3 Ways Big Data Can Grow Your Restaurant

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Article contributed by Brett Linkletter and Ariana BrajkovichMisfit Media

Our entire world revolves around technology and data. Everything requires a login and a password. Everything has an agreement on “terms and conditions.” Everything asks you if you are okay with “cookies” –which is a pretty good name choice in my opinion, I mean who isn’t okay with cookies?

In all seriousness, the current tech environment is amazing!  It is a whole world of opportunity and in this world, data is king. In this article, we are going to walk you through 3 ways you can use big data to help your restaurant.

The type of data you should be most interested in is your customers’ data. Your customers are what keeps your business alive. Without them, without understanding them, and without being able to reach them, your restaurant can fall behind and become lost in the masses.

Ok, so you want to collect customer data, but what does that really mean? What kind of data are you collecting?

Ultimately, you want to build a database of unique customer-identifiers and points of contact. The three that we are going to focus on are email, phone number, and Facebook Messenger Subscription.

  • Day & Nite
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • RATIONAL USA
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • RAK Porcelain
  • Imperial Dade
  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • McKee Foodservice
  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • Texas Pete
  • DAVO Sales Tax
  • Atosa USA

You can use each of these data points to help your restaurant in 3 major ways:

  1. Cost effective remarketing
  2. Competitive advantage
  3. Creating a personal connection with your customers

Before we jump in, I want to preface this by saying that you don’t need to sell your customers’ data in order for it to be a profitable asset for your business. These are your customers and you should treat them well. Selling their data and filling their inboxes with spam isn’t going to help you grow in the long term.

Let’s start with how you gather this information.

There are several ways to get customers to offer up their contact info, and it’s actually easier that you may think!

The easiest and most passive collection tactic is to take advantage of your POS system. Most systems have built in features that can prompt guests to enter their information.  This is an easy way to collect email addresses. Your POS system may even automatically collect several useful data points!

Phone numbers prove to be a bit harder to collect. However, we’ve found that customers are much more likely to share their phone number if they are met with an offer–free fries or a drink, for example–on their next visit. Phone numbers are often seen as a more personal piece of information and given out less often. Proposing an incentive helps to bring down that guard.

The third data point you want to collect is a Facebook Messenger Subscription. You can collect this data directly though Facebook by creating ads on Facebook Ads Manager with the “send message” objective. An attractive offer, high quality food picture, or an announcement about a special event are great ways to entice social media users to engage with you through Facebook Messenger. Pop-ups on your website or in-store QR scan codes that request access to Facebook Messenger are also effective ways to gain subscribers, especially when they offer an incentive similar to the ones mentioned above.

So now you have data. What do you do with it?

As mentioned before, there are 3 simple, but essential ways in which you can help your business grow using big data.

1. Cost Effective Remarketing

Advertising, especially when acquiring new customers, comes at a price. However, when remarketing to your existing database, you are able to reach your list of subscribers for a negligible cost if not for free. Not only are you able to reach an audience who is already interested in your restaurant, but you can reach them for a maximum of $0.01/per person.

2. Competitive advantage

Remarketing is largely neglected in the restaurant industry. Most restaurants rely on “good food and good service” to bring guests back time and time again. While those two components are absolutely essential, they aren’t unique. Any restaurant that a customer would even consider returning to has a quality experience. By reaching out to your database, you have the power to stay in front of your customers so you are the place they think of when it’s time to eat next.

3. Creating a personal relationship

A database audience allows you to reach out to customers in a 1-on-1 fashion. Although you may be messaging thousands of customers with a single campaign, you have the ability to personalize messages using collected data points, like their name or their birthday. While this may seem insignificant, these small details  strengthen the personal association your customers have with your restaurant.

The benefits of big data are not limited to ecommerce and tech companies. We have larger access to more data than ever before, and it should not be ignored. If you have not yet started to build a database for your customers, it is not too late to start! Don’t be afraid to be creative and get excited to grow!


Brett Linkletter is the CEO & CoFounder of Misfit Media. He has an aggressive willingness to take on new challenges and a strong understanding of scaling a business from scratch. His vision is to disrupt the restaurant marketing space by empowering business owners with predictable, scalable marketing strategies so they can grow their business based on insights and data, versus guesswork and course correction. Brett’s specialty lies in creative content creation, brand messaging, social media growth hacking, and business development. His biggest role model and lifetime hero is his great grandfather, Art Linkletter, who was a famous TV personality and businessman.

Ariana Brajkovich is Misfit Media’s in-house media buyer. She is a data-driven individual who loves to take the creative route to achieve results. Ariana studied business and marketing at the University of Southern California and has found her niche in the restaurant world. She thrives in competition and is inspired by Misfit’s drive to take restaurants across the world to the next level.  Outside of the office, you can find her skiing, rock climbing, or baking.

To learn more about putting together a big data analysis for your restaurant or foodservice business, contact the team at hello@misfitmedia.com or 424-289-8648

  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • McKee Foodservice
  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • Texas Pete
  • RAK Porcelain
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • RATIONAL USA
  • Day & Nite
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • Atosa USA
  • Imperial Dade
  • DAVO Sales Tax

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