Local Deli Chain Marketing Case Study
The restaurant industry relies on customer reviews more than any other type of business. Nearly 90% of all customers admit to researching a restaurant before dining there, which is why a strong online presence is of great significance. A marketing agency for restaurants will be able to focus on the most effective ways to attract new and existing customers in-store and online.
In September 2021 we partnered with a local, family-owned food service chain. Originally established in Mclean, VA, this restaurant has quickly expanded over the past 20 years, adding 6 locations throughout the Northern Virginia area. Since our partnership, Phlash Consulting has been able to improve its online awareness and increase orders submitted through the website 15%.
What issues was this company facing before Phlash Consulting?
Since 2020 nearly two-thirds of consumers prefer not to dine in, creating rapid demand for digital ordering. Prior to our involvement with this company, they were missing out on ample opportunities to reach new customers due to their lack of online presence. This also caused them to struggle with customers using third-party delivery marketplaces like door dash instead of placing orders directly through their website.
When customers order from an outside delivery vendor, they become the customer of the marketplace instead of the restaurant. So, although the customer pays and orders from the restaurant’s menu, their transaction is conducted through the app, not the restaurant. This broken system has caused many restaurants to part ways with third-party services and set up their own delivery solution. However, in order for restaurants to have a successful online ordering system, they have to increase traffic to their website through digital marketing.
What efforts has this business made in the past to fix its digital marketing problems?
Since its opening in 2003, this deli has run trial and error on various solutions with none being able to attain the desired outcome. Specifically, they had a basic website and social media posting that had outgrown their single location. They were not optimizing all of their 7 locations for proper SEO or reach.
How much time did the business owner have to devote to see results?
We typically meet with the business owner once a quarter to discuss upcoming projects. Outside of our quarterly meetings, we communicate throughout the month via email, call, or text for conferences with our teams.
What strategies did we help implement to attain their goals?
To promote this company’s online ordering, we developed a weekly email campaign to stay top of mind while advertising our menu items. We pull every customer that orders online from their door dash marketplace and add them into their database for direct marketing outside of the apps.
The newsletter is filled with embedded links to their website and is sent out on Mondays to all of the contacts in their database. After sending this newsletter, our digital marketing team can evaluate the content’s success by pulling performance-related analytics.
In addition to the production of weekly newsletters, we run multiple SEO campaigns for this company to accomplish various objectives. Currently displaying almost 4,000 reviews on their Google Business profiles, we have not only been able to help this company access customers’ several outlets of feedback but rank on local search across the internet.
We also send out quarterly text marketing campaigns to their database based on the last activity. For example, if they haven’t ordered in 3 months, we can send a text message checking in.
Our team also manages their social media pages by consistently posting to stay relevant, increase leads, and attract attention to our online ordering feature. Our social media uploads are strategically created with built-in links to drive traffic back to the restaurant’s website. By sharing an online platform with the world we have been able to understand our customers better and offer satisfying services in return.
How long did it take to see digital marketing results?
After only a few months of working alongside this deli, we were able to see favorable results in our digital marketing efforts with a discovery search (people searching for a product or service they offer, not by name) increase of 26% on google. We have also managed to steadily increase the number of orders conducted through their website up 15% currently year over year.
What are the ongoing results?
Through the use of web-based automation, advanced analytics, and our team’s hands-on consultative approach, we were able to help this local deli grow its revenue, increase its leads, and elevate its customer satisfaction. We could not be happier with this company’s decision to work with us and look forward to watching this client grow with our guidance us for years to come.