How a Steakhouse Used Text Marketing Contests to Increase Both Revenue and Leads

By Raubi Perilli

      Aug 24, 2021     Solutions    

When you launch a marketing campaign, you often need to choose one primary goal. You pick the objective most important to your immediate needs and focus on reaching that goal. But in some cases, you can run a campaign that serves two objectives and provides double the value.  

That’s what happened when we worked with Florida's premier Brazilian Steakhouse, Terra Gaucha.  

Let’s look at how our single campaign for Terra Gaucha helped them increase both their revenue and their leads through one simple campaign.

Challenge: Attract More Customers Now and In the Future

Terra Gaucha is a Brazilian Steakhouse with locations in Tampa and Jacksonville. At each location, guests enjoy a full "Churrasco" experience with unlimited table-side service of fire-roasted meats and a gourmet salad bar.  

When Terra Gaucha teamed up with MyArea Network, they were looking to grow their local customer base in two ways. They wanted to:  

  • Attract more customers now with a revenue-boosting campaign
  • Attract more customers in the future by building a list of engaged, interested customers they could continue to market to

Terra Gaucha wanted to expand in the short-term by increasing dinner covers each night. They wanted to expand in the long term by using lead generation to develop a customer database.

Solution: Run a Text Marketing Contest

MyArea Network worked with Terra Gaucha to design a text marketing contest campaign that would work for both their short-term goal (increase revenue) and their long-term goal (add leads to their customer database). Here’s how we did it.  

#1) Set up a contest lead page.

We created a lead page that invited audiences to enter to win a dinner-for-two at Terra Gaucha. The perceived value was high, and the barrier to enter was small. Interested audiences simply needed to enter their phone number for a chance to win a desirable prize.

This approach helped us meet Terra Gaucha’s goal for lead generation. We used text marketing software so every person who entered the contest was added to Terra Gaucha’s customer database.  

Even better, everyone who entered was someone who would be likely to engage with follow-up marketing campaigns from Terra Gaucha because the audience already showed that they are interested in visiting the restaurant.    

#2) Give all contest entrants an incentive coupon to use at the restaurant.

The contest offered one grand prize, a dinner-for-two, and everyone who entered was also a winner.  

Each person who entered the contest received a coupon to use at the restaurant.  

This type of social media contest helped us meet Terra Gaucha’s goal for revenue. People who were interested in visiting Terra Gaucha received an incentive to visit the restaurant in the near future. The offer built brand affinity while also giving customers an immediate reason to visit.  

Related: Text Marketing Lead Generation: 4 Steps to Start Building Your List

#3) Promote the contest lead page on Facebook through targeted ads.

To drive entries and get more eyes on the contest, we promoted the lead page on Facebook. Using hypertargeting, we identified the people who would be most likely to be interested in Terra Gaucha and showed them a variety of ads.  

This approach also served double duty. It encouraged people to enter the contest while also promoting Terra Gacha and building local brand recognition for the restaurant. The ads drove sign-ups and brand visibility each time someone new saw the ad.  

Related: How to Launch the Best Text Message Marketing Campaigns

Results: 6X Immediate ROI and 1,405 New Leads

Our campaigns with Terra Gaucha ran for three months. In that time, we helped Terra Gaucha create both short-term value through increased visits and long-term value by collecting customer contact information.

Immediate 6X Return on Investment

Terra Gaucha saw an immediate, short-term return on their investment in the form of new revenue at the restaurant. The coupon incentive drove a 6X return based on dining projections in just three months.  

Contest participants that didn’t win the contest still had an incentive to visit the restaurant, boosting on-site revenue.

1,405 New Leads

Each person who entered the contest was added to Terra Gaucha's database. Over three months, the campaign collected contact information from 1,405 people.  

Terra Gaucha was left with a list of over a thousand people they could market to in the future. The best thing about the list is that it included a group of people who have already shown interest in the brand, making them hot leads likely to respond to additional marketing messages.

Bonus Benefit of Brand Awareness

Running ads on Facebook provided an extra benefit outside of revenue and lead generation. The ads also helped spread the word about the Terra Gaucha brand. The ads on Facebook received 72,291 impressions, introducing thousands of new customers to Terra Gaucha.

Even the ads that didn’t convert into a lead provided value and will make it easier for Terra Gaucha to get results out of future marketing campaigns.  

Related: What's the ROI of Text Marketing? 3 Examples of Successful Campaigns

Generate Revenue and Leads for Your Business Using Text Marketing Contests

When getting ready to launch a marketing campaign, you may feel like you need to choose between the objectives of increasing immediate revenue or generating long-term value through lead generation. But sometimes, you can get the best of both worlds with one campaign.

Text marketing contests are a great way to generate leads while giving interested audiences an immediate incentive to visit your business.  

If you want to run a text marketing campaign like this for your business, contact MyArea Network so we can help you set up this low-cost, high-return local marketing campaign.

Reach your long-term and short-term goals at once. Contact us today. 

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