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Day: December 22, 2017

Leading yogurt brand

Posted on by shopkickmain

Recapturing share with a disruptive new product launch

Campaign Goals

A leading dairy company was launching a differentiating new product in the hyper-competitive yogurt category. They were looking to disrupt the market, regain share and capture consumer’s attention in the crowded yogurt aisle.

Shopkick Solution

Shopkick first created custom lookbook content to educate users on the unique benefits of the new product, differentiating it from the other products currently available in the market.

After consumers were made aware of the product and understood its unique benefits, Shopkick incentivized them to visit the product at Walmart by rewarding them for scanning the product, thus capturing their attention in a crowded dairy aisle. Users were further rewarded for purchasing the product and submitting their receipt.  

Results

Shopkick’s solution educated users about the new product and then led them to the crowded dairy aisle, incentivizing them to scan and buy any of the 5 flavors. This gave the brand critical insights on consumer flavor preference. Driving consumers to the product in-store resulted in incremental, unplanned sales and new customer acquisition. 

24%

Purchase conversion rate

77%

Awareness lift through Shopkick

78%

Incremental purchases

Details

Goals

Support new product launch

Regain market share

Drive trial and sales

Retailer Distribution

Walmart

Products Used

Lookbook, Promo Unit, Product Scans, Purchase Validation

The best QSR mobile advertising strategies

Posted on by shopkick

The best QSR mobile advertising strategies

Quick service restaurants (QSRs) are facing challenging times as modern consumers have an overabundance of convenient options for dining out. Recent figures indicate that there are nearly 200,000 quick service restaurants in the US—and that number triples when all food service options are included in the figure. On top of that, restaurants are diversifying their menus; consumers don’t have to visit a specific restaurant when they’re craving a particular meal. Taco Bell is serving breakfast, McDonald’s is expanding their healthy eating options, and Domino’s is offering pasta and chicken wings. In this busy industry, the competitors who will stand out are the ones who take advantage of mobile moments, capturing the consumer’s attention as they are making their dining decisions.

Most QSR dining decisions are made while the consumer is on the road; therefore, the best QSR mobile advertising strategies are designed to work based on location as they travel with the consumer. They incentivize consumers to dine with your brand by making it convenient and rewarding to do so. Some of the top QSR brands in the world have taken advantage of this and, as a result, have been able to grab attention—and market share—in the crowded fast food industry. To give your brand a boost with QSR mobile advertising strategies, you must first examine what tactics have proven successful for similar brands in order to use them effectively.

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Mobile-First as a QSR Mobile Advertising Strategy

Mobile-first isn’t so much an advertising strategy as it is a philosophy. In the past, digital marketing strategies took a decidedly desktop-focused approach. Marketers would focus most of their marketing budgets and advertising efforts on sharing the brand’s message via a desktop-based website. Design for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices was a lower priority—much lower. In recent years, however, many brands in the QSR industry have reversed their attitude by making mobile their primary focus.

Chili’s was a particularly successful early adopter of this approach. In 2015, they launched a new digital strategy which focused heavily on the company’s branded app. Aside from offering several high demand options like mobile ordering and restaurant browsing, the company also implemented geolocation technology. Customers who had downloaded the app were notified of current deals and specials each time they were in the vicinity of a Chili’s. They also receive personalized notifications based on their ordering history and preferences. Even the company’s loyalty program was run through the app, allowing customers to save up rewards points for future visits. Currently, their app has approximately 4.3 million regular users—and that number continues to climb.

The app became a major sales driver for the company after Chili’s put the majority of their digital advertising efforts into developing it. While the company maintains a desktop site, mobile is the brand’s primary focus. Despite being a national chain, mobile allows them to advertise to customers in the moment, based on where they are. This is particularly important in the quick service sector when you’re often right next door to your biggest competitors.

The Key Takeaways:

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Focus on mobile over generalized web advertising:

Chili’s mobile-first approach allowed the company to focus its advertising on consumers at the bottom of the sales funnel via smartphones, i.e. when it was convenient for them to visit a location, rather than advertising to a national desktop audience who were likely at home, and steps from their own kitchen. This strategy is ideal for QSR brands as it reaches consumers in the prime moment for a purchase.

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Incentivize the program by rewarding users:

One major converter for Chili’s is that its loyalty program allows users to collect points based on dollars spent. The rewards points act as a converter as well; when consumers are redeeming their points, they may order additional items. By including their QSR rewards program within their app, the company made these points easy to redeem, increasing the likelihood a consumer will visit a restaurant to use them—and give the staff an opportunity to upsell.

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Offer a convenient experience:

Chili’s mobile app fully integrates several features which make it appealing to consumers. They can order items, collect rewards points, receive notifications that their meal is ready, and leave a review all via the smartphone app. This creates value for consumers by making their experience with Chili’s exceptionally convenient for a chain restaurant, helping to improve active use on the app and allowing them to compete with fast food restaurants offering drive-thru options.

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Manage Your QSR’s Mobile Reputation

Reputation management is a crucial aspect of QSR mobile advertising. While about 70% of consumers will look up a brand on their smartphones, those searches are much shorter than traditional desktop-based ones. QSR consumers are on-the-go; as a result, their time is limited. The first review they see for your company is likely going to be the one that they trust. If your company has a one-star rating on Google reviews, it’s very likely to steer them away from visiting your establishment, no questions asked. Your company must actively engage in online reputation management to limit this risk.

Chick-fil-A is a company that understands the importance of reputation management. Despite a few controversies over statements made by its CEO, they’ve managed to come out on top. Politics aside, Chick-fil-A is the highest ranked fast food franchise when it comes to customer satisfaction. The brand capitalizes on any complaints it receives on social media or review sites to improve their performance and better communicate with their customers, generally via mobile-based advertising.

For instance, when they saw an uptick in complaints regarding long waits, they rolled out an option on their app that allowed consumers to order food, then receive a notification when it was ready, masterfully resolving the issue. When consumers began to show interest in the nutritional content of the food, the Chick-fil-A app provided in-depth information on their menu items so customers could choose healthier alternatives.

The company consistently and diligently monitors its online reputation, then utilizes its app to resolve issues related to those complaints in a timely way. By thoroughly and quickly addressing customer complaints, with the help of mobile technology, the chain was able to gain top marks from consumers despite having a few controversies in the past.

The Key Takeaways:

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Be proactive:

Chick-fil-A vets social media, review sites, and its own website for poor reviews constantly. The company looks for trends that indicate widespread issues and then follows up by determining ways to publicly resolve them for customers. They don’t respond to every complaint, and your brand shouldn’t either. Instead, they quickly manage far-reaching issues affecting the most consumers.

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Provide real results, not lip service:

Chick-fil-A avoids copy-and-paste messages such as, “We’re very sorry you had a bad experience.” When the same message is repeated word for word, hundreds of times, this only increases a customer’s aggravation and feelings of not being heard. They read like what they are: lip service. When Chick-fil-A reviews customer complaints, they look for actionable items and offer a solution.

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Focus on the service:

In 2012, Chick-fil-A ran into some trouble when the CEO made some controversial political statements. As a result, web results for searches for Chick-fil-A weren’t about food, but about the controversy. The company then pulled back from making political statements and made the focus of their online reputation their food, not their politics. Now when you search for a Chick-fil-A location, you get an address, not a news story.

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Look to Data Over Demographics as QSR Mobile Advertising Strategy

Mobile advertising offers QSR companies something that standard advertising can’t: it allows them to target offers to consumers who are the most likely to become customers. After all, demographics might tell you that Millennials are health-focused and interested in organic offerings, but what about those Millennials who choose to visit QSR locations to indulge? Demographically-focused advertising is flawed because it paints all the members of a race, age group, or gender with the same brush. This could cause QSR companies to lose out on valuable advertising opportunities.

Data from mobile advertising, on the other hand, allows QSR companies to target individual consumers, rather than just relying on broad demographic statistics. With it, they can measure the effectiveness of rewards programs.

This is the strategy that a Chicago-based chain, Burrito Beach, implemented. The brand has an app-based loyalty program that collects consumer data on each visit for the purpose of gaining insights on who their customers actually are. This strategy allowed them to expand their overall demographic focus much more broadly than they originally anticipated.

Initially, the brand focused on young professionals on the go. However, through the data provided by their mobile program, they were able to see that the items on their menu pulled in a much more diverse crowd than expected. They were then able to use that data to create mobile advertisements that targeted specific consumer segments, rather than focusing on one generic demographic, as well as refine their menu to better cater to their entire audience.

The Key Takeaways:

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Don’t be blinded by demographics:

General demographics can be a good starting point for mobile advertising, but you should use actual data from your own customers to expand on it. Find out who your customers are and why they buy your food. Initially, Burrito Beach thought they were popular as a quick, low-cost option for single Millennials. It later turned out that they were considered a convenient and healthy option for both parents with young children as well as Baby Boomers.

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Permission is paramount:

Burrito Beach used their loyalty app to gain information on consumers; however, this was done only after those consumers made the active choice to participate. This permission is very important—and it’s something you can incentivize. Burrito Beach offers loyalty points in exchange for data. Another option is to ask these consumers to fill out short surveys in exchange for points and deals.

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Focus efforts on specific locations:

While QSR companies might have a key demographic, specific locations can cause that target market to shift. A Burrito Beach near a college may be popular with younger buyers, while one near an office complex might appeal to middle-aged workers. Break data down to a location-by-location level to gain the most out of your research.

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Tying it All Together: The Best QSR Mobile Advertising Strategies

The three mobile advertising strategies detailed above can actually be seen as the three stages of a campaign. Most importantly, you must begin with a mobile-first approach. Following implementation, you must monitor your reputation to ensure that your brand is gaining the right kind of attention for your efforts. Finally, you must monitor the data of your end user to look for ways that you can improve your advertising efforts and target them to the right users.

You can accomplish these goals by partnering with a third-party shopping app. Shopping apps are designed to work with a consumer while they’re on the go. They incentivize users and offer the opportunity to improve your brand’s image by building a direct relationship with loyal customers. Finally, they provide the data you need to retarget your advertising campaigns. The best part: they allow you to take that mobile-first approach while minimizing your investment as you don’t have to create a branded proprietary app.

Many fast food chains are taking a mobile-first approach to QSR advertising as it allows their brand to stand out in the crowded industry. Often, gaining the attention of the consumer is a matter of conveniently getting your name in front of them at the right time, with the right message. By tying the three above strategies together into one campaign, your company can gain the edge in the highly competitive QSR industry.

Shopkick partners with QSR companies, allowing them to reach out to consumers in the moment of purchase for proven mobile advertising ROI. For more information on how Shopkick can support your mobile advertising efforts, contact our team today.

How to take pictures of your receipts and get money using a smartphone app

Posted on by shopkick

Of all the hobbies I have, I think photography is my favorite. I’m not an expert with a camera—not by any means—but as more features and higher resolutions have been added to smartphone cameras, I’ve dabbled more and more. Image stabilizers and filters have really made it easy for even novices like me to take high-quality photos. I recently discovered portrait mode on my iPhone, and I’ve never taken such elegant and beautiful photos of my kids. Now, if I could only get them to sit still…kidding!

get money by taking picture of receiptI think one of the reasons I’ve gotten so good with my iPhone camera is that it goes with me everywhere. My phone is always in my hand or in my purse, and my purse is always at my side. I whip my phone out at a moment’s notice to take pictures of all kinds of things, from fireworks shows to amazing scenic vistas during our last vacation in Italy—even the absolutely nuts way that the baristas sometimes jot my name on my cup at Starbucks.

I really think I could have been a photographer in another life, but, alas, I don’t get paid for my pictures…at least not in the traditional sense. But, I recently found a way to use my phone’s camera to earn rewards that translate into real money. It’s not about taking high-quality photos or participating in a 7-day black-and-white challenge, but instead, I use my phone to take a picture of my receipt and then get money back for certain purchases.

Since I have my camera with me always, this has been a very cool discovery, one that I’d like to share with you today! Not to sound like one of those lame infomercials, but just follow these two easy steps for how to take pictures of your receipts and get money…

How to Take a Picture of Receipts and Get Money Step 1: Know Your Apps

One thing that kicked my photo habit into overdrive was my life-changing discovery of Instagram. Instagram was seriously a revelation because it combines so many of the things I love: taking photos, editing photos to make them look even better, sharing photos with friends, and getting to see the very cool photos all my friends are taking! It’s so many of my favorite smartphone features rolled up into one stylish app.

Sometimes I imagine what life would be like if I’d never discovered it, which brings me to first piece of advice: know your apps. When it comes to getting money by taking a picture of a receipt, first and foremost you need to know your shopping rewards apps.

Shopping rewards apps help you make money for things you buy anyway, and I use them so much now that they have become just another part of my shopping routine. How it works is super simple:

  1. I go shopping for groceries, electronics, clothes…you name it.
  2. I make my purchases.
  3. I go out to my SUV and snap a quick photo of my receipt with the shopping rewards app.
  4. I get points for certain purchases.
  5. When I save up enough of those points, I get money in the form of gift cards to my favorite stores.

See? Super simple!

How to Get Money by Taking Pictures of Receipts Step 2: Know the BEST Apps

Just like there are many different models of camera phones, which all have varying levels of quality, there are also different shopping rewards apps that let you take a picture of a receipt and get money for it. The one thing they all have in common is that they are capable of working the way I described above. Some, however, have other fantastic features, too.

My favorite is actually one called Shopkick, mostly because it’s far and away the most fun, but it also gives you multiple ways to earn points—points you can cash in later for gift cards to Best Buy, Target, Starbucks, Walmart, or plenty of your other favorite stores. With Shopkick, you get points, called kicks, for taking photos of your receipt, sure. But, you also get points for other things you do every time you go shopping, like simply walking into the store or finding certain products and then scanning the barcodes. You can also use it at A TON of different stores, including most of my favorites. And, if photos aren’t your thing, you can also use Shopkick to get paid for shopping online.

With Shopkick, you get points, called kicks, for taking photos of your receipt, sure. But, you also get points for other things you do every time you go shopping, like simply walking into the store or finding certain products and then scanning the barcodes.

Plus, Shopkick is fun! All my ladies are on it and we’re always trading tips about how to score the most points. When they’re not around, I like to head to Shopkick’s social media pages where I can share tips and jokes and even my favorite photos with the other Shopkickers. It helps me earn money and has introduced me to a fun community. You can’t beat that combo, amiright fellow moms?

So yes, taking artsy photos with your smartphone is great, but taking pictures of receipts and getting money is great, too—maybe even better. And shopping rewards apps make it all so easy. All you have to do is download them to your phone which, if you’re anything like me, means they’re with you everywhere—including whenever you’re out shopping. Think of it like Instagram, except that after you take a picture, you get money instead of likes!

Ready to use your smartphone to take pictures of your receipts and get money? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the rewards of shopping with us!

And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy stokkete