Marketing
Resources to help you create, manage, and optimize your restaurant marketing effectively.
By Sarah and 2 others3 authors49 articles
- AppFront's Pre-Built Journey Templates: A Complete OverviewWebinar recap: how to turn on Journeys, and what each pre-built template does — from Activation through Tiers and the internal Review journey.
- Location-Based Journeys: Auto-Tagging & Backfilling Customer GroupsWebinar recap: how location-based journeys work for multi-unit brands, including the backfill feature that retroactively groups existing guests.
- Turning On Journeys Without Double-Dipping Your Existing CampaignsWebinar recap: a caution to check before flipping on a new journey template.
- Closing the Second & Third Visit Gap With JourneysWebinar recap: why the drop-off between a guest's first and second visit is the hardest gap in the lifecycle, and how a welcome journey is built to close it.
- What to Turn On First: A Launch Plan for New JourneysWebinar recap: the four journeys to start with, plus a pre-launch checklist for creative and messaging.
- Troubleshooting: Why Didn't My Guest Receive a Journey Message?Webinar recap: the most common reasons a guest misses a journey touch, from channel selection to menu changes — and item-based vs. category-based rewards.
- Birthday & Anniversary Journeys: Timing and Redemption Window Best PracticesWebinar recap: the debate over when to send a birthday reward, and how to structure the redemption window so it still drives a visit.
- Testing a Campaign Before LaunchA pre-launch checklist: review the customer experience, check operations/POS, and use Send Test before going live.
- Driving Customer Sign-Ups: Toolkit OverviewAn overview of Appfront's sign-up growth tools: app-download prompts, the openSignup link, email list conversion, giveaways, and splash screens.
- Deep Linking Technical Guide: Deals, Items, Locations & Serving OptionsStep-by-step instructions for building deep links to a deal, a menu item, a serving option, or a specific location. Pairs with the Deep Links Campaigns overview article.
- Group Landing Pages: Deep Link Click vs. Registration Group CampaignsHow to choose between and set up the two group landing page campaign types: Deep Link Click (all users) and Registration Group (new users only).
- Building & Launching a Group Marketing CampaignStep-by-step: create a Group Marketing campaign, choose channels, build a custom segment in the beta portal, and launch to a group.
- How to Give Double Points for a Specific ItemStep-by-step guide to building a campaign that rewards customers with double points when they purchase a specific item, instead of your standard points ratio.
- Why Challenges Beat Coupons: The Psychology of Gamified MarketingWebinar recap: why a challenge drives more repeat engagement than a one-off coupon, and how to market it so the gamification actually lands.
- The AppFront Challenge Library: Five Challenge Types ExplainedWebinar recap: a rundown of the five challenge types available in AppFront and which sales or engagement problem each one is built to fix.
- Frequency vs. Spend Challenges: Picking the Right Starting KPIWebinar recap: the two recommended starting-point challenges, and how to decide which one to build first based on what you're actually trying to move.
- Product & Menu Explorer Challenges: Cross-Educating Guests on Your MenuWebinar recap: how to use a challenge to break customers out of their usual order and get them trying more of your menu.
- Day-Part Challenges: Filling Slow Times Without Just DiscountingWebinar recap: how to use a challenge instead of a blanket discount to boost traffic during your slowest hours.
- Multi-Step Challenges You Can Market as an EventWebinar recap: how to build a multi-step challenge with a clear start, finish line, and visual progress that you can promote like a real event.
- The Combo Caveat: Why Some POS Combos Don't Work in ChallengesWebinar recap: the one POS requirement that determines whether a "combo purchase" can be used as a challenge step.
- How Many Challenges Should You Run at Once?Webinar recap: how to decide the right number of simultaneous challenges based on your concept and menu mix.
- Four Pieces, One System: How Deals, Journeys, Campaigns & Challenges Work TogetherWebinar recap: how AppFront's four marketing pillars stack on top of your loyalty program to move the same customer forward.
- How to Build a Challenge in AppFront: One Campaign or Three?Webinar recap: the technical answer to a live customer question — how many campaigns it actually takes to build a simple visit challenge.
- Can You Build a Challenge Around a Modifier? (e.g. "Add Bacon 3 Times")Webinar recap: yes — how to build a challenge or campaign around a specific modifier instead of a full menu item.
- The 20/20/10 Framework: Setting Your Loyalty, Ticket & Sales Growth GoalsWebinar recap: the year-over-year growth framework AppFront recommends, and why you should only chase one leg of it per quarter.
- Using Modifier IDs in Campaign RewardsHow to find a menu item modifier's ID and use it to gift a discounted product (rather than a full menu item) in a campaign reward.
- Creating a Text & Coupon CampaignStep-by-step guide to building a Text and Coupon campaign: naming, conditional discounts, expiration/availability, and the coupon graphic.
- Creating a "Leave Us a Review" CampaignStep-by-step guide to setting up an SMS campaign that automatically requests a review from guests after every visit.
- Using Template Mode to Create Reusable Email TemplatesSave your logo, layout, and CTA as a reusable email template so you don't have to rebuild your campaign design from scratch every time.
- Using Incentives Strategically: PMIX, COGS & Reward StackingWebinar recap: how to decide what to offer at each step of a journey without discounting into the ground.
- Timing Your Journey Touchpoints: How Many Days Between Messages?Webinar recap: how long to wait between each touch in a journey, and why the right window depends on your restaurant concept, not your check average.
- The Four Building Blocks of a Journey: Triggers, Actions, Timing & IncentivesWebinar recap: an overview of the four pieces every AppFront journey is built from.
- Why Use Customer Journeys: Engagement, Cross-Sell & CommunityWebinar recap: the three things every AppFront journey should do for your business, plus a bonus fourth benefit worth building around.
- Customer Journeys vs. Campaigns: What's the Difference?Webinar recap: how AppFront customer journeys (drip campaigns) differ from one-time campaigns, and why journeys become the "floor" your one-time sends sit on top of.
- Lifecycle Reward Events: The Complete ListEvery event available under the Lifecycle Rewards trigger — from Registration to Deep Link Click — and the campaign use case for each.
- Appfront Campaigns 101: Choosing the Right Campaign TriggerA breakdown of all 7 Campaign Triggers in Appfront — what each one does and the use case that makes it worth turning on.
- Managing Deals & UpsellsThis guide walks you through where to find Deals, how to create them, and how to configure them properly.
- Customer JourneysTransform Your Customer Experience with Automation
- Deep Links CampaignsDeep Links make it easy to drive customer signups, grow your loyalty database, and track the performance of different acquisition channels
- How to Create Deals in Appfront: A Complete GuideDeals are one of the most powerful tools in the Appfront portal for driving orders and increasing average ticket size. This guide walks through everything you need to know about…
- Win-Back Campaigns & Bringing Your Lifecycle Strategy TogetherWebinar recap: deep link attribution, long-time-no-visit campaigns, and closing thoughts on building a coordinated lifecycle marketing program.
- Engagement & Advocacy Campaigns: Purchased Items, Promo Codes & ReviewsWebinar recap: campaigns built around item-level purchases, promo codes, customer reviews, and coupon follow-up behavior.
- Frequency Engines: Visit-Based, Time-Based & Stored Value CampaignsWebinar recap: the campaign engines that build repeat-visit frequency — visit triggers, time-based deployments, stored value, and gift card purchases.
- Welcome Events: Registration, Birthday & Anniversary CampaignsWebinar recap: the "welcome" group of lifecycle events — registration, birthday, and anniversary campaigns.
- Point Bank, Tiers, Group Marketing & Cashback: Choosing the Right Campaign TriggerWebinar recap: the remaining four campaign triggers — point bank, tiers, group marketing, and cashback.
- Campaign Triggers 101: Life Cycle Rewards, Compensation & Landing Page SignupsWebinar recap: the first three campaign triggers in AppFront — life cycle rewards, compensation, and landing page signups.
- Push Notification Best PracticesWhy push notifications have lower reach than email/SMS, and how to build a strategy that gets more customers opted in.
SMS Campaigns
Best Practices for Text Messaging