When running a multi-location restaurant or franchise, owners and operators don’t have much time to think about marketing. And not all franchise marketing solutions are created equal. Many “canned” marketing programs save time but are based only on brand recognition and will do little to generate revenue and increase loyalty to a specific location. It can be challenging to implement marketing that is unique to one location over another if there are many surface similarities. Fortunately, times have changed.

Marketing through the use of integrated technologies such as Wi-Fi, SMS and digital displays allows for full automation while delivering highly targeted marketing messages resulting in increased guest traffic and revenue at each franchise location. No, this is not a sci-fi hypothesis – it’s a reality with the use of innovative, integrated marketing technology.

Collecting valuable customer data via on-site Wi-Fi allows franchisees to build a fully automated and personalized experience for each customer while understanding what works and what doesn’t for a company’s marketing strategy. This article discusses what integrated WiFi marketing automation is, how it works for restaurants with multiple locations or franchises, and how to implement highly targeted marketing campaigns that generate more revenue.

Related: Evaluating a Franchise’s Marketing Program

What exactly is marketing automation?

Centralized multi-location restaurant or franchise marketing automation is achieved by syncing a location’s Wi-Fi to a customer’s device (via free Wi-Fi access) and then collecting the customer’s valuable data. From there, customers are then individually filtered, organized and analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) to identify a customer’s behavior and determine which message is most likely to resonate with them.

The data collected and retained during this process also continues to grow as much as the company wishes and as much as the customer is willing to participate – as customers can also participate in surveys or other key touchpoints for collecting qualitative information. Even if a customer decides they don’t want to participate in a survey, for example, their scheduling behavior for frequency, time of day, day of the week or month, duration of their visits, and other data will be retained to provide them with a tailored experience. to meet their wants and needs.

If a customer goes to multiple locations of the same restaurant or multi-location franchise in the course of their weekly or monthly routine, that information will also be retained. This allows the company to see which location is most efficient for that customer and encourages their visits to specific locations. By stimulating their visit with a coupon or offer code for a free drink, sandwich or other item, it can direct a customer to a specific location that needs to increase guest flow efficiency, ultimately benefiting the bottom line for that location . Marketing automation through integrated Wi-Fi marketing technology allows routine marketing tasks to be performed without the need for human supervision or handholding.

Of course, achieving all of this requires the willingness of the business owner to accept and implement the technology in their multi-location restaurants or franchises. In this way, data can be stored and distributed across different locations and it can be ensured that a customer who goes to a location in North Dakota on Monday will receive the same personalized message that day as they would on a Tuesday in California. While the idea of ​​machine learning and other buzzwords may sound intimidating, intelligent AI in automated marketing means a closer and more personal relationship with customers.

Related: 5 Ways to Refresh Your Franchise Marketing in 2023

How will I see it improve my business?

If a multi-location franchise or restaurant owner wants to take the next step and provide their customers with an immersive, personalized experience, integrated WiFi marketing and automation is the best option. According to a report by PWC, 82% of consumers would share some of their personal information to get a more personalized customer experience. A personalized experience was also cited by 87% of PWC survey respondents as one of the most important elements of the buying experience for them. “size-fits-all” approach that many companies take when messaging their customers.

Using text, email, social media and digital online displays, a business can send personalized messages that individually let their customers know that their wants and needs are being seen and heard.

For example, if a customer regularly buys breakfast sandwiches and coffee in the morning at a location, that multi-location franchise or restaurant might send a text message along the lines of, “Thank you for choosing us to start your day! is a free coffee on us [link to post on social media for social gravity boost!]“Furthermore, the AI ​​in integrated WiFi marketing and automation recognizes that customer retention and re-acquisition is crucial and will provide each customer type – including new, returning, regular and lost customers – with an experience that best appeals to them.

With lost customers vs. new customers, it’s important to remember that there’s a 60-70% chance of making a sale to a former customer – which, according to the book Marketing statistics: The definitive guide to measuring marketing performanceis much higher than the 5-20% chance a company has of winning a sale from a potential new customer.

Related: The basics of multi-location and franchise marketing

Marketing automation through integrated WiFi technology may sound and seem futuristic, but surprisingly enough 76% of companies have already adopted basic Wi-Fi technology. However, most miss the value of integrating SMS and digital displays for a comprehensive messaging solution. Inefficient allocation of marketing resources is a thing of the past with intuitive AI used in integrated WiFi marketing.

In the digital age, companies have an opportunity like no other to form deep, lasting connections with their customers. Integrated and automated solutions enable Wi-Fi and text messaging to directly engage and display the customer on their social media and other online platforms to promote lines of communication and understanding between customer and business.