Digital technology and marketing analytics play a pivotal role in shaping the future of restaurants. At the recent Foodservice Technology Conference (FSTEC), leaders from top brands shared how they are leveraging marketing technology analytics to increase sales and transactions.
Joining DataDelivers’ Vice President of Sales and Marketing Pat Riley was Ryan Wilkinson, Director of Marketing at Primanti Bros, Kit Mitchell, Director of Marketing at Good Times Restaurants, parent company of Good Times and Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, Kevin Bentley, Vice President of Information Technology and Automation at Papa Gino’s Pizzeria & D’Angelo Sub Sandwiches
Highlighting the post-COVID bounce is over and the return to a more competitive landscape, there’s a need to “fight for every point in sales increases,” said Ryan Wilkinson.
The panel agreed the differentiator in this fight today is marketing technology analytics that provide opportunities for greater understanding of customer identification and behavior and enhanced digital initiatives.
For Papa Gino’s and DiAngelo’s Sub Sandwiches, this means focusing on anonymous data. “We have a good idea of what’s happening with our loyalty members. But we don’t have good visibility with the other existing or new guest,” said Kevin Bentley. “This is important to us to determine who are the customers we don’t readily know. They visit often but are not part of our loyalty program. These ‘anonymous’ customers bring us considerable value and we are addressing them now.”
Industry norms suggest that most loyalty programs top out at 10 – 20% of customers. Ryan Wilkinson noted that their focus is also on the other 80% of customers.
“There’s a whole world out there beyond loyalty. With DataDelivers’ help, many of Primanti Bros. non-loyalty customers are participating in what is essentially a passive loyalty-like program, and it’s driving incremental traffic,” commented Wilkinson.
Kit Mitchell talked about expanding their customer database and using data to win back at-risk or disengaged customers. “We recently employed targeted display ad campaigns with positive results, and plan to increase this effort in the future,” he said.
Leveraging the MarTech (Marketing Technology) Stack
For both Papa Gino’s and DeAngelo’s, Kevin Bentley highlighted how the brand is using geofencing to create a sense of urgency for guests and both brands deploy this digital initiative around key dayparts and times that add convenience and ease to their guest’s lifestyle.
“An important part of this strategy is to streamline the customer journey to encourage conversions. We make it easy for guests and that gets rewarded with orders,” Bentley added.
The panel shed light on the evolving landscape of the restaurant industry, emphasizing the critical role played by digital technology and marketing analytics. As the competition for increased market share has never been fiercer, the key to success lies in harnessing the power of customer data and technology. In the current economic climate, it is clear that those who embrace these technological advancements will thrive now and into the future.
For more than 20 years, DataDelivers has been helping companies identify sales that are hidden in their data. By knowing where to look and turning information into intelligence, DataDelivers gives clients the tools they need to grow sales and build long term customer value. Last year, DataDelivers helped restaurant clients identify more than 15 million new guests, generate more than 2 million incremental visits, and produce more than $40 million in additional revenue. DataDelivers is headquartered in Schaumburg, Il and employs highly trained data scientists and skilled marketers to serve clients in restaurant, retail, energy, and transportation sectors. For more information, visit DataDelivers.com.
