Restaurant Week is a competitive time of year, with every restaurant doing their best to stand out and really get noticed. That's why being able to send pictures of your best dishes to patrons can take a restaurant's advertising to the next level. MMS (Multimedia Message Service) messages can be the key component to help attract your consumers' attention. Standing out in the crowd is crucial and adding MMS messaging to your restaurant's marketing campaign can really make the difference. Here’s how:

Use Both SMS and MMS

Statistics and surveys continually support the effectiveness of mobile messaging to reach a large target audience. In 2017, about 77% of all Americans own a smartphone and 44% report that they have difficulty unplugging from their phone. Communicating through mobile devices maximizes engagement amongst your consumers, resulting in better brand awareness, increased sales, and improved consumer relations.

Mobile apps and text-to-join programs easily enhance consumer experience. In fact, 81% of all U.S. consumers search for restaurant information on mobile devices. While a text-only message can be effective, MMS allows you to send attention-grabbing images, like the sizzling steak that's the showpiece of tonight's special. With MMS, restaurants can send colorful graphics for a new promotion, coupled with video and audio clips to visually entice their consumers and make their mouths water.

Use Keywords to Promote Events During Restaurant Week

text keywords make it easy for your consumers to receive coupons, invitations to special events, and any other type of promotion. These are unique words you create, such as “SIZZLE” or “HUNGRY”. When a guest texts to join a restaurant's SMS marketing program, they unlock the ability to receive SMS and MMS messages with deals directly from that business.

Convincing consumers to opt-in through enticing keywords is vital for creating an effective text campaign. Once a consumer opts-in, their odds of opting-out is merely 3.7%. When consumers happily agree to receive mobile messages, they are more likely to opt-in for other promotions and take advantage of offers sent by SMS and MMS. Utilize attractive keywords to grow your contact list and reach a larger demographic during restaurant week by offering specific opt-ins like:

• Text DEALS to ##### for special event deals
• Text PIE to ##### for free slice of pie
• Text SURVEY to ##### for link to our Restaurant Week survey

With Trumpia, multiple keywords can be created, individually tracked, and produce up-to-date analytics, making it's easy to assess effectiveness, reach, and determine how many consumers to expect at different events and promotions during restaurant week. Improvements can be made based on the success of previous campaigns, allowing marketing efforts to constantly adapt and advance.

Make It Easy To Find A Table and Make A Reservation

To quickly get consumers through your doors during restaurant week, send out notifications of real-time table opening and allow your guests to use text message to reserve their table. Once a guest makes a reservation, give them a taste of their dining experience to come by sending a picture of their specific table, menu selection, and live entertainment. An advanced SMS and MMS service like Trumpia can automate these actions, guiding your guest from reserving a table to being seated without any employee intervention.

Stand Out With Your SIgnature Dishes

The CMO Council recently reported that 65% of senior marketing executives believe visual assets are "core to how their brand story is communicated". Visual assets include photos, graphics, videos, illustrations, and infographics. For restaurants, it may include menus as well. To really stand out during restaurant week, a picture message can entice patrons more than a text-only promotion.

Everyone has heard the saying, "People eat with their eyes first". For chefs, plating and food presentation is just as important as the ingredients and the way the food is prepared. Sharing a text picture of a signature dish is the perfect way to make their mouths water and entice guests to stop by during restaurant week. An MMS service that can share your dishes across multiple cross-channels is great for maximizing exposure, as you can captivate your audience on the platform of their choice, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or email.

MMS Messaging for Menu Promotion

Any restaurant, diner, or café can post a list of their top selling items or dishes. Text-only promos tell diners what they can expect when visiting a restaurant, but a color menu message can get mouths watering and drive consumers to the table. Using color in promotions has the ability to improve brand recognition by up to 80%, as well as increase a reader's attention span and recall by 82%, states Xerox.

At times, a restaurant may have too much of a certain ingredient or dish. An efficient way of getting these dishes out before they expire is by sending a text with your daily specials. Each day you will effortlessly push out your specific dishes to increase sales, reduce spoilage, and keep ingredients fresh.

Use MMS Messages for Event Reminders

Mass messaging during restaurant week allows your business to quickly, easily, and efficiently reach a large audience with specific text appointment reminders. Use MMS to engage and mobilize consumers to attend special tastings, a meet-the-chef event, or a Happy Hour just for those guests who've opted-in to receive your promotions.  

Because not all wireless carriers and mobile phones support MMS, Trumpia offers a powerful Click-Through Tracking feature that allows the embedding of a link into any text that then leads the reader back to your full-color image or any website. With MMS messaging services from Trumpia, you also have access to auto-response features and MMS messages to help create a comprehensive mobile marketing campaign.

Create Loyal Consumers With Customized MMS Coupons

Providing a loyalty program for your guests will produce the best consumer retention rate. By using the information you know about a consumer, such as their favorite food or drink, you can send enticing picture coupons that they will surely use. Using the same template for all of your messages allows you to maintain brand consistency and ensure all your guests are getting equally valued mobile coupons.

Jamba Juice in particular was able to use customized MMS coupons to attract and entice more consumers to come into their stores. Utilizing the keyword “Jamba”, they allowed consumers to opt-in to receive an MMS offer for a free 16oz smoothie. Jamba Juice sent out exclusive offers once or twice a week to acquire repeat purchases and boost their company image. As a result, Jamba Juice was able to increase store traffic by 10%!

Utilizing MMS to paint an attractive picture for your consumers can maximize your sales, improve consumer conversations and relations, and make the experience overall more satisfying. To get more ideas on how to implement SMS and MMS messages in your restaurant, click here!