Data, influencer marketing, coupon personalization, the gamification of loyalty programs will be among the top restaurant marketing trends for 2012.

1. SIX RESTAURANT MARKETING
TRENDS FOR 2012
Six Marketing Trends To Gain Market Share,
Understand Customers & Turn A Profit
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2. OVERVIEW
✤ Data, data, data
✤ Identifying and activating influencers
✤ Signature items
✤ Gamification of loyalty programs
✤ One to one accessibility
✤ Coupon personalization
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3. DATA
✤ This is the biggest restaurant marketing trend for 2012
✤ Integrating data from multiple touchpoints: social media, email,
advertising, customers and more
✤ Separate marketing silos will begin to merge together
✤ Customer data points will also be expanded to create a picture
beyond common demographics
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4. DATA
✤ Senior customer intelligence analysts will be needed to extract
usable information from data
✤ Data reporting services alone they will not be able to deliver the
multi-platform analysis required
✤ Holistic marketing analysts will mine and merge insights from
webpage analytics, onsite restaurant data and social media
analytics from Facebook, Yelp, OpenTable, Twitter, YouTube
and others.
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5. DATA
✤ Many restaurants still keep data in separate silos
✤ Silos will begin to break down
✤ More fully integrated marketing programs will emerge
✤ Multi disciplinary analysis will help reach a highly defined target
market with customized messaging
✤ A robust understanding of marketing effectiveness will emerge
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6. DATA
✤ Data convergence and thorough analysis will provide a
significant lead for successful organizations beyond 2012
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012,
please visit http://www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/
restaurantmarketingtrends/

7. INFLUENCER MARKETING

8. INFLUENCER MARKETING
✤ Restaurants will get serious about influencer marketing in 2012
✤ The big play will be digging deep beyond the top traditional
media influencers and food bloggers to uncover the passionate
hidden influencer
✤ Specialized tools, analysts and techniques will be engaged to
identify individuals have both the digital and offline reach to
drive others to purchase
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9. INFLUENCER MARKETING
✤ Restaurants will activate individuals who have access, motive
and credibility to make restaurant, food and dining
recommendations
✤ The perfect tool that seamlessly blends on and offline dining
influence will not arrive in 2012
✤ Evaluating dining influence will remain a high touch, high tech
proposition in 2012
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012,
please visit http://www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/
restaurantmarketingtrends/

10. SIGNATURE ITEMS
✤ Signature items will take on new marketing importance
✤ In 2011, we saw increased chatter in both social and in
traditional media discussing specific dishes vs. restaurant types
✤ Search volume for specific restaurants types is trending down,
but specific items appears to be rising in popularity
✤ Marketers will need to get signature items into the hands of key
influencers to generate conversation about the restaurant
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012, please visit
http://www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/restaurantmarketingtrends/

11. GAMIFICATION
✤ 2012 will be a transformational year for loyalty programs
✤ Social gaming-type rewards will be incorporated into
restaurant’s loyalty programs
✤ Location-based services merge with loyalty programs to play a
major role in incentivizing repeat visits, facilitating sharing and
making rewards easier to redeem for diners.
✤ Integrating gaming dynamics to impact diner action will
accelerate restaurant loyalty programs.
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012, please visit http://
www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/restaurantmarketingtrends/

12. ONE TO ONE ACCESSIBILITY
✤ Restaurants have always been excellent at customer relations
✤ For restaurant patrons, social media has facilitated getting to
know the restaurant easier. But...
✤ Consumers want to interact with the chef directly, both on and
offline, not with the intermediary in the marketing department.
✤ Expect to see personalized messages to best customers directly
from the chef about menu changes, nightly specials, and
suggestions based on past orders.
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13. ONE TO ONE ACCESSIBILITY
✤ Chefs will manage this enhanced engagement by relying on the
marketing team to first identify the restaurant’s best customers
both on and offline.
✤ The chef will also need to play a prominent role on the dining
room floor.
✤ People are looking for more personalized, direct connection with
both what’s on the plate and who’s plating the food.
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012, please visit http://
www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/restaurantmarketingtrends/

14. COUPON PERSONALIZATION
✤ In 2011 restaurants experimented with social coupon sites
✤ In 2012 restaurants will continue to experiment with coupons
and certificates, but with more realistic expectations of results,
more control, customization, and flexibility as well as insist on
reporting data
✤ Certificating will focus on activating top influencers to pass
along coupons to their social sphere and rewarding them with
value added experiences and tools and rewards to facilitate the
pass along recommendation.
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15. COUPON PERSONALIZATION
✤ Couponing will be more select and personalized for the brand
with restaurants running their own deals to loyal customers.
✤ This trend will accelerate as restaurants see the benefits in
tracking and engineering word of mouth recommendations that
a well designed application and program can deliver.
For the complete article on how data will aid restaurants in 2012, please visit
http://www.inkfoundry.com/2011/12/restaurantmarketingtrends/

16. SEARCH IS THE NEW SOCIAL
✤ In 2012 we will most likely see restaurants allocating resources
to local search.
✤ Local search will most likely take up a greater percentage of the
marketing budget than it will return.
✤ Preliminary results from our current dining survey point to
search as one of the least influential channels for diners.
✤ Restaurants should not totally ignore search, but should
earmark resources judiciously.

17. MORE INFORMATION
✤ About The Author
Carin Galletta Oliver is the president and founder
of Ink Foundry, a word of mouth marketing agency.
With more than 20 years of word of mouth and
influencer marketing experience, she has worked
with a wide range of brands including Anheuser-
Busch, California Pizza Kitchen, Fogo de Chao,
Carin Galletta Oliver, President Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, Fleming’s Prime
Ink Foundry Steakhouse & Winebar, Outback Steakhouse,
Rodney Strong Wine Estates, Tanqueray, Palms
email: carin@inkfoundry.com Casino Resort, Johnny Walker, KFC, and others.
phone: 415.508.5796
Oliver resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with
her daughter, Labrador and fabulous husband.