Cellit Announces Best Practices in QSR Mobile Marketing Programs

Cellit announced the findings of a 12 month analysis of almost 9,000 mobile marketing campaigns conducted on behalf of 125 QSR clients in 2011. To help QSRs learn the best ways to succeed with mobile marketing, Cellit analyzed client data to develop a wide variety of metrics and data-driven conclusions that touch on the entire lifecycle of mobile marketing, including: most effective ways to acquire subscribers into a mobile text program, the most effective content for a QSR mobile program and the optimal timing and frequency for campaigns.

For a complete copy of the study, please visit http://www.cellit.com/resources/white-papers/.

Summary of Study Findings

New Subscriber Acquisition Tactics – QSR clients surveyed used a range of tactics to acquire new mobile subscribers to the programs. While diverse, they are generally cost-effective and fall into one of four categories: on-premise, social media, advertising and refer-a-friend. Leveraging existing social media and email databases to convert customers into mobile was the most effective tactic, while the refer-a-friend consistently delivered program growth. On average, 21 percent of subscribers participated in the refer-a-friend programs Cellit analyzed, while the average conversion rate for referred friends was six percent. The average increase in database size after one refer-a-friend program was 16 percent. Most subscriber growth for a new program takes place between days 31 and 90 after launch, which is when the marketing and social media efforts start to take effect.

Content: Most Effective Mobile Offers, Coupons and Promotions – Content is what keeps subscribers engaged in the program over a long period of time. Cellit looked at content from two aspects, couponing and non-couponing, to better understand the value of each content type. Couponing is extremely popular, and every one of the clients surveyed used a mobile coupon at least once. Inside of couponing, respondents expressed a preference for buy-one-get-one free offers over free items of lesser value, or a percentage of money off.

Coupon redemption technology was not an issue for most QSR brands studied and for those that reported data – redemption rates were extremely high. With a minimum of 6%, an average of 23%, and a max of 40%, the redemption is well ahead of other promotional or traditional coupon redemption rates, producing a substantial return on investment.

Optimal Timing and Campaign Frequency – Perhaps counter-intuitively, Cellit found that the best days to send text messages are weekdays. Subscriber numbers were higher and unsubscriber numbers lower for messages sent during the weekdays than on the weekend. The average daily subscribers on weekdays was 7.67 per QSR, but only 5.12 on the weekends.

Cellit also recommends that QSRs time their messages to make sure they are targeting their customers when they are most likely to be interested in the offer. When it comes to message frequency, Cellit finds that QSRs typically follow the Rule of 1’s: no more than one message a week, and no less than one message a month. This formula has been found to entice response from subscribers, with the least amount of unsubscribe requests. The average number of campaigns QSRs conducted was 1.84 per week and an average of 7.88 per month, reflecting the fact that most locations operated two separate lists for targeting and promotional purposes.

About the Study

Cellit analyzed almost 9,000 mobile marketing campaigns conducted on behalf of 125 clients in 2011. The average mobile subscriber list size was 791, representative of the small-to-medium sized nature of the accounts. Most clients studied are franchisees of national chains.

This report is part of Cellit’s ongoing series on best practices by industry vertical, covering Retail, Hospitality, Entertainment, QSR Dining, Bars & Nightclubs, Broadcast, Print and Small Businesses. Reports are released periodically throughout the year, covering activity for the previous 12 month period.

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