ISSUE
Like many restaurants in Southwest Florida, The Dock enjoyed a strong year of sales in 2021, post the initial COVID-19 hospitality crash of 2020. They scaled back some marketing efforts earlier in the year due to the success. However, in September of 2021, looking toward the end of the year, the owner was ready to revisit efforts and desired to end the year strong and set the restaurant up for success in 2022. PTE revisited and revamped a low to no additional cost plan to help The Dock generate revenue during November and December 2021 in the form of a gift card promotion.
OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES
The following objectives were to be completed by December 31, 2021:
- Exceed 2020 gift card sales by 70%, a lofty “reach” objective
- Create awareness by leveraging the limited existing marketing resources and budget to generate at least 20,000 exposures (unique and repeat) to the promotion
- Further generate target audience awareness of the promotion as evidenced by 500 pageviews of The Dock’s gift card webpage.
PTE designed the campaign around the target audience and with the limited timeframe and budget in mind. Campaign elements included
- Presenting a bonus offer during Black Friday and Cyber Monday when consumers are looking for deals
- Leveraging The Dock’s engaged social media audience with organic posts promoting both the Black Friday/Cyber Monday special and gift cards in general.
- Utilizing The Dock’s email newsletter to engage loyal restaurant customers, those familiar with and fond of the restaurant.
- Updating The Dock’s website to include information about the Black Friday/Cyber Monday gift card promotion and promotion of gift card sales for the holidays.
RESULTS: ALL OBJECTIVES WERE MET AND EXCEEDED!
- By December 31, 2021, even with the shorter bonus/”deal” run timeframe, gift card sales increased 72.35% compared to the previous year’s gift card sales during the same time period,
- 21,896 exposures to the campaign were generated,
- 1,775 page views were earned, more than triple the goal.