on investment for our own customers’ marketing dollars.
“This piece is super nice, but I can buy more of the paper kind.” Right, ok. Agreed. What does that achieve, what are you actually buying? I’m going to ask that again because it bears repeating.
WHAT ARE YOU BUYING?
Redemptions. Conversions. Customers walking through your doors. When you’re spending money on conversions, you want the absolute most for your dollar possible. That’s what the AcclaimMailer™ die cut plastic postcard does. As mentioned before, know who to target and then get your offers into the right hands in a cost-effective way.
- In just the first week, this restaurant got 11% redemptions.
- This pizza restaurant owner got 15% redemptions and this one saw a 27% increase in per-ticket sales.
- This restaurant and bar chain got 65,000 conversions from 200,000 their Acclaim plastic postcards and this one saw a 24% redemption rate in the first weekend.
REDEMPTIONS AREN’T EVERYTHING, RETURN ON INVESTMENT IS
With exception of aggressive mailings with tight redemption windows that prioritize a flood of quick redemptions, ROI is most commonly the goal for sustainable and steady growth of new customers. Of course, with an unlimited budget, a direct mail piece could be made to generate a 100% response if the combination of collateral/offer/list are effective enough. But that equals $$$$ and to attain such a perfectly repeatable response would most certainly guarantee a negative ROI. Which brings us back to cost-effective redemptions to generate a repeatable and desirable ROI.
While we generate great and repeatable redemptions for our customers, both big and not so big, it’s their ROI that keeps them coming back.
With the discount applied, the total spend for this Mexican restaurant was $18,600. They generated $216,000 from that spend, an ROI of well over 1000%. It’s not a fluke and it’s not specific to a single industry. This veterinarian supply customer saw an ROI of nearly 4,000% and this car wash chain is seeing a 300%+ ROI on just membership sales. For 5 years and running (Covid included), this grocer customer has averaged a 55% ROI.
How can you get a great ROI? First of all, target your list. Every mailbox doesn’t represent a potential sale and that’s OK. A targeted list is more expensive than just mailing to “every door,” but what is more expensive is sending postcards and mailers to every door when quite literally not every door is a viable redemption. It’s wasteful in money and collateral and a killer on your ROI. We’ve seen it time and again, targeted lists.. whether based on demographics or your own Loyalty list.. get the greatest redemptions and ROI, by far. To ensure you’re getting every ounce of return from your budget, use a turnkey service from a manufacturer that has complete vertical integration to the USPS mail stream. That keeps your costs down and your ROI up. For the most eco-friendly solution that won’t sacrifice quality, redemptions, or ROI, look to a product like the biodegradable NVIO™ AcclaimMailer™ with its optional recycled paper core.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
In a cost-effective way, you must get more customers in the door, buying more, more often. To do that, repeatable and affordable methods must be used… Effective outreach, loyalty programs, gift cards, nothing should be left off the table
Interested in your own NVIO™ biodegradable AcclaimMailer™ on a pay-as-you-go subscription program? Maybe you want 500 free gift cards with that order, or maybe your customers would prefer an actual menu rather than having to look at their phones? (Hint: they do.) We offer savings across the board because we are not only a complete direct mail supplier, but we also offer discounts on a product you may already be paying too much for. Apologies for the participle left there, just dangling.
ENHANCING SERVICE
A major goal for over half of the attending industry leaders of Black Box Intelligence’s “State of the Industry” webinar is “enhancing service,” according to this NRN.com article.
Consider menus and the effect they can have on your customers, both good and bad. Is your QR code menu improving your customer experience? Here are a few possible factors to consider:
- 1. Overexposure: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, QR codes became widely adopted to access digital menus in restaurants. With their prevalence in various aspects of daily life, people may have become tired of constantly scanning QR codes for different purposes, including menu browsing.
- 2. Technical Issues: QR code scanning relies on having a compatible device with a working camera and an internet connection. If there are technical glitches or poor network coverage, it can hinder the smooth experience of accessing menus. Frustrations with scanning difficulties or slow loading times may contribute to people’s weariness.
- 3. User Experience: Some people may find the process of scanning QR codes disruptive to the dining experience. It requires taking out a smartphone, opening a scanning app, or using the device’s built-in camera. This interruption can be seen as a hassle or an unnecessary step, especially for individuals who prefer a more traditional approach to browsing physical menus.
- 4. Accessibility Concerns: Not everyone may have the necessary technology or familiarity with QR code scanning. Elderly individuals, people with visual impairments, or those who lack access to smartphones might find it challenging to use QR codes effectively. This can lead to exclusion or frustration among certain segments of the population.
- 5. Lack of Engagement: Printed menus allow for a tactile and visual experience. Some people appreciate flipping through pages, looking at pictures, and reading descriptions directly. QR codes, on the other hand, may provide limited information and lack the sensory appeal that physical menus offer.
Talk to us today about your own stunning NVIO restaurant menus, massive ROI AcclaimMailer™ die cut plastic postcards, private label gift cards, loyalty cards, promotional combo key tags, and more. We’re the manufacturer and offer affordable custom shapes, sizes, and incredible savings on products across the board with Revenue Power Built into Every Card™.