The postcard featured an image that focused on a glass of wine. The copy on the card wished the recipient a happy birthday. They also offered them a $25 gift certificate to those who brought in the postcard when they dined with them. Then, they presented a short testimonial to show prospects that they were going to love their experience, while also getting a free dinner for another night. That was a vey compelling strategy.

The Situation

Spyros Mamalis is the owner of Olive Grove Restaurant, located in Linthicum, Maryland. He wanted a way to promote his restaurant that would have a consistent effect on his profits. We worked with him to develop a structured marketing campaign that not only increased his sales, but also grew a thriving customer base.

The Solution

Given the specific goals Spyros set for his marketing campaign – goals that are common to many restaurants – we suggested that he test a birthday mailer program. Under this plan, he mailed about 5,000 postcards per month to individuals with addresses near his restaurant whose birthdays were in that month. The postcard contained a $25 Dinner Gift Certificate, so the recipient could enjoy a birthday dinner on the house. Previously, Spyros had tested offers of “free appetizer” and “10% off”, but neither had much success. The idea behind this campaign is that people won’t eat alone on their birthday – and that’s where you generate big profits.

The Results

Restaurants can feature offers that require prospects to bring in their postcard, so they can track their marketing results.

Spyros reported that within the first nine days of running his campaign he had 80-85 customers bring in the postcard! And he was bringing in an average of $60 on top of every $25 gift card that was redeemed! He said this campaign vastly out-produced any other form of advertising he had tried, and that he was going to continue it long-term.

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PostcardMania