By Matt Plapp
Want to know how to completely waste your money on a loyalty program? Easy. Don’t add anyone to it. It’s really that simple. That’s the fastest way to ensure it fails—and yet restaurants do this every single day.
Let me tell you a true story. A restaurant owner using our Dryver Loyalty program recently reached out, and they were frustrated. They said, “The cost-to-benefit ratio just isn’t effective.”
I thought, how’s that possible? It doesn’t take much for a loyalty program to pay for itself, especially one integrated with their POS, like this one was. And it’s a pizzeria, where customers are already giving you their contact info every time they order!
Well, it turns out I was wrong on that last point. When I looked at the numbers, they were averaging 18 new enrollments per month. Yes, you read that right: per month! For context, some clients add 18 enrollments per day. A poorly run program adds less than 50 per week.
How could a pizza restaurant only be adding one new customer every day or two? It wasn’t a tech issue. It wasn’t a strategy issue. It was a complete lack of execution.
A Loyalty Program Is Like Your Car. It Needs Gas, Too
You wouldn’t buy a car, park it in your driveway and then complain it doesn’t go anywhere, right? Yet that’s exactly what happens when you sign up for a loyalty program but never put systems in place to feed it.
Here’s the truth: Your loyalty program doesn’t fail because of what it is. It fails because of what you don’t do. And what most restaurant owners don’t do is simple: They don’t gather customer data. What that really means is, they’re not asking for it, or they’re just not very good at selling their program.
Your real problem is the empty database. Marketing without a customer database is like throwing darts in the dark. You’re guessing. You’re hoping. You’re praying.
However, when you have customer data—including names, emails and phone numbers—you can aim and expect. I’m not talking theory here. I’m talking real results.
The Fix: 3 Places to Build Your Database (Fast)
Before I give you the fix, let me ask you a rhetorical question: Do your employees get to guess your recipes? Can they make the pizzas however they want? Is washing their hands after they visit the restroom optional?
Nope! You have systems in place for those items, so you’d better put one in place for your loyalty program, too. Marketing can’t be an “every once in a while” thing; it has to be treated like every other SOP that you use to run your business. And employees must be held accountable.
OK, now that we have that behind us, let’s get down to solving this issue. Here’s how to stop failing at loyalty and start winning with a real marketing system.
1. Inside Your Four Walls (Your No. 1 Priority)
- Ask every guest: “You’re already a member of our loyalty program, right?”
- Use an OSG (an Offer So Good that they can’t refuse) to make it a no-brainer. For example: “You want a free pizza on your next visit, right?”
- Display QR codes and signage: table tents, posters, bathroom fliers.
- Run in-store contests that require an entry with email and/or phone number. For example: “Guess how much cash is in the jar!”
2. Your Website (Most Underrated Source of Data)
- Add a pop-up with an irresistible offer (not a boring newsletter sign-up).
- On your Contact Us page, include a form to collect customer info.
- Add an opt-in section to every page with a branded call to action.
- Ensure online ordering has opt-ins for loyalty and marketing, and pre-check the opt-in box by default.
3. Social Media (The Easiest to Scale)
- Run paid ads to collect data from local, over-25 customers.
- Use Messenger bots (like Manychat) to auto-collect name, email and phone.
- Post once per week: “Click here to get [insert OSG, Offer So Good].”
- Be consistent—same message, every week, across all platforms.
Here’s the bottom line: It’s not the software, it’s your systems. Whether it’s a loyalty program or any other marketing tool, you get out what you put in. As the saying goes, closed mouths don’t get fed. If you’re not feeding the system with new customer data, you won’t see results. Then you’ll blame the software, but the reality is, you just never added fuel to the tank.
Challenge Time
Pick one of these three areas—in-store, website or social—and go all in for the next eight weeks. You’ll be amazed at the results. As your loyalty membership grows, so will ordering members—and, last but not least, so will your sales.
If this article hit close to home, check out this YouTube video where I break it down even further: “3 Strategies To Grow Your Customer Database.” You can also watch it here.
My name is Matt Plapp. I’m the CEO (chief energy officer) of America’s Best Restaurants. I’ve worked with thousands of restaurants since 2008 when I started this company, and over the next 12 months, we will help 2,500-plus restaurants with their marketing. This is the latest article in an ongoing series of columns for PMQ Pizza to help restaurant owners understand the gold mine we have to market in 2025—and beyond.
