The challenge
Staff scanned comment cards and fishbowl business cards, then typed them in by hand. Collection was slow and costly.
The lag between a first visit and the first welcome email cut the odds of a repeat visit.
Without profiles, every guest got the same message. The team could not target by location or demographic.
The solution
1. Guest WiFi: Add guests the moment they connect
Ruggles Green turned on Adentro (formerly Zenreach) Guest WiFi at all five locations. Guests joined the database the moment they connected.
2. Email Marketing: Welcome guests right after their visit
Email Marketing sent a welcome as soon as a guest walked out.
Birthday automations offered a free dessert, using the birthday in each Customer Data profile.
3. Audience Segmentation: Invite repeat guests to loyalty
Audience Segmentation flagged repeat and loyal guests by visit history. Every message to those groups invited them to join the loyalty program.
4. Local targeting: Email only the right neighbors
For weekend breakfast at its newest location, Ruggles Green skipped the full 15,000-person list. It emailed only the local demographic it wanted for a soft opening.
“It took us 6 years to grow our email database to 15,000 emails. Now, we collect 2,000 emails a month. At this rate, it will take less than 8 months to do what we did in 6 years!”
The results
- 20,000+ emails collected, in the first year, versus 15,000 over the prior 6 years
- 2,000 emails per month, collected through Guest WiFi
- Loyalty program enrollment surged after invites were added to repeat and loyal guest messages