BUILDING AND GROWING A LARGE Customer Database - Bloom Intelligence

BUILDING AND GROWING A LARGECustomer DatabaseBuilding and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com1

BUILDING AND GROWINGA L A R G E C U S T O M E R D ATA B A S EIf there is one thing that theCoronavirus pandemic of 2020taught restaurant owners andoperators, it is that having a largecustomer database is crucial tokeeping your business alive whentimes get tough.When restaurants wereforced to close theirdoors to on-premisedining, those who did not have adatabase to continue marketing towere at a serious, often businessending disadvantage.If you do not have a customerdatabase, or you are not activelyworking to grow the one youhave, you are simply leavingmoney on the table.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com2

Section1WHY IS HAVING A CUSTOMERDatabase SoImportant?Acustomer database can notonly give you a powerful,very low-cost marketingchannel, it can help you get to knowwho your customers are, how theybehave at your place of business, andwhat their spending habits are.With this type of information, you can create specific messaging for specificcustomers. For instance, you could send a specific message to men over 21years old who visit during happy hour, and a completely different messageto women under 50 years old who only visit during lunch. This allows you to really targetyour messaging to each segment that will be interesting and engaging to them.Studies have shown that being able to segment your customer list into various personas,and then sending targeted messaging to those personas, will greatly increase open ratesand engagement. Thus, you can improve revenue while spending less.In fact, according to a study from Mailchimp, marketing email recipients are 75% morelikely to click on emails from segmented campaigns than non-segmented campaigns.And an article from CMO.com stated that targeted promotions are, on average, almosttwice as effective as non-targeted ones. Mailchimp also noted that email open rates are14.31% higher in segmented campaigns.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com3

In addition, when you have your own customer list, you don’t have to pay for someoneelse’s email list. While this may seem like an effective alternative, these lists can bevery expensive. Plus, in many cases you’ll have to pay them again and again if youwant to send more messages.Many of these lists contain email addresses of consumers who did not give theirpermission to be on the list. Sending messages to lists like this can be harmful to yourbusiness reputation. Also, since the customer did not opt into your emails, they maylose trust or loyalty to your place of business.If your business is already in need of more revenue, renting email lists just doesn’tmake sense.Likewise, when revenue is low, you won’t have to pay high prices for effective onlineadvertising, or local media. Saving these critical dollars can make the differencebetween success and failure of your business.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com4

Section2SWHAT IS ACustomerDatabase?imply put, a customer database is abehavior data, such as dwell times, whatcollection of actual customer namesdays and times they visit, which locationsalong with their associated contactthey visited, and more.information, such as their email or phonenumber. With this very basic set of data,With Bloom Intelligence, all this data isyou can begin sending marketing messagescollected in real time. Likewise, it usesto these customers to get them to comeyour WiFi access points or your websiteback to your place of business, or orderto collect it, so you don’t even have to lifttake-out or delivery.a finger. You can passively build a large,clean, and accurate customer database ofAt the most basic level, customeryour actual customers.databases should include customer namesand email addresses. However, when usingIn the past, it has been difficult and time-a WiFi marketing and analytics platformconsuming to collect the data manuallylike Bloom Intelligence, you can collect sofrom your customers. Plus, there weremuch more data.often mistakes made when filling out theinformation, or when entering the data intoYou will be able to collect things likea spreadsheet. When your data is incorrect,customer birthday, age, gender, and postalmessages will not reach your customers,code. Plus, you can collect customerand success reports become skewed.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com5

Section3THE IMPORTANCE OFClean DataThere are customer database software solutions that will allow customers to enter datathat is false. Customers might enter an email address that is entirely bogus and doesn’texist or provide other false customer data, like a fake phone number or postal code.This creates scenarios that can be detrimental to your marketing and operations strategies.Not to mention, you’ll lose time and money by setting up systems that will not meet their fullpotential because your customer data was not cleaned and normalized.Bloom Intelligence verifies all emails in real time. Additionally, Bloom checks zip codes andphone numbers for accuracy. Also, if a customer enters a birth date that appears false, Bloomwill ask them for their correct birthday. The key is having complete, clean customer profiles topersonalize your customers’ experiences, increasing the profitability of your organization.And when you are studying the results of your campaigns, you can rest assured that what youare seeing is accurate and comprehensive.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com6

Section4WHAT TYPE OFData isCollected?Your restaurant’s customer database is only as effective as the data contained ineach customer profile. If you are only collecting names and email addresses, yourmarketing campaigns will be very limited, and you will not be able to segment yourdatabase into various customer personas.For example, if you know a customer’s birthday, age and gender, you can send themmessages that are much more interesting and engaging to them.Also, if you know the way they behave at your place of business, such as what times or daysthey visit, you can target your messaging even further while attempting to shape their futurebehavior.Compared to mass-messaging (sending the same message to everyone in your database),targeted and personalized messaging has proven to be much more effective. The moretargeted the message, the higher the ROI.Here are the data that the Bloom Intelligence platform collects for you.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com7

Demographic Data Customer Name – with the customer’s name, you can personalize your messaging.For instance, instead of starting your message with “Hello!” you can say “HelloJames!” instead. Contact Information – this is obviously the most important of the data points. With anemail or phone number, you can send emails and texts with your targeted messages. Age, Birthday, and Gender – this data will allow you to further target your messaging.For instance, you can send a promotional message to women over 35, while sendinga completely different message to men under 35. Likewise, you can automate thesending of a birthday message.Behavior Data Visit Days – what days of the week does the customer visit? If most of their visits are on,say, Monday, you could send a message that might try to get them to visit on a differentday as well, increasing their lifetime value. Visit Times – does the customer only visit at lunchtime? Do they only visit duringlate-night happy hour? With this information you can send messaging promotingspecial events or try to persuade them to visit at other time, further increasing theirlifetime value. Visit Duration (Dwell Times) – this KPI shows how long the customer typically stayswhen they visit your restaurant. If their dwell time is low, perhaps you could senda free appetizer or dessert offer to keep them there longer. Per-Person Average (PPA) – this will let you know how much the customer typicallyspends. If their PPA is low, you might consider messaging that will increasetheir spending. Locations – if you have more than one location, Bloom can show you which locationsthey visited, as well as visits and dwell times per location. Churn Likelihood – Bloom uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to let youknow if the customer is possibly churning. In this case, you can create an automatedcampaign to get them back through your doors. Ratings – If a customer gives you a bad rating you can automatically target them with anapology or a comp. If they give you a positive rating you can ask them to rate you online.With all this data collected around every customer, the marketing campaign ideasbecome countless. And through this type of targeted messaging, campaign ROI willimprove, customer loyalty will grow, and overall revenue will rise.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com8

Section5HOW TO MONETIZE YOURCustomerDatabase?Now that we’ve talked about whata customer database is and whyit is so important for your business,let’s discuss how you can use it to improveyour revenue.First, with your own customer database,you can save by not spending money onexpensive local and online advertising. It isno secret that advertising costs can take ahuge chunk out of your overall marketingbudget. Using your own customer databaseas a targeted marketing channel, you canscale down your paid advertising as youbuild your own database and your WiFimarketing ROI increases.Likewise, as you begin improving yourrevenue by bringing in more business usingyour low-cost customer database, youroverall cost per acquisition will begin todecline rapidly. It is no secret that retainingyour current customers is much moreprofitable than finding new customers.When you have a large, clean customerdatabase, you can continue engaging andmarketing to your loyal customers, ensuringthey continue coming back again and again.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com9

Section6MARKETING IDEAS WHENTimes are ToughWhen revenue isdecreasing, andyou need a boost,here are some ideas to consider.Not only can they bring in extrarevenue, they will further engrainyour brand into the minds ofyour customers.Promote Delivery and Take-outIf you offer take-out or delivery services, make sure your customers know it. Some customersmay want to enjoy your food but, for whatever reason, they cannot visit for a dine-inexperience. Sending a message reminding them of your take-out and delivery service canspawn more orders. This will drive extra revenue and increase customer lifetime values.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com10

Gift Card PromotionGift cards are another great way togenerate working capital for yourbusiness when times are tough.Sending out a message to your loyalcustomers can remind them of your giftcards which can be given away as a giftor used by the purchaser on a later date.Family Meal PromotionFamily meal kits, or “take & bake”kits, are surging into the industry.By offering family sized portions,or meals that can simply be placed in theoven, you can generate more revenue andengage with your customers in a way thathas rarely been seen before. You mayalso consider having the customer signup for multiple meals which can bepicked up or delivered at predeterminedtimes – creating a habit of purchasingfrom your business.Building and Growing a Large Customer Database bloomintelligence.com11