Insights Gained from Handing Out 1000 Burger Giveaways

Insights Gained from Handing Out 1000 Burger Giveaways

Amidst the demanding restaurant industry landscape, profits and revenue generation have become a significant challenge due to factors such as surging costs of goods, inflation, labor shortages, and growing competition. One essential key to success, according to restaurant owner Rev Ciancio, is seeking valuable insights and effectively implementing them.

Following a series of difficult times for his restaurants, Ciancio reached out to more experienced colleagues for advice on generating revenue. The most emphasized tip was to offer samples to attract clients. This strategy had been instrumental in the growth of Jimmy John's, as explained by Ciancio's friend Gregg Majewski: "We built Jimmy John's on free sandwich cards."

At Handcraft Burgers and Brew, various tactics were employed this year to boost sales. A buy-one-get-one-free hamburger promotion in March and April increased daily sales by an average of $1,100, while valuing the same burger at $5 in May had a similarly positive impact. However, the team was aiming for a larger boost to kickstart growth at a faster pace.

Ciancio developed a plan for his restaurants and clients that leveraged food holidays such as National BBQ Day and National Pita Day to boost sales growth. Several clients saw three to four times sales growth due to just one to two days of promotion. Following this success, Handcraft Burgers and Brew offered one free burger per person for the last four days of National Hamburger Month, starting on May 28th on National Hamburger Day.

For new guests, the strategy involved acquiring email addresses through Facebook ads that directed them to a landing page with redemption instructions. For returning guests, the landing page link was shared through email and social media. The approach resulted in 500 new sign-ups from the Facebook ads and 1,600 sign-ups from owned channels.

Despite optimistic expectations, the promotion turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. On the first day, 300 orders were received in the first hour alone. However, this surge led to issues such as long wait times, technology failures, redemptions without additional purchases, negative reviews, and even scams.

While occasional free burger redemptions were not a concern, multiple repeat redemptions became problematic, with two individuals redeeming more than 15 times. Moreover, customers were creating fake phone numbers to abuse the promotion, resulting in 19% of orders being scams. Fake orders without tips for staff and orders for just the free burger without any additional purchase added to the difficulties.

On the third day of the promotion, one individual registered 50 fake phone numbers to place 50 orders for free Burgers, prompting the team to halt the promotion 24 hours before its scheduled end. An apology post was shared on social media, as well as an email to all guests informing them of the issues encountered.

While the promotion faced numerous hurdles, Ciancio took the opportunity to learn and improve. Here are the lessons learned from giving away 1,000 free burgers:

1. Prepare Your Staff: Communicate the promotion's details and service expectations to all staff members to ensure they can handle the increased workload.
2. Establish Limits: Set maximum capacities for online ordering to prevent overburdening the kitchen and potential corners being cut.
3. Check Your Tech: Ensure that online ordering platforms are updated to prevent scams, and consider making account creation mandatory for redemption.
4. Feedback Triage: Respond promptly to both positive and negative feedback to improve the customer experience.
5. Look for the Helpers: Engage loyal guests in helping manage challenging situations.
6. Measure Success: Establish clear goals, measure the right metrics, and analyze the promotion's impact on the business.

Despite the challenges, the promotion resulted in growing returns, with an overall average lifetime value higher than the single-order average for both returning guests and new guests. Sales growth for May compared to April was 8% and 48% for transaction growth.

Ciancio plans to implement modifications for future high-volume promotions, such as limiting the number of orders per hour, setting maximum redemptions, making account creation mandatory for redemption, shrinking the redemption window, and requiring additional purchases for the promotion. For restaurants facing similar difficulties, Ciancio offers assistance: simply email [email protected].

1. To boost revenue in the challenging restaurant industry, Rev Ciancio implemented a strategy that involved offering free food samples, an approach that had been successful for Jimmy John's, as suggested by Gregg Majewski.
2. In the aftermath of a high-volume promotion offering free burgers, Ciancio recognized the importance of preparing staff, establishing limits, checking technology, responding promptly to feedback, engaging loyal guests, measuring success, and making modifications for future promotions to prevent issues such as surging orders, scams, and negative reviews.

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