Technology has come a long way, and mobile marketers, now, can engage massive audiences via automated SMS services. SMS advertising has soared in recent years, and it’s being utilized by service industry’s to promote offers, capture consumers, increase retention and boost on-location offers.

The restaurant industry, in particular, is enticing consumers with spicy deals. Every month, new initiatives roll out, introducing innovative approaches to product and service marketing. Restaurants using SMS advertising are cooking up hot promotions, and they’re gaining traction via the assistance of MMS advertising and intuitive SMS advertising companies.

What is SMS Advertising?

Likely, you’ve seen opt-in text initiatives. You’ve witnessed a “Type YES for more information” SMS initiative. SMS advertising uses technology to prompt big responses quickly, granting marketers the freedom to allocate resources, target consumers effectively and convert users with one-on-one relationships.

SMS advertising software promotes sales, products, in-store discounts and unique brand offers. SMS isn’t exclusive to casual information anymore. It’s become a highly effective marketing channel.

Is SMS Advertising Better than Email?

It is. In fact, a text message carries an open rate of 98 percent, compared to an email’s open rate of 22 percent. SMS campaigns experience great success due to their sheer accessibility. Additionally, 76 percent of consumers state they’re more likely to read a text than an email message.

A text message’s instant accessibility lets marketers create flash sales, same-day promotions and “last call” notifications. Brands are similarly crafting supply-side notifications for consumers. E-commerce might be a fully digital platform, but brick-and-mortar stores are catching up with augmented mobile solutions. Because email is a considerably more “casual” communication form, it lacks the immediacy SMS upholds. Email messages garner temporary interest, whereas texts create ongoing appeal.

Email messages are also one-way communication channels, whereas SMS prompts engagement with two-way dialogue. Both are effective channels, yet email is more likely to succeed in online-centric atmospheres. Text promotions, meanwhile, dominate the brick-and-mortar service industry.

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SMS and You: The Benefits of Automation

An automated SMS system benefits from its inherent capacity for massive text send-outs. While social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, tend to lose consumers in the hum-drum of everyday newsfeed banter, an automated text is privately held by consumers. Most social media users follow a multitude of accounts, liking, posting, sharing and discussing content.

90 percent of mobile-based shoppers use their phone for pre-purchasing activities, and 98 percent of texts are read within a minute of receipt. Text messages aren’t lost in the noise, but they remain a “social channel,” nonetheless. Automated SMS advertisement helps marketers approach the customer privately, foster an in-depth relationship and gauge behavioral responses. The always-connected consumer hungers for social connection, and SMS marketing ensures quality conversation while upholding mobile marketing’s chief values.

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What Can I Do with SMS Advertising?

If you’re in the restaurant business, you can morph SMS advertising into a power-packed solution. Automated SMS services guarantee cohesive strategies, personalized offers and long-term consumer relationships. In many ways, automated SMS will be the future of mobile marketing. The days of one-size-fits-all SMS campaigns are over. Automated systems, while achieving “big numbers,” create anything but generic texts. Automated SMS senders simply execute text initiatives based upon the pre-defined segments and relationships you’ve determined. Simply put: It takes the legwork out of sending.

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Create a VIP Club with Mobile Coupons

Restaurant lovers love specialized services, and they enjoy being regulars. Your automated SMS advertisement platform can generate an intuitive VIP club, rewarding loyalty with special offers, geo-specific redemption coupons and daily specials. Last year, 50 percent of United States consumers made purchases directly after receiving loyalty-based texts, QR codes and discounts. VIP clubs work, and they’re owning the restaurant scene.

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Send Promo Codes and Sales Announcements

Restaurant-goers deserve information. Service industries are notorious for seasonal shifts, annual discounts and monthly specials. Send out “catch of the day” announcements, and entice customers with in-season promo codes.

Link to Your Online Store

If you’re working an online store, a social media page or a mobile app, you’re in luck. SMS advertising helps restaurant operators assist consumers across channels, introducing them to engaging social media channels and ongoing in-app promotions.

Hand Out Free Gifts Upon Sign-Up

Consumers love free offers, and your automated SMS advertising campaign can pinpoint new arrivals with advanced sales metrics and behavioral targeting. Offer free appetizers, new menu options and one-time-only test services.

Big Names Using SMS Advertising

Popular restaurants are already hopping into the world of SMS advertising. Pizza Hut’s SMS-empowered campaign prompts sign-ups with in-store text keyword posers. Consumers texting PIZZA to 69488 are getting free breadsticks when specific keywords are typed in.

Similarly, Schlotzsky’s “Text LOTZ to 21333” campaign is landing e-club VIP visitors. Qdoba offers free chips and queso to customers texting Q to 50500, and Smash Burger offers entry into its highly anticipated VIP Smash Club with keyword opt-in options. Each procures news, recipes, item-first previews and coupons, and each has become highly relevant in recent years.

Chipotle’s newest text campaign has brought innovation to the table, offering entire menu items based upon real-time updates, and Jack in the Box, too, is giving away free food items via a keyword opt-in system. As the mobile world evolves, customers are expecting dynamic offers. Now, it’s your chance to deliver them.

For more information on how you can leverage an SMS software to your restaurant, click here!