Author Archives: Ross

Restaurant Promotions Gallery

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Welcome to the FanTools Restaurant Promotions Gallery!

Listed below you’ll find a wide variety of offers supporting many different promotional strategies in the restaurant industry. The tried-and true BOGOs, cash-for-cash, and discount-with-minimum are well represented. You’ll find offers designed to encourage trial of a specific menu item or service, drive traffic in specific day-parts, increase party size and increase visits from a desirable demographic. The merchant name links to the actual offer image.

(Note that some of these deals cost the merchants tens of thousands of dollars in discounts and fees to the deal service. We don’t know which of these deals were profitable, if any, but isn’t it better to be in complete control of your own destiny?)

Afton House Inn $20 for $40 of value (AKA cash for cash)
Amore Victoria Lunch/Brunch “Buy One, Get One” (BOGO)
Baker’s Ribs Encourage trial of specific menu item
Barrio Classic discount with minimum purchase
Barrio 2 Free drink with minimum food purchase
Buca di Beppo 3 offers restricted to specific day-part, dine-in, carry-out
The Bulldog Lunch special featuring hot dog and beer for $4
Cafe Kem + Jasmine 26 + Jasmine Deli Encourage trial of specific menu item
Chateau St. Croix Winery Cash-for-cash deal requiring 2 people
Culver’s “Shotgun” approach to encourage large group visits
Duplex Targeting dinner goers along with Free offering
Darbar India Grill $5 discount with $25 purchase
Falafel King More modest BOGO — 50% off second item, plus numerous exclusions
French Meadow Targeting dinner with $5 discount based on min. purchase
Gina Maria’s Pizza New product offer + 2 standard coupons
Green Mill Features specific menu item; note Facebook logo and QR code
Green Mill 2 Same as above, but adds a location-specific BOGO with capped value and $10 off with a $35 purchase
It’s Greek To Me Basic discount with minimum purchase
Jensen’s Supper Club Cash-for-cash
Joe’s Garage $5 discount with $25 purchase, dine-in only
Kinsen Noodles $15 off with $50 purchase
Le Bistro Tourville Classic BOGO, plus senior citizen discounts
Lions Tap Multiple offers with special Back to School deals for students
The Lyndale Tap Simple offer but announcing of other specials and promotions
Mt Fuji $10 off $35 purchase; busy urban area, so ad highlights free parking
Namaste Cafe Simple $5 off promotion with QR code to mobile site
Old Chicago Focus on Happy Hour specials plus a $5/$25 food-only/dine-in coupon
Osaka Dinner for 2 specials
Osaka Japanese 2 Modest “long-running” discounts featuring a menu specialty a discount with minimum purchase
Park Tavern Bowling and Entertainment Cash-for-cash
Pizza Luce Brand-building with modest offer
Red Moon Chinese Encourage groups with discount on two entrees. Second offer for take-out only. Catering excluded
Scoreboard Bar & Grill Location-specific $5/$25 offer.
Smashburger Basic cash-for-cash coupon, dine-in only
Sunsets 2 cash-for-cash options, happy hour excluded
TianJin BOGO, brunch, discount for minimum purchase. Regular prices are published for comparison
Tum Rup Thai Targeting after-4 pm with discount based on minimum purchase
Uptown Pizza 3 offers: standard, discounted add-on item with min. purchase, and a party special

Continue reading →

How to publish deals to your website

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You can list your FanTools deals on your own website with a simple line of code. You can find the code you need under Social Media, Facebook Pages, then choose the applicable Facebook Page. At the bottom of the screen there is section called “Add Promotions to Your Web Site” that lists a line of <iframe> code. Send this code to your webmaster with instruction on which page you want your deal list and deals to appear. When you publish a deal to your Facebook Page, the same deal will also appear where you place the code.

We suggest establishing a page on your website for “Deals.” You can see an example on the Outback Shack demo site.

FanTools 2.0 is live!

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FanTools Coupons, Group Buys, Flash Deals, Information PostWe are very happy and proud to announce the release of FanTools 2.0, available now to all of our customers. This major release is the work of many people including the suggestions and advice from our customers and partners. We’re committed to making FanTools the best solution available to give businesses control over powering their promotions.

The significant new features (among many smaller updates) include:

Promotions

  • New deal types:
    • Group Buys allow you to create “daily deal” type offers (similar to Groupon). With FanTools, you control the discounts, timing and terms and keep all the money.
    • Flash Deals are perfect for short-lived coupon promotions with an added countdown timer to entice fans into immediate action.
    • Coupons are business-defined promotions that can be redeemed by fans with a printout or via their smart phone with our mobile view.
    • Information Post allows the business to publish promotional content that doesn’t have coupon or discount features.
  • Google Maps on each deal show the locations where deal is valid.
  • My Deals lists the fan’s reserved and purchased Group Buys.

Publication

  • Publish to Web allows a merchant to present deals on their own website.
  • Custom Messages give merchants control over the Facebook, Twitter, email and text messages that notify fans about new offers.
  • Publish Expiration is a new setting that allows promotions to be valid after their publication date.

Administration

  • Tiered Administration provides deep and scalable permissions for organizations, users and roles. FanTools is the ideal online promotions tool for any business, small or large, simple or complex.
  • White Label allows partners to brand the FanTools Administration interface with their own logo.

More detailed information on the new features can be found in the FanTools Help articles. You can also watch a thirty minute web conference showcasing the new features.

Stay tuned; we’re just getting started.

How to issue Group Buy vouchers to customers

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Issuing Group Buy vouchers to customers

When a customer purchases a Group Buy promotion from you, an authorization is performed on the buyer’s credit card to ensure sufficient funds. At this point, the customer has not received a voucher, nor have you received funds for the purchase.  FanTools allows you to issue vouchers and receive funds in one step. To do so, you must settle each customer’s credit card transaction.  Afterwards, your customer will receive an email confirmation that includes the voucher, and you will receive funds in your merchant bank account.

1. Login to FanTools and click the Promotions icon in the overhead navigation.

2. Find your Group Buy promotion in the list of promotions. Notice there is a number next to your Group Buy promotion. This indicates the total number of purchases. Click this number.

3. You will be brought to a list of transactions. Notice each transaction has the following information:

a. Yes/No indicating if the customer’s credit card transaction has been settled.

b. Yes/No indicating if the customer’s voucher has been redeemed.

c. The customer’s first and last name.

d. The customer’s email address. Use this to contact them for any customer service issues.

e. The customer’s voucher code.

4. To issue a voucher and receive funds, find the customer’s name in the list and click the Settled oval.  Immediately, your customer will receive an email confirmation that includes their voucher information, and you will receive payment into your merchant bank account.

Tip: If you want to see more information about the credit card settlement that took place, click the ‘pencil’ icon to the right of the customer’s voucher code. From here, you can also resend a customer’s receipt and voucher via email.

Note:  If you need to void a customer’s transaction, please log on to your PayPal account and perform the void there.

 

 

FanTools 2.0 Live Monday!

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Good news! FanTools is going live Monday, September 12th, 2011. We are excited to share the new features and enhancements you will be able to use.

New Features include:

    • New Promotion Types — Create Flash Deals, Group Buys, and Informational Posts
    • Publish to Web — Publish deals to your Website in addition to your Facebook Page
    • Custom Notification Messages — Send customized messages to your Facebook Wall, Twitter account, Email, and SMS
  • Tiered Administration — Organize and create users, roles and sub-organizations with flexible permissions

Don’t Forget!

Visit the Four51 FanTools Facebook Page for more updates and the latest news!
Regards,

The Four51 FanTools Team

Print a List of Group Buy Customers

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Printing a list of customers who have purchased and redeemed a group buy promotion

For each group buy promotion, FanTools provides a list of customers who have purchased and redeemed the promotion. The list can be printed and kept at your POS terminal/cash register to verify whether a customer’s voucher code has previously been redeemed.

1. Login to FanTools and click the Promotions icon in the FanTools dashboard.

2. Find your group buy promotion within the list of promotions. Notice there is a number next to your group buy promotion. This indicates the total number of purchases. Click this number.

3. You will be brought to a list of Transactions that have occurred for your promotion.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Print Transactions button.

Tip: At the end of each business day, you should record in FanTools the customers that have redeemed vouchers. Keeping this up to date helps to reduce redemption fraud and other misuse. You can record that a voucher has been redeemed by clicking the Redeemed oval next to the customer’s transaction.

How to Add Locations

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Adding Locations

  1. You can create any number of locations.
  2. In the Dashboard, click locations, then Add Location.
  3. Fill out the necessary information and click Save.

Note: adding more than one location may require additional monthly fees.

 

 

How to create Profile Questions

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Tip: Profile Questions allow you to create deal-specific or general questions and assign them to a deal.  Profile Questions are the best way to collect data on the visitors to your Facebook page, providing valuable insight into customer preferences and behavior. 

  1. Select Promotions, then Profile Questions.
  2. Click the Add Profile Questions button.
  3. Click the Add Question button, give question set a title, begin creating a Profile Questions set.
  4. For each question:
  • Input question text
  • Select question type
  • If applicable: indicate the character length and number of lines
  • Check the box to make a question required or leave blank to make it optional
  • Add as many questions as you want, but best practices suggest no more than three, even for very aggressive promotions

Tip: Click and drag the question box to reorder your questions.

5. Click Save.

Quick Start Guide

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Now that you’ve signed up to power your promotions with Four51′s FanTools, just follow these 7 simple steps to publish your first promotion.

  1. Add your location(s)
  2. Create a FanGate (optional)
  3. Create a questionnaire/ProfileGate (optional)
  4. Connect your Twitter account (optional)
  5. Connect your Facebook Page
  6. Ready your images
  7. Create and publish a promotion

You can also download the complete “Quick Start Guide” as a PDF (3 MB).

FanTools 2.0 is Coming!

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FanTools 2.0 is scheduled for release the week of September 12th, 2011. There are many new features and enhancements we are excited to share!

To highlight a few…

New promotion types. Three more promotion types will be available in addition to coupon (formerly SmartDeal):

  • Group Buy — Create “daily deal” type offers (similar to Groupon). With FanTools, you control the discounts, timing and terms and keep all the money
  •  Flash deals — Create time-sensitive offers that include a countdown timer! Think about a theater with extra tickets to sell right before the show, or a food vendor who needs to quickly clear out excess inventory
  •  Informational posts — Get the word out to all your fans about upcoming special events, guest appearances, new menu items…any type of message that isn’t offer-related

 

Please join us for a free in-depth Webex demo of the new FanTools features and enhancements!

When? 12:00 noon CST September 7, 2011

How? Just click here to register!

Who? Jim Lahner, Customer Support and Scott DeToffol, Product Director

To learn more about the release, please visit our blog between now and the week of September 12th for more updates on our development efforts. And remember to keep yourself up to date with FanTools and social media by visiting the Four51 FanTools Facebook Page.