Have you ever received an offer from your favorite restaurant that on its face seemed generous, but really didn't draw your attention enough for you to make a visit to the restaurant or initiate an online order? Perhaps the offer was for a free menu item that you would never purchase, or maybe your personal choices simply precluded you from breaking diet or resolution by purchasing the item.
Restaurant marketing campaign goals ultimately come down to a single benchmark: how many guest orders were a direct result of the campaign? Did the campaign increase the engagement count (more butts in seats)? Simply "rewarding" the guest with a generic offer may cause the campaign to underperform simply due to lack of relevancy, leading to minimal engagement.
It's difficult to pinpoint why a specific offer campaign may underperform, but assumptions can be made based on a basic understanding of human nature (supported by real-world offer campaign metrics) as illustrated by the following:
Personalized offer campaigns leverage customer data to create tailored experiences, boosting engagement and conversions by making marketing efforts more relevant and personal. Members can be targeted based on purchase preferences and history, creating campaigns with promotions that offer relevant menu items.
To develop personalized offer campaigns, it's essential to start with thorough data collection. Gather comprehensive information about your customers, such as their demographics, purchase history, and engagement patterns, to better understand their needs and preferences.
Once the data is collected, segment your audience based on these insights, allowing you to create targeted groups for different offers and messages. Finally, craft item-specific offers by tailoring exclusive promotions to individual preferences or customer segments based on their past purchases, ensuring that the offers are relevant and appealing to each group.
Fishbowl offers two key products designed to enhance customer data management and marketing efforts. The Fishbowl GRM enables businesses to collect, manage, and analyze customer data through its GRM connections, allowing for more effective personalization. It allows users to create segments from member data collections, targeting members based on highly specific criteria. Additionally, Fishbowl Offers provides a unique solution for promotion management within the restaurant sector. It addresses challenges such as minimizing fraud, tracking campaign effectiveness, and gathering valuable insights about guests. Unlike traditional Point-of-Sale software, which often provides limited or no fraud prevention for coupons and discounts, Fishbowl Offers validates promotions in real-time and monitors guest engagement with specific coupons or campaigns, ensuring a more secure and effective marketing approach.
The Offers platform, in particular provides for item based offer types such as Free Item, Fixed Price, Price Modifier, Percentage off Item, and BOGO. Each of these offer types allow for selection of items directly from the client's menu.
Therefore, GRM campaigns that target specific member purchasing preferences can include item based offers directly mirroring those preferences.
Focus on real-time promotion validation, tracking marketing ROI, preventing coupon fraud, and providing detailed transactional reporting with our advanced promotions manager.
Enhancing guest marketing through personalized campaigns and offers is the right strategy to increase engagement counts. Fishbowl GRM and Offers are the right tools to move away from generic offers to meaningful, relevant guest experiences.
Want to make sure your offers reach the right guests? Let’s talk. Visit us here.
Improve offers engagement through personalization. Boost customer engagement, increase conversions and tailor offers using customer data with Fishbowl's GRM.
A common question from restaurant marketers: If sending emails costs nothing, what’s the harm in keeping non-responders on the list? After all, there’s always a chance they will open an email someday, right?
Not exactly. Keeping disengaged recipients on your list does more harm than good. Unopened emails signal to providers like Gmail and Outlook that your messages are not welcome, increasing the risk they will be filtered as spam. When that happens, your emails do not just get ignored. They may never reach any inbox at all, even for engaged customers who expect to hear from you.
Regularly purging non-responders keeps your email marketing effective and ensures your messages reach the right audience. Here is why it matters:
✅ Better Deliverability: A regularly maintained email list reduces bounce rates and keeps your messages in inboxes instead of spam folders. According to Kickbox, email list cleaning improves deliverability by reducing the chances of messages being marked as spam.
✅ Higher Engagement: By focusing on active recipients, you will see stronger open rates, click-throughs, and overall campaign performance. Campaign Monitor notes that low open rates signal to ISPs that your content may not be relevant, which can harm your sender reputation.
✅ Smarter Spending: Even if email is low-cost, resources like design, content and automation can still add up. Keeping a lean, engaged list maximizes the return on every campaign. According to Mailchimp, high engagement boosts deliverability and ensures email clients recognize you as a trusted sender.
Rather than removing contacts outright, take a strategic approach to re-engage before purging:
Some general guidelines:
Managing this process manually is time-consuming, but Fishbowl's GRM makes it easy. With on-demand segmentation and campaign tools, you can clean your list in minutes, improving engagement without extra hassle.
BTW...wondering why we link to competitor email solutions in this article? Because Fishbowl was built for restaurants before other email platforms were even on the map. We've been serving this industry since day one, crafting the most comprehensive, restaurant-first email solution, now a core part of our GRM, the modern marketing engine that connects guest data to real engagement and long-term loyalty.
Want to make sure your emails reach the right guests? Let’s talk. Visit us here.
Improve email engagement by cleaning your list. Removing non-responders boosts deliverability, engagement & ROI. Learn how to re-engage & optimize your list.
Fishbowl hosted our Data-Driven Loyalty Webinar, a dynamic three-way discussion featuring industry experts Chris Munz and Brandon Flude of Fishbowl, and Olga Berkovich Lopategui of Restaurant Loyalty Specialists. During the session, the panel explored the future of restaurant loyalty programs and discussed how leveraging data is essential to maintaining a robust, automated approach to loyalty and marketing as a whole. Brandon demonstrated how Fishbowl Loyalty works in action, and Olga’s scenario-driven questions sparked conversations on real-world loyalty challenges. Watch the full post-event video to learn how data-driven loyalty strategies are transforming restaurant engagement.
Link: Fishbowl GRM
Presenters:
Brandon Flude, VP Engineering & Product
Olga Berkovich Lopategui, Restaurant Loyalty Specialists
Chris Munz, VP Enterprise Partnerships
Watch the post-event video of Fishbowl's Data-Driven Loyalty Webinar with experts Chris Munz, Olga Berkovich Lopategui, and Brandon Flude as they discuss how data-driven insights transform restaurant loyalty programs.
Marketing technology migrations can make or break a restaurant group's guest engagement strategy. While the promise of improved capabilities drives many organizations to consider platform changes, the reality is that 67% of martech migrations fail to meet expectations – not due to technology limitations, but because of inadequate planning and execution.
For multi-location restaurant organizations, where guest relationships directly impact revenue, the stakes are particularly high. A successful migration requires more than just moving data – it demands a systematic approach that preserves guest relationships while enabling teams to leverage new capabilities effectively.
Before touching any systems, successful restaurant groups invest time in developing a comprehensive migration framework that addresses three critical areas:
Start by documenting your existing marketing technology ecosystem in detail:
The goal isn't just to catalog what exists, but to understand why each element was implemented and how it supports your business objectives. This understanding helps prevent critical functionality from being overlooked during migration planning.
Ready to upgrade your restaurant marketing platform? Learn how the Fishbowl Guest Relationship Management platform helps multi-location restaurants centralize guest data and improve marketing effectiveness.
The most successful migrations prioritize maintaining guest engagement throughout the transition. Our analysis shows that restaurant groups that implement proper risk mitigation strategies maintain 95% of their marketing program effectiveness during migration, while those that don't see engagement drops of up to 40%.
Focus protection measures on these key aspects:
Discover how Fishbowl's Connections Marketplace seamlessly integrates with your existing restaurant systems to create a unified guest data platform. See our integration capabilities →
The complexity of marketing technology migrations demands a dedicated team with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. High-performing restaurant groups typically establish these core team functions:
Successful marketing technology migrations require meticulous planning that accounts for both technical and operational considerations. Organizations that invest in detailed project planning are 3x more likely to complete migrations on schedule while maintaining operational effectiveness.
The complexity of restaurant marketing technology – from guest data management to multi-location campaign execution – demands a structured approach that goes beyond simple data transfer. Each phase must be carefully orchestrated to maintain operational continuity while enabling teams to leverage new capabilities effectively.
Most restaurant group migrations follow this proven framework, with each phase building upon the previous one to ensure comprehensive coverage of all critical elements:
Pre-Migration Phase (4-6 weeks)
This foundational phase is crucial for setting your migration up for success. Begin by assembling your core team, ensuring representation from marketing, IT, and operations. During our work with multi-location restaurants, we've found that organizations that invest adequate time in current state documentation reduce their migration timeline by an average of 40%. Focus particular attention on documenting your existing marketing automation rules and triggers – these often contain complex logic built up over years of optimization that can be easily overlooked in standard documentation processes.
Data Preparation Phase (6-8 weeks)
The quality of your migration largely depends on the preparation done during this phase. One multi-location restaurant group we worked with discovered that 30% of their guest profiles contained duplicate or outdated information. A thorough data audit revealed opportunities to consolidate guest records and improve data quality before migration. Schema mapping deserves particular attention during this phase. Modern marketing platforms often offer more sophisticated data structures than legacy systems. Take time to design your new data architecture to take advantage of these capabilities rather than simply replicating your old structure.
Implementation Phase (8-12 weeks)
This is where the technical work of migration happens, but success depends on more than just moving data. Leading restaurant groups use this phase to optimize their marketing operations, not just replicate them. For example, one organization used their migration as an opportunity to redesign their automated campaign workflows, resulting in a 45% improvement in guest engagement post-migration. The key is maintaining parallel operations during this phase. Your existing marketing programs must continue running while you build and test new capabilities. This requires careful coordination and clear communication protocols between teams.
Validation Phase (4-6 weeks)
Perhaps the most critical phase, validation ensures that your new platform is performing as expected across all locations and use cases. We recommend a systematic testing approach that covers both technical functionality and business outcomes. One restaurant group developed a comprehensive validation scorecard that measured everything from data accuracy to campaign performance, ensuring no detail was overlooked.
Let Fishbowl's implementation experts help you develop a customized migration plan that ensures success while minimizing operational disruption.
The technical execution of your migration requires careful orchestration to maintain data integrity while ensuring all critical marketing functions continue without interruption. This is particularly crucial for restaurant groups, where marketing technology directly impacts daily guest interactions across multiple locations.
Successful organizations typically implement a phased data migration strategy that prioritizes current operational needs while systematically transitioning historical data. This approach has proven to reduce risk while maintaining marketing effectiveness throughout the migration.
Historical Data Transfer
Start with your most valuable asset – guest data. One restaurant group we worked with prioritized their transfer based on guest value, migrating their top-tier loyalty members first to ensure uninterrupted service for their most valuable customers. This approach allowed them to focus quality control efforts on their most critical data segments. Consider implementing a "freeze period" for certain types of data updates during the final transfer to ensure consistency. However, be strategic about timing – one organization successfully executed their final data transfer over a traditionally slower period, minimizing impact on operations.
Moving from historical data to active marketing programs requires careful orchestration. Restaurant groups that excel at this phase typically achieve a 90% reduction in campaign disruption during migration. The key is maintaining parallel operations while systematically transitioning each campaign type:
Your marketing technology doesn't operate in isolation. Multi-location restaurant groups typically maintain connections with 5-7 critical operational systems. Each integration requires careful handling during migration:
Most successful migrations follow a systematic approach to integration updates, prioritizing customer-facing systems first. One restaurant group we worked with maintained dual integrations during their transition period, ensuring no guest transactions were missed while validating new connection points.
The technical aspects of migration are only half the equation. Leading restaurant groups recognize that operational readiness determines long-term success. Organizations that implement comprehensive operational transition plans see 60% faster time-to-value with their new platforms.
Successful enablement goes beyond basic platform training. Restaurant groups need a structured approach that builds confidence and capability across all user groups:
See how Fishbowl's intuitive platform helps restaurant marketing teams create data-driven, personalized email campaigns across all locations. Request a platform tour →
Migration success extends beyond the technical cutover. Leading restaurant groups implement robust monitoring frameworks to ensure their new platform delivers expected value across all locations.
Focus monitoring efforts on metrics that directly impact guest relationships and revenue:
Successful organizations establish a regular cadence of performance reviews during the first 90 days post-migration. This allows quick identification and resolution of any issues before they impact guest relationships or revenue.
The most successful restaurant groups view their migration as an opportunity to establish new operational excellence standards. Consider implementing:
A successful migration is ultimately measured by its impact on your guest relationships and marketing effectiveness. Leading restaurant groups establish clear metrics and monitoring processes that extend well beyond the technical cutover.
Focus on these key indicators during the critical first three months:
One restaurant group implemented a weekly scorecard review process during this period, enabling them to quickly identify and address a 15% drop in email engagement caused by spam filter configuration issues in specific markets.
Beyond immediate performance metrics, successful organizations track indicators of strategic value creation:
Your migration presents an opportunity to establish frameworks that support ongoing evolution and growth. Leading restaurant groups use this transition to build foundations for continued advancement.
Develop a roadmap for leveraging advanced platform capabilities:
Marketing technology migration success requires more than technical expertise – it demands a balanced focus on technology, operations, and people. Organizations that approach their migration as a transformational opportunity rather than just a technical project consistently achieve better outcomes.
Key success factors include:
Most importantly, remember that migration is just the beginning. The real value comes from your organization's ability to leverage new capabilities to deepen guest relationships and drive growth across all locations.
Ready to transform your guest engagement strategy? See how Fishbowl's complete restaurant marketing platform helps restaurant groups drive lifetime value across all locations.
Navigate the complexities of switching marketing platforms in your restaurant organization. From data migration to team enablement, learn how to execute a successful transition while maintaining operational continuity.
For multi-location restaurant organizations, the decision between building custom marketing technology or purchasing an established platform reaches far beyond immediate costs. With guest relationships increasingly driven by data and personalization, the stakes of this choice directly impact revenue, operational efficiency and competitive advantage.
According to the National Restaurant Association's 2023 State of the Industry Report, restaurants investing in advanced marketing technology consistently outperform their peers in guest retention and lifetime value metrics. Yet the path to achieving these results – whether through custom development or proven platforms – demands careful consideration of both short-term capabilities and long-term strategic implications.
The build vs. buy discussion often begins with cost comparisons, but successful restaurant groups look beyond initial price tags to evaluate total cost of ownership and opportunity costs.
Custom marketing platform development represents a significant investment in both time and resources. Organizations undertaking custom development should anticipate extensive development timelines, substantial upfront costs covering development teams and infrastructure, and ongoing investments in maintenance and specialized personnel.
However, the more significant costs often emerge after launch. One regional restaurant group found their initial development budget doubled within the first year due to unexpected costs in security requirements, integration challenges and essential feature updates they hadn't initially anticipated.
In contrast, established marketing platforms leverage economies of scale across hundreds or thousands of restaurant locations to deliver sophisticated capabilities at a fraction of the cost. The investment model shifts from large capital expenditures to predictable operating expenses, based on location count and selected capabilities.
Looking to understand the true ROI of your marketing technology investment? Learn how Fishbowl's transparent pricing model delivers enterprise capabilities without hidden costs. Explore our pricing →
Before considering development approaches, successful restaurant groups first define their essential marketing and guest engagement requirements. Our analysis reveals several core capabilities that drive meaningful revenue impact:
The foundation of effective restaurant marketing lies in connecting guest data across all touchpoints. Custom solutions often struggle with:
Meanwhile, established platforms have typically solved these integration challenges through years of development and partnership building. One national restaurant chain abandoned a custom development project after 18 months when they realized the complexity of building and maintaining integrations with their expanding technology ecosystem.
Restaurant groups often view custom development as a path to competitive advantage through unique capabilities. However, the reality is more nuanced. Established marketing platforms maintain regular feature release cycles driven by industry-wide learning and customer feedback, while custom solutions typically require longer development cycles for significant updates.
Consider one fast-casual chain that invested heavily in building proprietary guest segmentation tools. By the time their solution launched, established platforms had already introduced AI-powered segmentation capabilities that far exceeded their custom functionality. The lesson? Innovation often happens faster at scale.
The choice between building and buying extends beyond technology to affect day-to-day marketing operations and team effectiveness.
Custom development demands significant attention from marketing teams, often pulling them away from their core mission of guest engagement and revenue growth. Restaurant groups frequently report their marketing teams spending significant portions of their time managing development sprints and technical requirements instead of focusing on guest engagement strategies.
More critically, this divided focus typically continues well after launch. Marketing teams must balance campaign execution with platform maintenance, feature requests, and technical debt management. One restaurant marketing director noted, "We became accidental product managers instead of focusing on guest relationships."
Time-to-market significantly impacts marketing effectiveness and competitive positioning.
Restaurant groups using established platforms can typically begin executing sophisticated marketing campaigns within a few months of implementation. Custom solutions, by contrast, often require multiple quarters or even years before delivering similar capabilities.
A regional restaurant group recently shared their experience: "We spent 14 months building basic email capabilities that we could have had immediately with an established platform. Meanwhile, our competitors were already running advanced predictive campaigns."
Ready to accelerate your marketing effectiveness? See how Fishbowl helps restaurant groups launch sophisticated campaigns in weeks, not months.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the build vs. buy decision is evaluating long-term scalability and adaptation to future needs.
The restaurant marketing landscape evolves rapidly, with guest expectations and technology capabilities advancing continuously. Custom platforms often struggle to keep pace with emerging channels and capabilities:
One restaurant group found their custom solution couldn't efficiently support SMS marketing when they wanted to add the channel, requiring an additional six months of development while their competitors were already engaging guests through multiple channels.
As restaurant groups grow, data volumes and complexity increase exponentially. Custom solutions that performed well with 10-20 locations often face significant challenges at 50+ locations:
While these technical and operational challenges highlight the complexity of custom development, they connect to an even more fundamental consideration: the question of control. Many restaurant groups initially pursue custom development believing it will provide greater command over their marketing technology ecosystem. However, examining this assumption reveals important nuances that affect long-term success.
One of the most compelling arguments for custom development is maintaining complete control over guest data and marketing capabilities. However, this perceived advantage often comes with hidden complexities.
While owning the technical infrastructure may seem to guarantee data control, the reality is more nuanced. Restaurant groups building custom solutions often find themselves:
In contrast, established platforms maintain dedicated teams and resources focused on data security and compliance, spreading these essential costs across their entire customer base.
The build vs. buy decision fundamentally comes down to how restaurant groups can best allocate their limited resources to drive competitive advantage.
Leading restaurant groups recognize their true differentiator lies in creating exceptional guest experiences, not developing marketing technology. Consider the resource allocation required for custom platform development:
Marketing Team Impact:
Technology Investment Balance:
Let Fishbowl's marketing platform handle the technology so your team can focus on creating exceptional guest experiences. See how →
The build vs. buy decision carries significant implications for organizational risk profiles that extend beyond technical considerations.
Custom development introduces several strategic risks:
Market Position Impact:
Operational Vulnerabilities:
The pace of marketing technology evolution creates ongoing challenges for custom solutions:
Emerging Technology Integration:
While every restaurant group's situation is unique, successful organizations typically evaluate their build vs. buy decision through three critical lenses:
Before committing to either path, consider your organization's:
Understanding your organization's ability to execute is crucial:
Unsure which path is right for your organization? Let Fishbowl's restaurant marketing experts help you evaluate your options. Schedule a consultation →
While the build vs. buy decision is often presented as binary, many successful restaurant groups are finding value in hybrid approaches that combine platform capabilities with custom extensions.
This approach leverages established platforms for core capabilities while building custom components for unique needs:
The build vs. buy decision for restaurant marketing technology ultimately comes down to understanding where your organization can create genuine competitive advantage. Success requires honest assessment of capabilities, clear understanding of requirements, and strategic alignment with long-term business objectives.
Key Decision Factors:
Most importantly, remember that the choice isn't permanent. Many successful restaurant groups start with established platforms to gain immediate capabilities and market momentum, then selectively build custom components as their needs evolve and specialized requirements emerge.
Ready to accelerate your marketing capabilities? Discover how Fishbowl's enterprise GRM platform can provide immediate value while supporting your long-term growth.
Evaluate the true costs, risks, and strategic implications of building vs. buying restaurant marketing technology. Learn how successful multi-location restaurant groups make this critical decision while maintaining operational excellence and guest engagement.
The restaurant industry's digital transformation accelerated dramatically throughout 2024, driven by evolving guest expectations and technological innovation. According to the National Restaurant Association's 2024 State of the Industry Report, 73% of restaurant operators increased their technology investments this year, marking the highest rate of digital adoption in the sector's history.
This comprehensive review examines the statistics and trends that defined 2024, offering insights into how these changes will shape restaurant operations in 2025 and beyond.
The past year brought significant shifts in how restaurants approach guest engagement and operations. While technology adoption accelerated, the focus shifted from simple implementation to sophisticated integration and activation. Restaurant groups that successfully navigated these changes demonstrated that technology investment must be paired with strategic execution to drive meaningful results.
The shift toward digital ordering continued its upward trajectory in 2024. The National Restaurant Association's 'Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024' also highlights that a significant portion of restaurant transactions are now conducted digitally, reflecting a substantial increase from previous years.
Quick Service Restaurants
Casual Dining
This digital transformation extends beyond simple ordering capabilities. Restaurant groups report that guests who engage through digital channels show 24% higher lifetime value compared to traditional-only guests. This value increase stems from both higher visit frequency and larger average check sizes, demonstrating the revenue impact of seamless digital experiences.
Program Participation
Guest Expectations
Modern loyalty members prioritize:
The evolution of loyalty programs reflects a broader shift in how restaurants view guest relationships. Rather than treating loyalty as a simple points system, leading restaurant groups now approach it as a comprehensive guest engagement strategy. This shift has proven particularly valuable for multi-location operations, where consistent recognition across properties drives significant increases in cross-location dining.
In 2024, the restaurant industry experienced significant shifts in guest communication preferences and technology adoption, reflecting the evolving landscape of guest engagement and operational efficiency.
Guest Communication Preferences
Recent studies indicate that guests increasingly favor digital communication channels for interacting with restaurants:
These trends underscore the necessity for restaurants to adopt a multi-channel communication strategy, ensuring they meet guests on their preferred platforms to enhance engagement and satisfaction.
Guest Data Platform Implementation
2024 marked a pivotal shift in how restaurant groups manage and leverage guest data:
The integration of these platforms has led to measurable improvements:
This strategic emphasis on data-driven decision-making reflects a broader industry trend towards personalization and operational efficiency, positioning restaurants to better meet guest expectations and foster loyalty.
By aligning communication channels with guest preferences and harnessing the power of sophisticated data platforms, restaurants can navigate the dynamic landscape of 2024 and beyond, delivering exceptional and personalized guest experiences.
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The Restaurant Digital Maturity Index reveals changing guest communication preferences:
Preferred Channels
Want to stay ahead of evolving guest preferences? Discover how Fishbowl's Guest Relationship Management platform helps restaurant groups deliver the personalized experiences today's guests expect.
Payment technology saw substantial transformation in 2024. Deloitte's Restaurant Payment Innovation Report highlights key developments:
Mobile Payment Adoption
Restaurant groups accelerated their adoption of automation technologies throughout 2024. The Food Service Technology Report indicates:
Marketing Automation Leading restaurant groups implemented:
Operational Systems Technology investments focused on:
Looking to modernize your restaurant group's technology stack? Learn how Fishbowl's comprehensive platform helps multi-location restaurants unify their guest data while enabling sophisticated marketing automation. Book a demo to see our latest innovations.
The marketing landscape for restaurant groups underwent significant transformation in 2024. According to McKinsey's Restaurant Marketing Excellence Report, digital marketing budgets increased by an average of 32% year-over-year, with multi-location restaurants leading this shift.
Marketing Budget Allocation Restaurant groups prioritized:
This reallocation reflects broader changes in marketing effectiveness, with digital channels demonstrating superior ROI and measurement capabilities.
The Restaurant Marketing Association's annual benchmark study reveals significant improvements in marketing efficiency:
Email Marketing Performance
Social Media Engagement Platform effectiveness varies by demographic:
Several key trends from 2024 are expected to accelerate in 2025:
Technology Integration
Guest Experience Evolution The National Restaurant Association projects:
As we move into 2025, the distinction between digital and traditional operations continues to blur. Leading restaurant groups are focusing less on channel-specific strategies and more on creating seamless experiences that meet guests wherever they choose to engage. This evolution requires sophisticated data management capabilities combined with careful attention to guest preferences and privacy considerations.
Restaurant groups should focus on:
Data Strategy Enhancement
Marketing Optimization
Ready to transform your restaurant group's marketing capabilities for 2025? Discover how Fishbowl's comprehensive platform can help you leverage these trends and stay ahead of the competition. Schedule a consultation to learn more about our industry-leading solutions.
Explore key statistics and trends that shaped the restaurant industry in 2024. From guest behavior to technology adoption, understand the data driving change.
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