Mobile Marketing Role Model - Chipotle Restaurants

Sign for Chipotle Gold Opt-In Text Program

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Those of you that follow me know I LOVE the grub at Chipotle Restaurants. In fact, my affinity for their delightful chicken tacos is so well known that a friend bought me a Chipotle T-shirt that says “Addicted.” And while I could write a lengthy essay on how I love their food because of their commitment to humane and sustainable farming, great taste, and how congruent their marketing is, today we’re going to talk about how they’re also a role model for mobile marketing.

Currently, they are promoting their “Gold” campaign to celebrate 18 years of their pursuit of Food With Integrity: meats, grains and produce that are raised as locally, sustainably, humanely, and chemical-free as possible. So to tell their story, in their restaurants they posted an opt-in text message program that offers a new part of their story with each following text. For example, after opting in, you receive a confirmation message asking if you want to start receiving their story. If you do, you text the appropriate keyword and you get the first bit of the story about their carnitas. You then reply with another keyword to get the next bit. All in all, it’s about 10 total messages, with the last message being the final opt-in for special offers to be delivered to your mobile phone. They also assure their subscribers that they’ll receive no more than one or two messages per week and offer opt-out at every step in the story.

So what can you learn from Chipotle for your opt-in mobile marketing program:

Yes, Text Messaging CAN Tell a Story – We’re conditioned to think that text messages need to be just offers, instructions, etc. But Chipotle just proved that you can use this medium to tell your story in an easily digestible (pardon the pun) way that engages customers. Be creative!
Put the Customer in Control – “Blast” marketing is dying. Why? Because people feel overwhelmed and unable to stem the flood of messages. Frequently offering easy opt-out, as Chipotle did at each story bit, helps them feel more in control and encourages trust in you and your brand.
Use Point-of-Purchase Marketing – People who are already in a Chipotle Restaurant are likely to be those who want to know more about it. As we talked about in How to Use P.O.P. to Build a Mobile Marketing List, posting signs about your program where people are already in a buying mood for what you sell encourages buy in and opt in. Chipotle posted their program where customers could opt in while they waited in line.

Want to try their program for yourself for ideas (and maybe some special offers)? Text GOLD to 888222. And if you want to try our PWP Mobile demo to get mobile marketing ideas and offers from us (typically 1 per week), text ALERTME DEMO to 41513.

So what’s your story? And how could you use text message marketing to tell it?

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