

If you’re not using location-based mobile marketing for your restaurant or bar, you’re missing out on a great way to communicate with customers. The number of people who use mobile phone messaging apps is expected to grow from 2 billion the last year 2018 to 2.2 billion in 2019 and hit 2.5 billion in 2021. As a generation raised on text messaging comes of age, mobile marketing will become even more valuable for small business owners.
Location-based mobile marketing uses geographic data about mobile phone users’ locations to send them messages that are relevant to their interests, intents, and location. For example, it could mean texting a promotional code for a free appetizer to a former customer who happens to be passing by your restaurant.
Businesses can use push notifications, text messages or in-app messaging (such as within Facebook Messenger) to communicate with customers who have signed up to receive such messages. (Getting customers’ permission is important.)
Mobile messaging technology can use “geofencing” to draw a perimeter around a certain area (say, within a one-mile radius of your restaurant) so you only send messages to people who enter the perimeter. This avoids mishaps like texting a customer about your lunch special when they’re 500 miles away on a business trip—something that’s more likely to annoy them than to get them into your eatery.
You can also use mobile messaging to greet customers as they walk in the door, thank them for coming back, and suggest menu items or drinks they might like. Even without an offer, such a message makes customers feel valued, helping boost their loyalty. (Just make sure your staff is as friendly as the message—you don’t want the customer to get a cheery greeting via text only to encounter a cold shoulder from the hostess.)
A related mobile messaging tactic, geo-conquesting, allows you to target customers when they’re within a certain range of your competition and send them messages. Are there two gastro-pubs in your city and you’re one of them? When customers approach your competition, send them an irresistible offer for your location, and you might just change their minds.
For successful location-based mobile marketing, follow these tips:
Do an online search to find companies that provide location-based mobile marketing services tailored to small businesses’ needs. You can also use existing instant messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger to communicate with your customers.
Larger small businesses (such as multi-location bars or restaurants) may want to invest in their own mobile app. For a restaurant, this can help grow your business by enabling quick and easy online ordering or even letting customers pay directly through the app.
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