Dog Haus develops new brands, goes all-in on social during COVID-19 outbreak

Since launching its flagship store in Pasadena, CA in 2010, Dog Haus has opened 38 additional locations in 18 states across the country. Their recipe for success revolves around high-quality ingredients, a chef-driven menu, and their commitment to community.

The challenge

Dog Haus describes itself as a craft-casual concept—a term they coined—known for its gourmet takes on hot dogs, sausages and burgers. They’ve enjoyed steady growth over the past decade thanks to the smashing popularity of their house-made hot dogs and sausages crafted from humanely-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats. 

Before COVID-19, several Dog Haus locations worked with Adentro to drive Walk-Throughs to their locations, leveraging our email campaigns and Smart Emails to keep customers engaged and up-to-date on the goings on within the business. When the novel coronavirus pandemic swept over the country, however, Dog Haus quickly determined they needed to shift their marketing strategy and lean in on their communication to customers.

The solution

In mid March, the founders of Dog Haus launched The Absolute Brands, a new restaurant group comprised of the original hot dog brand as well as eight new concepts. Each of these new restaurants operates out of a virtual or “ghost kitchen” space—which slashes overhead—and uses a delivery-only model. 

Since the coronavirus outbreak, all Dog Haus locations—corporate- and franchisee-owned alike— have moved their social media advertising to Adentro. 

“When COVID-19 struck, we knew we had to pivot, and do it quickly to keep our restaurants open. Working with the Adentro team to refocus our messaging efforts for increasing awareness of our pick-up and delivery options was key to keeping our doors open.

We saw an immediate and significant uptick in the performance of our ad campaigns, and—against all odds and conventional wisdom—have actually been able to increase our sales figures, in many cases higher than what they were before the pandemic.” 

CJ Ramirez, Brand Strategist for Dog Haus; Marketing Director for The Absolute Brands

The results

Dog Haus’s social ad campaign CTR rose from 0.01% in February to an incredible 2.22% in April—an increase of more than 220x and well over the pre-COVID industry standard. 

Amazingly, the company was able to hit these numbers with only half the number of impressions in April as February. Cost per click also decreased in this same time period from 33 cents to 28 cents. 

Dog Haus leadership has also indicated that these marketing modifications have enabled the restaurant’s locations to achieve—and in some cases exceed—its pre-COVID revenue figures.