This case study highlights one of my favorite projects, where we successfully helped a newly launched restaurant chain with three branches under one high-level brand name.
What made this project special was the collaboration with an owner who had a clear understanding of the business and gave me enough room to craft a well-studied plan and tactics. Within just a month, we created consistent traffic to the branches, targeting a demanding and high-expectation audience.
This case is unique because it blends marketing strategies with their application to digital platforms—making it a true E-service case study. Let me walk you through some of the key strategies and how they were applied:
Key Challenges
- Services are much harder to market than products because they are intangible, cannot be easily measured, and vary by provider.
- Customers participate in the production of the service, unlike products, which are delivered ready-made.
These challenges guided the plan and strategy, which focused on:
- Accelerating market introduction.
- Boosting traffic to the branches in record time.
Our Approach
1. Enhancing the Customer Experience:
The target audience didn’t care much about food bloggers or food photography since they expected high-quality food by default. Instead, we focused on creating a unique, tangible experience for them:
- Media Production: Highlighted the restaurant’s ambiance, scenic views, and happy groups of people enjoying their time together.
- Avoided emphasizing pricing, offers, or discounts. Instead, we focused on showcasing a memorable experience.
2. Making the Service Feel Tangible:
To convert an intangible service into something tangible, we:
- Created a video showing the experience of multiple customers in the restaurant, emphasizing the venue’s unique atmosphere. This video was prominently featured on the website’s homepage.
- Added a short testimonial video at the bottom of the homepage with positive reviews from past customers.
This approach made the experience feel real and encouraged customers to book.
3. Eliminating Waiting Time:
We implemented a strategy called “Make the customer a part-time employee,” ensuring no waiting time by allowing customers to:
- Choose their preferred day, time, table, and view directly on the website during booking.
- Displayed the “No Waiting Time” promise prominently on the website.
4. Personalized Follow-Ups:
After a customer made a reservation, they received an email within an hour containing:
- A personalized design with their name and table details.
- A tone-of-voice message like: “We’re excited about your visit!”
- A surprise gift announcement (e.g., a dessert), which enhanced customer excitement and reduced cancellations to nearly zero.
This also created a one-to-one feeling for the customer, enhancing their overall experience and solving the challenge of mass service delivery.
Digital Marketing and Ads
Awareness Phase:
We ran awareness campaigns focusing on the experience across platforms:
- YouTube (shorts)
- TikTok
We used social proof on social media accounts to build trust.
Conversion Phase:
We shifted to website-based booking ads through:
- Google Performance Max
- Instagram Conversion Ads
- Facebook Conversion Ads
All ads shared the same setup, with variations in creatives to evoke trust and highlight the brand’s reliability.
Tactics That Made a Difference
- Celebrity Presence:
We featured celebrities in photos at the restaurant but avoided using them in reviews or videos. This subtly built credibility without overt promotions. - Customer Lifetime Value:
After each visit, customers received a voucher for their next visit, increasing customer retention by 85%. - Remarketing:
We consistently re-engaged customers through retargeting ads, encouraging repeat visits.
Key Takeaways:
The results were outstanding, achieving 1,900 bookings in just a month! This success was driven by a blend of:
- A focus on the customer experience.
- A tangible digital presence.
- Strategic ad placements and creatives.
If you’re interested in learning more about service marketing strategies and how to tackle its challenges, leave a comment below, and I’ll send you a detailed PDF. 👇
