Mobile engagement is extremely valuable for restaurants, as timing is critical. Eighty-three percent of consumers choose a dining location within three hours of their next meal. And those consumers are going to their phones first for information about where to eat. To leverage the power of mobile marketing, restaurants can trigger a SMS or MMS message or mobile wallet notification at the right time to capture interest during peak meal decision-making times. To illustrate, restaurants can send messages right before lunch rush, or in the afternoon when foot traffic is low. MMS is particularly useful for driving traffic because consumers are more responsive to images of food.

Restaurants must strike the right balance of notifying customers about promotional information without sending unwanted messages that will make customers unsubscribe from email or text messages, or turn off app push notifications — or even delete the app. Analytics plays a role here in establishing that balance. For instance, restaurants can send a loyalty redemption reminder around lunchtime. Or, on double point days, they can send a push notification or wallet notification when a customer is in close proximity to a location.