How Jack in the Box Leverages Geo-Targeted Text Messaging to Drive Immediate Action

Background

Jack in the Box offers a selection of distinctive, innovative products and experiences targeted at the fast-food consumer. Customers have the flexibility to customize their meals, creating the perfect mix of flavors to suit their personal tastes.

Challenge

Jack in the Box was looking for innovative ways to capture the attention of hungry, mobile-first consumers and drive immediate orders—both online and in-store. It also needed to send highly-relevant offers and communications to subscribers based on their location. “With as many locations as we have, we want to make sure we’re not texting our LA audience products that are only available in El Paso,” explained Shannon Murphy, Sr. CRM Manager, Jack in the Box. “We need to ensure that we get as 1:1 as possible, so sending them offers based on their nearest location or delivery coverage zones has been really important for us.” The fast-food hamburger chain was not satisfied with its existing SMS vendor’s limited capabilities.

Solution

Partner with Attentive to keep hungry customers in-the-know about local store openings and online delivery offers in their area, using geo-targeting with time-targeting to optimize online sales. “In times of change, it’s become even more important to get personalized offers out to our customers, whether sharing delivery options or letting customers know about restaurants that are reopening,” said Murphy. Jack in the Box uses text messaging to drive incremental revenue through both customer acquisition and retention.

Strategy

Jack in the Box drives opt-ins for its personalized text messaging channel on its mobile website using Attentive’s “two-tap” sign-up creatives, which are designed by the Attentive team. After a subscriber joins, they receive an automated series of “welcome” messages.

Jack in the Box uses geo-targeted text messaging powered by Attentive to drive online and in-store orders. To help satisfy cravings, Jack in the Box targets its messages by time of day to optimize sales. The brand also frequently sends limited-time offers centered around playful food holidays, like “National Taco Day,” that can be redeemed in-store. Each message ends with a link for subscribers to find their nearest location.

The restaurant chain uses geo-targeting to send subscribers within local markets special offers to order food online and receive free delivery through food delivery services, such as DoorDash. “We’ve overlaid our delivery service provider (DSP) coverage zones against our text messaging subscriber sign-ups,” explained Murphy. “By doing so, we’re able to send highly targeted offers and communications.” Jack in the Box coordinates the sending time of these messages to coincide with area-specific events, like rainy days and NFL games.

Knowing its customers are late-night snackers by nature, Jack in the Box began sending messages tailored to specific times of the day. The brand pairs time-targeting with geo-targeting to send highly relevant, personalized content and offers to subscribers to order late-night snacks through their local delivery service.

The brand also uses geo-targeting to send highly relevant offers to subscribers based on their location. As it renovates locations, Jack in the Box sends geo-targeted messages inviting subscribers to visit its newly reopened restaurants. Subscribers are rewarded with exclusive in-store offers to redeem when they visit. “Our store remodel invitations have done really well,” said Murphy. “We’re currently assessing how we can optimize and expand these messages to keep subscribers in the know as their local stores reopen.”

When we first moved to Attentive, we made the hard decision to cut two-thirds of our list. Prior to partnering with Attentive, our text messaging program wasn’t as buttoned up as it could have been. So, in terms of being as compliant as we could and show proof of opt-ins and opt-outs, we nearly started over. It was a big decision, but it’s really paid off.
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– Shannon Murphy, Sr. CRM Manager, Jack in the Box

Results

Jack in the Box recognized that personalized text messaging at scale was a powerful tool to heighten its customers’ experiences and drive orders—both online and in-store. After switching from a different SMS provider, the brand was able to quickly grow its subscriber list 116.9% year-over-year. Those new subscribers are engaged from the start—each receives a welcome text message, featuring an exclusive offer, which sees an average redemption rate of 31.5%.

As for how Jack in the Box’s future plans, the brand is excited to continue to optimize every aspect of its program. “We’re only scratching the surface, and there’s a ton of unpacked potential that we have,” said Murphy. “Testing is what we’re going to continue to lean into as we move forward. We’ve seen great success testing our welcome flow—from sign-up unit types to imagery—leading to a subscriber growth rate of over 116.9% in just one year, and a welcome message redemption rate of 31.5%.”