How Pancheros Loyalty Marketing Plan Boosted Sales

Pancheros Mexican Grill, an Iowa-based fast casual concept, was on a mission to improve its loyalty program. Understanding the effect of these programs on sales, the 28-year-old chain had launched one several years ago, but in 2018 participation remained stable, indicating that customers were not participating in ongoing campaigns, what Ryan Murrin, director of marketing, explained. change.

The first step was to mobilize the brand’s cult fans. So, after developing a new strategy alongside its loyalty partner, Punchh, Murrin’s team created a series of promotional campaigns designed to drive higher average checks, additional loyalty visits and new business acquisition. clients. The first campaign was rolled out on Cinco de Mayo, giving customers five times the points, promoted only through the app using push notifications and emails, as well as on Pancheros social media.

“We saw huge demand on May 5th last year and wanted to create a simple campaign that would put Pancheros at the top of the list for our loyal fans again this year.” Murrin said in an interview. “What was amazing with the campaign is that, week over week, we saw a 105% increase in registrations, a 135% increase in new signups, and a 125% increase in daily loyalty sales. campaign worked so well, not because it was an amazing offer, but because we built fairness and excitement into the program for our customers over time.”

Milestone celebrations
Another driving force for Pancheros was its annual birthday celebration. In August 2020, the brand celebrated its 28th anniversary with $2.80 burritos. Using its Punchh platform, Pancheros launched the campaign as a mass offer that looked like a coupon, redeemable only through the guest app.

“Campaigns that engage the guest and deliver a reliable cadence really help our customers find value in the program,” Murrin said. “There was a fun and festive atmosphere to this campaign which appealed to our guests, showing how valuable a loyalty program can be.”

Experiential campaigns
Pancheros also used its loyalty solution to gauge the popularity of specific line items and found that its customers were ordering a lot of queso. So Pancheros went all-in on National Queso Day by offering free queso to all app users.

While the results proved successful in terms of targeting new and returning users (redemptions increased by 202%), the real win was the experiential event they activated alongside the promotion. Through its loyalty program, the brand identified the individual who ate the most queso over the course of a year and crowned him “King of Queso”, ultimately rewarding him with a year of free queso. Murrin said the publicity has been invaluable and continues to evolve.

“Our loyalty program is integral to being able to run multi-faceted campaigns such as these, from providing reward points to the coupon module to identifying our super fans,” he said. declared. “Being able to integrate all of these currencies into one system really allows us to offer flexible programs that appeal and appeal to customers.”

Extended promotional periods
In addition to limited-time offers, Pancheros has experimented with extended-time offers, including its popular “12 Days of Pancheros”. It encourages users to download the app to win 12 days of prizes, such as free queso, no delivery charge and extra points. The campaign quickly became a fan favorite for loyalty users, and redemption rates increased by 51% over the period.

Murrin said the key to success with longer campaigns is designing a lifecycle marketing program that provides transactional signals that initiate customer action. For example, after registration, if a transaction does not occur, a richer offer is sent, with further offer escalations as customers are guided through the loyalty journey.

“We look forward to continuing to develop our digital strategies and will add a stored payment solution and mobile wallet at some point,” Murrin said. “It’s all part of our goal to stay loyalty-centric and customer-focused.”