Building Text Message Coupons For Restaurants

Text Message Coupons are great for restaurants.

The restaurant industry is known to be a crowded arena, text message coupons are helping these businesses stand out. Restaurants continue to face intense competition, especially from the well-established restaurants and the trendy new arrivals. So, owners need to continuously find innovative ways to reach and win over potential customers. As the industry is very fast paced, SMS marketing has a huge advantage over other marketing strategies by being very direct and timely. Text messages reach potential customers immediately and are read faster than any other form of messages. Text message coupons can be leveraged to stand out from competition and instantly grab the attention of potential customers.

How to build great text message coupons

It is very likely that your target customers are also receiving text messages from other restaurants as well. So, it is important to be innovative when building and sending out the coupons. Here are some tips on how to make your text message coupons effective.
Make it easy to use

Rather than including a coupon code in the text message to be provided at the restaurant, the text message itself could be used by informing recipients to show the text message at the restaurant.

It should be short and sweet

It is important to avoid wasting the time of your target audience. 90% of all text messages will be read in less than 3 minutes. No one likes complex and long messages, keep it short and sweet.

Include discounts/offers

Discounts and offers are well-known attention grabbers and can be highly effective when used with text message coupons. Clearly, mention discounts and offers, and make sure that they are competitive.

Delivery options

Additional services such as delivery options can be offered as some recipients might opt to have their meal delivered to them.

Phone number or link to a website

Rather than a one-way communication, let your audience get in touch with you. Provide your relevant contact information in your text message coupon. This includes a link to your website, telephone number, or social media pages.

Expiration date

Give the recipients a reason to use the coupons as soon as possible. By creating a strong sense of urgency customers will be inclined to redeem a quality offer. Don’t be afraid to add an expiration date and turn down coupons once they’ve expired.

Here are some samples that make use of the mentioned tips.

Join us for Happy Hour today and get 20% off by showing this text.
Enjoy a delicious meal without any work on your part. Call or click here to order and get 20 percent off. Free delivery for orders above $15
Enjoy a free dessert after 6 p.m. by showing this text. Deal expires on [date].
Shane: Here’s your free burrito! [link] Deal expires on [date]

With these tips, you can build good text message coupons but remember to be creative and keep in mind that they may be receiving messages from other restaurants.