Author: Andy

With the advancement of technology comes big change to people’s daily lives; and in turn, their habits. Because of these advancements, patrons are always on the move, they’ve got everything they need at their fingertips, their time is important and they typically don’t allocate too much of it to what you have to say. Thus, it’s critical to make sure you’re sending your message to the right people.

Marketing isn’t always about blanket sending your message to your entire database. Getting the right eyes on your marketing, is more valuable than getting many eyes on your marketing. This is true because if you are continuously promoting things that are not relevant to your entire database, people get annoyed. Once irritated, contacts will either stop opening your emails, unsubscribe, or report your emails as spam. Honing in on the right segment of your database will allow you to speak to the most interested contacts about what you’re promoting. Having those eyes on your campaign is going to be wildly more successful..

What you send, when you send it and who you send it to makes a difference. If you want to improve they way you market, you need to focus on the content of your campaign. Who is this promotion going to benefit? Once you have determined the “Who” create your campaign in a way that will relate to those patrons. Email may not be the best method of communication, so knowing your target audience is critical. After you’ve built your campaign (and tested it) schedule it. Sending a campaign at a strategic time will get you a better response rate. If you’re target market is corporate, send the campaign during contact’s lunch break or commute home. If you’re demographic for the campaign is Uni students, send the campaign early afternoon when they have gotten up. Creating your campaign for a specific group of contacts and tailoring all areas of that campaign specifically to those people will boost your response rate.

In short the way we communicate and who we communicate to has to evolve and adapt if you want to see continuous improvement in your marketing efforts. Sending a blanket email campaign to your entire database as soon as you’ve finished it, is not going to get your the response rate you are wanting for. Putting in a little extra thought and consideration to who it is that you are trying to get into your venue, identifying the method they like to be spoken to, and sending that message out at the optimum time for them, will go a long way.

You’ve pulled the trigger on your marketing campaign. All the hours you’ve invested creating the offer, getting buy-in and approval, drafting the content, building the campaign, testing it and sending it out, is done. Congratulations! All your hard work is out there for your patrons to see. So, now what? The next step is to monitor the campaign results. Before you look at your marketing results you should have an understanding of what the metrics are.

Open Rate
The open rate of an account shows you how many contacts have opened your email campaign. The number you see here displays unique opens only. So if a contact opens the email three (3) different times, the system will simply count this as one open. Open rates are recorded using a tracking pixel within the email campaign. Tracking pixels are only downloaded when a contact clicks the “Download Images” link in their email client. Once this link is clicked the pixel is downloaded and the email is recorded as being opened. Sometimes people do not opt to click the “Download Images” link when they open an email. In this instance there is no way to track that the email was opened and thus open rates are never going to be 100% accurate. It’s important to keep this in mind when looking at statistics as your campaign will have actually had more eyes on it, then recorded.

Soft Bounces
Soft bounces are what we call temporary bounces. They occur when the recipients server sends us a message. There are several types of soft bounces, but the easiest to understand is when someone has their ‘Out of Office’ switched on. Obviously the recipient is going to receive and read the email. However, their email server sends a reply saying that they are not in. When a soft bounce occurs the platform does not opt these contacts out, it simply records this as a soft bounce.

Click through Rate
Click Throughs are the best way to measure the success of your email campaign, because they tell us how invested your readers are. A click through is when someone clicks a link (called Call to Action) within your email. These are the best tool for measuring because it tells us that the contact didn’t just skim your email, but read it, and was interested enough to click through. Unlike open rates, click through rates are 100% accurate because each time a link is clicked it is recorded.

Hard Bounces / Auto Opt Out
A hard bounce is what you think of when you hear the term: bounced email. It is an email address that is typed incorrectly, bad or invalid. When the system receives notification of a hard bounce, it is automatically opted out. This is done so that you do not send to it again. Auto Opt Outs occur to ensure that your database is clean.

Unsubscribes
This is the number that no one likes to go over, because opt outs perceived as a negative thing. When in reality they are not. Opt outs are natural and will always occur. People relocate, their lifestyles may change, financial circumstances, all of this is part of life. You don’t want to be sending emails to people who aren’t interested or who aren’t customers. In fact sending to them continually will only damage your campaign results. So it is actually good that they are opting out.

Once you know what each area is, you will be able to gauge how well your campaign has performed. To help give you a benchmark, below are the industry average open rates across the hospitality space:

Hospitality Niche	Average Open Rate
Restaurant	21-24%
Cafe	18-20%
Pub/Hotel	14-16%
Nightclub	12-14%
Entertainment	22-25%

 

How important is database growth? The answer to this question should be a resounding “Very Important”. Adding new contacts to your database ensures that your marketing is reaching fresh eyes. It also counteracts the inevitable opt outs that occur with every campaign. The rate at which your database grows is a direct reflection of how successful business is. The two go hand in hand.

When it comes to database growth many people forget to focus their effort on the most obvious place, within the venue. It’s very simple, customers should be in your database. After all, customers are the ones who are coming in and spending their hard earned money with you. They are interested in hearing what’s on and the new specials. It is the customers sitting dining with you that will be the most likely to return because of a marketing push that you are doing. The patrons sitting in your venue at any given time are your demographic.

There are countless ways to capture the contact details of your customers whilst they are in venue. Methods range from a simple approach like a business card drop, to more tech savvy options, using WiFi connections and integrations. The most common methods of in venue data capture are:

 

Sign Up or Feedback Cards

This tried and true method is still a very popular method for capturing customers details while they are in venue. Using paper sign up cards is a quick and easy solution if you’re looking to implement data capture quickly. Just keep in mind that you will need to allocate a staff member to enter the data into a spreadsheet and then upload it into your MyGuestlist account.

 

iPad/Tablet Sign Ups

Due to the manual (and time consuming) task of adding the contact details to the database via paper sign ups, many MyGuestlist clients have turned to technology. Using the MyGuestlist form builder, clients are creating their own in venue sign up forms. They grab the hosted link, and load it up on an iPad or Tablet. As long as there is an active WiFi connection, contacts will instantly be added to the predetermined category within MyGuestlist.

 

In Venue Competitions

Adding a bit of excitement to regular trade tends to spice things up for your customers. Which is why many clients like to run competitions in venue. This option offers engagement and makes it easy to grow your database from within the venue.

 

WiFi Login

Now days, virtually every venue offers free WiFi as a value add to their customers. As such, many customers have started using this complimentary service as an opportunity to capture data. In exchange for accessing the free WiFi, customers provide their information. The data captured via this login page is then pushed via an integration directly into your MyGuestlist account.

 

Text to Database

Text to Database is another popular approach to capturing data in venue. Many clients utilise this method of data capture because it’s creative and unexpected. Customers send a SMS containing their details and are instantly added to the database. This option works really well for special promotions, lucky dip style competitions, or venues that attract a younger crowd.

 

If you don’t currently have an In Venue Data Capture method in place, you really need to focus your attention on implementing something as soon as possible. Every day you should aim to capture details from 20% of your dining customers. This will ensure that your database is growing significantly and with the right people’s details. If you have any questions about in venue data capture and would like to discuss what methods may work best for your venue, please contact us on 03 9999 2585.

It’s 2018, and Social Media is more prevalent than ever before. Half the time people are more present on social media than they are at their own dinner table. Every spare moment seems to be filled with check-ins, posts, updates, pins and tweets. If someone isn’t posting themselves, they’re scrolling through their feed. For this reason, your social media marketing needs to be strategic and targeted. Engagement through social media does influence people and can bring in additional business if executed properly.

There are several components that will aid your efforts and up your social media marketing game. Below are our top guidelines which will improve your current social presence.

Develop and Nurture your Brand
Branding your business is like giving it a personality and a voice. Each time you communicate about the business you are shaping people’s perception of what your company does. Being consistent in your verbiage, and the messages being posted will help people to develop a clear picture of what you’re about.

Deliver Value
It’s simple really. Listen to what your customers are looking for and deliver it. Competition is tough, if you aren’t able to listen to what your patrons want, then be prepared to watch your customers go to your competitor.

Speak your customers’ language
Know your demographic and know their language. Research your customers and likeminded influencers on social media and learn how they talk. Using their lingo, superlatives, catch phrases and hashtags will help them identify with your brand. Post the majority of your marketing on the channels that your customers are most active on.

Quality & Relevance
Include visuals in your social media posts and make sure they are high quality. Using professional photos which have been edited well will drastically increase your presence. It goes without saying that your photos and videos need to be relevant to what you’re promoting and should be on brand.

Following the aforementioned guidelines will improve your engagement on social media and should help draw more attention to your business. Don’t forget within the Social tab of your MyGuestlist account, you will be able to create and schedule your strategically planned social media posts.

We’re living in a fast paced visual world. Photographs aren’t always enough to capture people’s attention anymore. Videos are effective but are costly to film and edit; graphic designed artwork is prominent but doesn’t always tell the full story. This is why GIFs have become so popular. Unlike anything else, GIFs are able to convey a specific message, thought or emotion in a very short amount of time. They have infiltrated the digital world and have become in essence a new language.

These animated images have been adopted by marketers because of how effective they are at delivering a message. Research has shown that email campaigns sent with GIFs are up to 72% more effective than emails sent without. Using a GIF in your email campaign allows the recipient the ability to quickly digest what it is you’re promoting. However there are a few things that you should know about before taking the plunge into the wide world of GIFs.

Not Every Email Client Supports GIFs

If you’re planning on using a GIF in your next email campaign, it’s important to understand that not everyone is going to see your animated image. Any recipient who uses Outlook 2007 to present will have issues viewing your animated masterpiece. The reason for this is because of the software that Microsoft uses to display emails received in Outlook.

Don’t fret though, anyone using Outlook 2007, 2010 or 2013 will see the first frame of your GIF as a static image. So as long as the most pertinent information is displayed in the first frame of your GIF all recipients will get the gist of what it is you are promoting.

File Size Matters

One of the things that make GIFs so flexible is their file size. Compared to videos, they are very small which makes them quick to load on social media, and on mobile phones. However, if you are going to use a GIF in an email campaign, you will need to ensure that the file size is as small as possible. The larger the file size the longer it takes to download, GIFs that are more than 1 MB will take far too long to download and will drive down your open rates. So be sure that your GIF is under 1 MB and is as small as possible.

Make it Relevant

It should go without saying, that this point should apply to all content across all marketing channels. GIFs are visually stimulating, so many marketing professionals are keen to insert GIFs in their campaigns because they are an easy way to make their emails stand out. However, GIFs should not be used as filler. They are very effective at delivering a message, so ensure that they are doing just that… delivering your message.

Because GIFs are an image file, they can be easily uploaded and inserted into your emails. Simply upload them the same way you would add an image block and upload an image into your Image Library. (Just be sure your GIF is under 1 MG).

Now that you know a bit more about GIFs and how effective they can be for relaying your message, you can GIF responsibly.

Running competitions enables you to engage contacts within your database in a way that no other online marketing does. It allows your contacts the ability to interact with your brand. Most of the time marketing is so focused on pushing information and promotions out to it’s customers, that it seldom has the opportunity to have customers engage. Competitions enable patrons to do just that it gives them a chance to interact and express interest. This in turn keeps them engaged and increases their loyalty.

For this reason MyGuestlist recommends running competitions regularly. Within your MyGuestlist account there is a Competitions tab which will allow you to setup and manage a number of different competition types.

Instagram Hashtag

The Instagram Hashtag competition is an online competition that is designed to raise brand awareness and increase brand exposure on Instagram. The actual competition will be run directly in Instagram, but you would set it up in the Competitions section of your account to manage valid entries. Contacts who use the hashtag and then delete their post are monitored and counted as invalid entries. Which makes choosing a winner much easier for you.

Like/Follow

With a Like/Follow Social Profile competition, you can offer people a chance to win your competition simply by liking your Facebook Page, or following you on Twitter. People who already like your page or follow you don’t miss out, as they can also enter for a chance to win.

Refer a Friend

Refer a Friend Competitions have the ability to reach a broader audience which can greatly help your competition and grow your database. With a Refer a Friend Competition, the entrant is required to enter their detail (which are added to the database) and invite a friend to also enter (not added to the database). When the entrant puts in their friend’s email address, an email is sent to the friend inviting them to enter. Once the friend enters the competition (they’re added to the database) and invite another friend to enter, the first entrant is added as a valid entry into the competition.

Question & Answer or Creative Answer

A Question and Answer or Creative Answer competition, allows you to ask the contact any question (or questions) you would like. When entrants enter this competition, they’re automatically added to your MyGuestlist database, and their answers can be emailed to you directly.

Tweet/Post

A Tweet/Post Competition is a great way for your brand to gain exposure. Competition prize acts as incentive for people to tell their friends and followers about your competition. When someone shares your competition on Facebook or Twitter, they’ll receive an entry.

The Competitions section of your account has a lot of versatility and allows for customisation of each competition type selected. Competition types can be stacked, or combined to make things a bit more complex and to give contacts additional entries. If you are interested in finding out more about the Competitions tab, or would like some help setting up your next competition, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Account Manager.

Chances are, the systems you utilise every day are collecting data that could be utilised for smarter marketing. Often, these systems are not linked to anything else, but integrations can be set up. Having your daily systems integrated with MyGuestlist will consolidate your data into one central location and allow you to get a better picture of who your customers are. Knowing more about your contacts allows you to speak to them in an entirely different way. You’ll be able to send very tailored and specific messages based on all the additional information being gathered.

For example, let’s say you have a loyalty system in place that is run through your POS system. Integrating both the POS and the loyalty module would allow you to send out Membership newsletters with the members’ current points balance, membership number, expiry date (if applicable).  You’ll also be able to target marketing material to members based on their total spend, or the last time they’ve visited.

Having this additional knowledge allows you to specify the exact people you want to reach. It is proven that sending marketing to a carefully selected segment of your database increases the response rate. Additionally, you will also be able to set up automation which will send individual messages out to members based on specific criteria (i.e. Member reached 500 points). Automation is an incredibly powerful tool which allows you to communicate to customers one-to-one. This method of marketing is very personal and in turn is especially well received.

By taking a quick step back and thinking about the various systems used across your venue, you may discover that one or more of these everyday operating systems is collecting data that is not being utilised. MyGuestlist are willing to look into setting up any integration for our clients, as we understand the massive benefit that additional data provides. If you have another system that is collecting data (POS, Loyalty, Gaming, Booking, Function Management, etc) please contact your friendly MyGuestlist account manager to discuss the options for setting up an integration. We are around and would be more than happy to help you plan for the type of communications and personalised marketing that you will be able to achieve.

If you’re new to marketing, the first thing you should do is create a marketing plan Often times marketing plans evolve and become more complex as they develop and the business’ needs shift. However the fundamentals are simple and should act as a  guide to coach you through what is needed to achieve success.

Step 1: Analysis

In order to get an idea of what your focus should be, you will need to take some time and do an audit of your venue. Research and review your competition to understand what they are offering and in turn your position in the market. The best way to go about this review process is through a SWOT analysis (Identify your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).

Step 2: Pinpoint Target Market

Developing a brief on who your prospective customers are is the next step in creating a marketing strategy. The aim here is to identify the demographic of your prospects. Are they adventurous? Are they frugal? Are they trendsetters? What their method of purchase? Do they purchase your offering frequently? Questions like this will help paint a clear picture of who you will be speaking to and will shape the way you build your plan.

Step 3: Identify Goals

Make a list of what you would like to achieve. Take into account the results on your analysis, as well as who your target market is.

• Is your aim to increase the size of your database?
• Do you want to increase repeat business?
• Are you wanting to drive new business?
• Is the goal to increase engagement?
• Would you like to expand sales on new product or service offerings to existing customers?
• While creating your list, make sure the goals you include are able to be measured. This will help you see how you’re travelling and if you are able to achieve your goals.

Step 4: Develop Plan of Attack

Once you have identified your core goals, you’re ready to dive into creating your strategy. This step is going to take the most time as you’ll be creating a communication roadmap for your contacts. This map should include cross channel marketing (across email, SMS, and social media) to ensure the best results are met. Additionally, you will want to identify campaigns that may require extra methods of marketing (print, advertising, media, PR, etc) and work out budget accordingly. Creating your marketing strategy should include both a Marketing Schedule as well as outline the Communication touchpoints for Contacts lifecycle.

 

Once you have built your plan, you’re ready to get started!

 

 

Understanding your database and properly marketing to the contacts within it is important. MyGuestlist aims to give you the ability to learn more about your contacts and communicate to them based on exactly who they are.

Within the Database Section there is a feature called Advanced Search. This allows you to gain richer insight on your customers. Advanced Search enables you to segment your database in ways the general search does not. You will be able to combine and/or exclude fields, categories, events, reservation data, purchase data (if a POS integration has been set up), form submissions and campaign results. It looks at all areas of MyGuestlist where data is being collected and stored.

So if you were interested in sending an email to contacts within the database who purchased tickets to a Melbourne Cup event last year, you could easily identify these contacts by using the Advanced Search feature.

Once you have executed your search you can save it. Saving an Advanced Search allows you to reference and load the search at any time.

The best part about Saved Searches is that they are dynamic – meaning that any time you load the search it will populate with any new contacts that meet the search criteria. For example: let’s say you had an active integration with your booking system and you saved an Advanced Search which identified all the contacts who had dined at your restaurant 5 times. Each time the search is loaded the results will vary because there will have been more contacts who have dined 5 times.

Using Advanced Searches for your marketing communication is easy. Once you have saved your search you can access the search when selecting your campaign recipients.

Advanced Search can also be used for setting up automated messages. Automation using the Advanced Search criteria allows you to communicate to individuals based on their personal experiences with your venue. For example, if you have an integration set up with your booking system, you will be able to invite a customer to dine with you again if they have not dined with you for a while (e.g. 3 months).  This type of marketing is incredibly effective because of the personal nature of the messages.

If you are interested in learning more about Advanced Search, or would like some training on this feature, please contact us. We would be more than happy to assist.

 

SMS – a fundamental to marketing or a hindrance?

SMS can be controversial in the marketing realm. Chances are, if you haven’t used it, it’s because you don’t think it is beneficial. However, this may not be the case. There are thousands of businesses that rely heavily on SMS marketing and that is because of the success they are having from it. If the conditions are right, SMS can be wildly more successful than any other marketing channel.

Before we evaluate what the right conditions are for SMS, it’s important to have a quick comparison of the average open rates and the average time to open for both email and SMS.

	SMS	Email
Average Open Rate	98%	22%
Average Time to Open	5 Minutes	48 Hours

As you can see SMS has a drastically higher open rate, and takes much less time for people to open. Because mobile phones are engrained in everyday life and text messaging is the preferred method of communication for many people, SMS can be an ideal channel for your marketing. Due to the fact that SMS messages are received and read within minutes of sending, SMS is perfect for anything that is time sensitive. Whether it is the final hours of ticket sales for an event, a prompt to book in for the upcoming public holiday, reminders about birthday offers, or a promotion created to boost business on a slow weekday; SMS is optimal.

When determining whether or not your marketing should be sent out via SMS, you need to think about your demographic. Would your target audience have their mobile phones switched on and accessible when the SMS is sent? What is the preferred method of communication for your customers? Identifying who your target audience is and thinking about which method of marketing they would respond best to; is your best way of determining if your SMS campaign is going to yield a high response.

Much the same as email marketing, it’s important to keep tabs on the frequency in which you’re using SMS marketing. Because SMS is a personal method of communication it is important to consider how often you’re speaking to customers through SMS and if this is in line with your brand. The frequency of SMS marketing for a nightclub will be vastly different to the frequency for a family friendly cafe.

As with any marketing channel, tracking your Return on Investment (ROI) for SMS marketing is critical. Monitoring your ROI will help you gauge how well the campaign performed and if it was worth the financial output. By including a Call to Action in your SMS, you will be able to measure the campaign’s success. These Call to Actions could be as simple as “Mention this message when booking” to a more complex method, whereby Google Analytics is set up to measure click throughs from the campaign onto your site.

SMS can be an incredibly powerful method of getting your message out to your database, especially if you’re message is time sensitive, or you’re wanting to do one last big push for a special event. For more information, pricing or to get some help setting up your next SMS campaign, please contact our team.