Think of all the millions of people across the country who need something quick and delicious for breakfast, lunch, or dinner every day. Many of them opt for a quick-serve restaurant to satisfy their needs. As a part of this huge and competitive industry, you need something more than convenient locations and fast services to get and keep attention. Brand loyalty is what keeps diners coming back and spending their money over and over again.
Food choices change all the time even in limited geographic locations. Quick-serve eateries offer classic standards, seasonal favorites, and some wacky options designed to ramp up the buzz. Many restaurants invest their marketing dollars in pushing unique experiences that influencers will talk about without much incentive.
This kind of buzz can make profits soar in the short term. Building long-term loyalty, however, is what creates true success… the type of success that keeps your QSR going even in lean times. In this post-pandemic world, business owners know how thin the line between disaster and success really is.
What Are the Key Drivers of QSR Loyalty?
If loyalty is the gold medal of success, you need to think beyond fast-effect advertisements to succeed. Any sale or new, limited time product can create a short influx of business and revenue. It takes something extra to create the type of long-term loyalty that increases profits over time and gets you that all-important word of mouth marketing.
Diner behaviors determine key drivers of loyalty and success. What does your target consumer base want from a quick-serve restaurant? Things like speed and reliably tasty food are musts, of course. It takes more than that to make a lasting impression. Some options include:
- Health-focused options with nutrition information
- Weekly or daily special offers or deals
- Value-based family or catering packs
- Convenience of omnichannel ordering and app access
- Loyalty rewards or membership benefits
Marketers are facing a long list of dynamic shifts when it comes to convenient food service. They want faster, easier, and more mobile ordering capabilities and regular discounts or special offers. If you want to attract attention and keep it longer than your next sale or limited time menu option, consumer research, sales data collection, and analysis has to be a part of the equation.
While you focus on the day-to-day operations of running a quick serve restaurant, it makes sense to get management and projection planning help from experts in the industry. They help you create strategies that work and marketing campaigns that have the type of impact needed. Go for the gold standard of continuing success, but do not go it alone. You can expand your reach, build brand reputation, and create and maintain loyalty with every dollar in your marketing budget.
How Can You Market with Loyalty in Mind?
What key performance indicators (KPIs) point to customer loyalty the most? QSR marketers must determine what data to watch in order to make improvement across the board. Establish clear and quantifiable KPIs so you can test ad campaigns and marketing efforts to see what actually works. This streamlines your budget in a big way.
Ad clicks are not usually the best target. The number of customers in the door of your local restaurants is not either. Simple numerical metrics do not give you a full enough picture of campaign effectiveness or long-term, repeat sales.
Just like your customers want a multi-faceted experience from their chosen quick-serve restaurant, you need to take a more holistic approach to marketing. The gold medal is not awarded to someone with one basic skill. Instead, it is based on a combination of adjacent skills and efforts that create the best outcome. The same holds true for QSR brand building.
A comprehensive approach looks at KPIs at every stage of the customer journey. It draws energy and positive outcomes from understanding the brand and what consumers expect from it. Like a gold medal win, loyalty comes from excellence at the first touch, incremental food and customer service, and lifetime value.
Why Should Your QSR Brand Think Long-Term
It is relatively simple to get one hungry person in the door of your restaurant one time. In many cases, it is simply a matter of location and convenience. If that person only has thirty minutes for lunch, and there is a place in walking distance that sells decent food, they will probably stop in and give it a try.
Gold-medal loyalty is a long-term strategy, and it is what separates shops that close in a year and those that become household names. Every marketing campaign has a different and unique goal: introduce the brand, build awareness and reputation, get people in the door or in the ordering process, or monitor the impact of loyalty programs. They are all essential parts of success.
What does loyalty give you? The most obvious answer to that question focuses on repeat business. It is a well-known adage in any business that it is easier to keep a customer than it is to find a new one. Once you attract and satisfy one person looking for quick service and good food, they will come back with little or no extra marketing money spent.
Loyalty also creates brand fans. These are the people who will recommend your food to their family and friends. They will review your menu options for their social media followers. They will post when you have a special deal or offer a limited time item.
In the marketing budget vs. return-on-investment equation, loyalty saves you more money over time than anything else.
Quick-serve restaurants exist in a dynamic and competitive industry. Brands need to keep their eye on key metrics that point to customer choices and loyalty in equal measure. Take a holistic approach to marketing and operational strategies. With the help of professional, experienced, and knowledgeable QSR experts, you can adapt your efforts to the market and consumer expectations and win the gold medal of loyalty to ensure continued success far into the future.
