For four months last year, Sonic Drive-Ins tested a new mobile platform that detects when opted-in users have entered a small area around its stores, and automatically pushes out a text message inviting them to stop by while they're in the neighborhood.
The pilot used the ShopAlert mobile messaging platform from 1020 Placecast to build a “fence” around the immediate vicinity of each of about 50 Sonic stores in a single metro area. Users opted to join the test from invitations on Sonic's Web site, Facebook page or other digital means. Once signed up, they received text messages from Sonic simply by virtue of crossing that “geo-fence” into the mile or half-mile circle around the stores.
The messages sometimes carried discount offers or free food promotions, but sometimes they were just reminders that there is a Sonic nearby and it's almost feeding time. “We didn't make the offers too premium because we knew that wouldn't scale financially,” says Dustin Jacobson, director of social and technology at Barkley, Sonic's agency of record. “So in the morning, we just threw out some messaging around breakfast or coffee.”
Placecast also built some geo-fences in places around the unnamed test town where people might be prone to visiting Sonic, including malls and stadiums. Frequency was capped at three messages per week, and Placecast's tech makes sure that someone who drives past three Sonics on his or her commute won't hit that cap Monday morning.
The results of the test: strong positive feedback from consumers, who judged the messages relevant and valuable. Better yet, Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman says, the opt-out rate was only about 6.5% over the span of the test.
“Everyone's talking about iPhone apps, but they're hard to justify if you can only talk to a small group of consumers,” says Jacobson. “With this, we were able to use our existing digital channels for a low acquisition cost. Plus, people really liked it.”
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