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Did you know <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/">Instagram has 1 billion users every month</a>? So if your restaurant isn’t activity using this platform, <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/must-have-marketing-methods-for-your-restaurant/">you’re missing out</a>! The good news is that food is one of the most featured categories on Instagram. Not only do people upload pictures of food they have made, but they also capture the food they have eaten at restaurants. This is an <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/rock-your-restaurant-with-wifi-and-instagram/">excellent marketing tool</a> for your business, especially if they tag your business and location so it can be found by others. So better get started with planning your food images for your Instagram account. 







Uploading images of your food onto Instagram is a great method of getting hungry crowds to flock to your restaurant. Like any marketing tool, however, it does take a bit of trial and error to get right. After all, this is not your personal page where likes and follows don’t matter &#8211; this is your business and you need your product to shine in order to turn a profit.



So, if you are looking to get your food onto Instagram, here are our top tips to make it a success. 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Choose Your Dishes Carefully</h4>



No matter how well they are made, some cuisines just don’t photograph well. Curry and risotto being two notable examples that spring to mind.&nbsp;



But hold up &#8211; that doesn’t mean to say you can’t photograph these or any other less photogenic cuisine. In fact, curry <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/uk-most-instagrammed-food-avocado-curry-fish-chips-yorkshire-puddings-a8502531.html">is one of the most Instagrammed dishes</a> out there. It does, however, require some skills to make it look as appetising as possible. As a general rule, anything slopped on a plate with no attention given to the presentation isn’t going to win any new customers, no matter what it consists of.&nbsp;



Your food needs to look as if some thought has gone into it. If in doubt, don’t upload the picture on Instagram or re-take it at a different angle. The last thing you want it to upload a really off-putting food image onto your restaurants&#8217; official page.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Lighting</h4>



Many restaurants use low lighting because it’s atmospheric. But, the trouble is it doesn’t make for the best outcome when taking photos of the food. Using flash is too harsh and can be distracting to other diners, so what’s the solution?



If you haven’t already invested in some professional lighting, you can pick up <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Selfie-Supplementary-Lighting-Enhancing-Smartphones/dp/B01E3NSBFA/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=phone+ring+light&amp;qid=1574674870&amp;sr=8-4">a ring light for as little as £5</a>. The right light can make all the difference in photography, and the same goes for food too. 



Another trick is to make use of natural lighting, by photographing food near a window. The best trick is to stand with your back to the window so that you are holding the camera the same direction in which the light is flooding in.



If possible avoid heavy yellow light which is quite artificial. It can give food an orange tint, and generally doesn’t bring out detail very well. While you can always use filters to enhance an image, getting the lighting right isn’t something you can really compromise on.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Consider Hiring A Professional</h4>



Granted, we’re not all Rankin’s in the making. If you or your team aren’t great at photography or perhaps don’t have the time during a busy service &#8211; <a href="https://www.tonyhphoto.com/blog/food-photographer-for-your-restaurant-marketing">it’s time to think about setting up a professional photoshoot</a>.&nbsp;



When the restaurant is closed or on a quiet day, book a photographer to capture your dishes. You will probably want to make at least 10-20 so that they can shoot a tonne of food images at once for your Instagram account. Another great idea is to have them also take images of the dishes being made in the kitchen, as this can make for some authentic behind the scenes shots.



The advantages of a professional taking care of your images is, that they will be shot in the right lighting, in super HD plus using the most flattering angles. You can then upload one at a time to Instagram, or use the images as backgrounds to Instagram Stories. 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">It’s All In The Details</h4>



Plates that could have done with a clean up around the sides were sauce or gravy has run over. A burger that looks messy and isn’t stacked very well. Chips that are burnt. You get the picture here &#8211; <a href="https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/food-photography-basics/">your food needs to look appetising!</a>&nbsp;



Attention to detail really is key, so make sure your kitchen staff always present dishes to the best of their ability. When photographing food for marketing purposes, this couldn’t be any more important.



Well presented food communicates you care about what you do. Food that is badly presented and generally looks quite messy on the plate, signals to customers that little attention is given when making the food. It can be driving any customers without you even realising. 



Another tip is not to overload a plate with too much food. Although you might find it contradictory when you’re trying to make people hungry, sometimes less is more. If a plate has too much food then it can also make it difficult to style correctly when trying to take the right shot.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h4>



Instagram is an amazing platform to upload images of your food. You can take mouthwatering shots straight from the kitchen and have them seen by potential customers all over the globe. The best part is it’s simple to use as well as being completely free too!&nbsp;



What about taking this one step further and encouraging your customers to post their own images of your food on their social media accounts. Even better encouraging them to share it with family and friends whilst they&#8217;re still in your venue. All possible with our <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/getting-started-with-guest-wifi/">Guest WiFi solution</a>. Once your customers have signed into your WiFi, you can redirect them to one of your social media channels. Higher interaction guaranteed.



Why not give it a try today?



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>





<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

post

How to Take The Perfect Food Image for Instagram

Online reviews have always been used to help people make a final judgment on where they eat, drink or stay.



 In the post-lockdown world, customers will be paying special attention to the latest reviews, and looking specifically for safety and cleanliness content within them to inform their choice of venue.&nbsp;



Even if they aren&#8217;t looking for that detail, they&#8217;ll see it as review styles change.



 We’re already starting to see reviews with content such as “&#8230;the online ordering app was hard to use&#8230;” or “&#8230;a table reservation system would have been better&#8230;” and “&#8230;excellent service and planned out and H&amp;S / covid precautions”.



These types of things are going to be front and centre of the customer experience and bear the brunt of any criticism or praise.



 If you are running a hospitality business, it will be compared to others on the basis of how well the new measures work for customers.



 We recently installed an upgrade to our <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/automations/#reviews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reviews</a>&nbsp;system that can help untangle these new reviews for owners: sentiment analysis.



 It analyses the content of all your reviews and provides a summary of repeated themes and whether those themes are used in a positive, negative or neutral context.



With a quick glance, you can see if your ordering app is clunky or if your new menu items are going down a treat.



With this info in hand you can make any adjustments using real feedback, or reliably pump up the marketing on your new menu for example.



While stars and scores are useful, the words within the review are what can really make a difference.



To find out more about <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/automations/#reviews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reviews</a> and sentiment analysis, get in touch with one of our team.

Handling The ‘New Review’

The importance of powerful photos has grown dramatically as brick-and-mortar businesses lean on more online interactions with customers. High-quality images can help to attract more followers to your accounts and even to gain new customers. That’s the theme running through <a href="https://www.fsrmagazine.com/expert-takes/taking-perfect-restaurant-photo-leigh-loftus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this interview</a> in FSR Magazine with food and drink photography expert Leigh Loftus. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity"/>



Through her Chef Shots organisation, Leigh aims to improve the&nbsp;photography skills of those in the food and beverage industry. The best part, it&#8217;s all based on smartphone cameras. You don&#8217;t even need expensive equipment to get it right.



In general, food and drink photography is a vast subject. However, a few quick improvements can make photos much more eye-catching on busy social media feeds.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-easy-photography-tips">3 Easy Photography Tips</h4>



Here’s the top phone photography tips we’ve picked up already:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Clean your lens to prevent blurry photos. The lens will pick up dirt, grime and fingerprints from being handled day-to-day. </li>



<li>Turn on the grid. Most cameras will have a grid option in the settings. This helps with the framing of pictures and making sure things are lined up. It also gets you started using the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMjvvltQpmw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rule of thirds.</a> </li>



<li>Tap and hold to focus. With the camera open, tap and hold on the item in the photo you want to show off most. This will focus the camera on that point and lock it in until the picture is taken, ensuring crisp and clear images of your subject.</li>
</ol>



There are even more quick lessons for food and drink photography on The Chef Shot Youtube channel. Including guides on photo editing and lighting. Worth checking them out!



With better pictures comes better stories for your fans and followers. The connection between your brand and them will grow, as will the power of your social media and email content to drive more business.



Want to turn your followers into loyal customers? Reach out to learn more about our <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/loyalty/">digital stamp card solution</a>.

Better Photos = More Followers [Food and Drink Photography Tips]

Your&nbsp;table booking data&nbsp;is a treasure trove of customer insights.&nbsp;That’s the place where customers tell you about their individual needs and preferences when it comes to dining out. Though to use your data effectively it’s best to&nbsp;link your booking system to a Customer Relationship Management&nbsp;(CRM) platform. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



This creates a&nbsp;single customer view&nbsp;where all information on that particular customer is gathered together. Use those insights to&nbsp;personalise your customer experience&nbsp;and turn them into regulars.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-generate-more-sales-with-connected-bookings-and-crm-data">Generate More Sales With Connected Bookings And CRM Data</h5>



The key to&nbsp;high conversion rates&nbsp;and increased sales is personalisation. You can power your&nbsp;personalised campaigns&nbsp;with all the data you gather together in your CRM. Also access data sources such as loyalty schemes, e-commerce,&nbsp;<a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-revenue-boosting-combo-of-wifi-and-bookings-data/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">guest WiFi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/3-ways-to-improve-customer-experience-with-bookings-reviews/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online reviews</a>, etc. for this.



Ideally, you opt for an&nbsp;all-in-one solution. The data sync will happen automatically and your database will grow and be kept updated for you.



As a fallback, you can integrate your systems but there are risks, such as duplicate creation, transmission errors and added costs.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">How To Build A Strong Customer Profile From Your Bookings Data</h5>



Here’s what you should include in your customer profile.



Customer related:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Basic contact details, including birthday if possible</li><li>Demographics &#8211; family, couple</li><li>Preferences &#8211; favourite table, food &amp; drink</li><li>Dietary requirements</li></ul>



Booking related:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Frequency &#8211; loyal customer vs. first-time visitor, last booking</li><li>Behaviour &#8211; day of the week and times</li><li>Type &#8211; one table or group, events</li><li>Special occasions &#8211; birthdays and other anniversaries</li><li>Customer satisfaction based on reviews</li><li>Check size &#8211; big vs low spender</li><li>Previous no-shows</li></ul>



All these can be used to feed your&nbsp;<a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/a-5-step-recipe-that-creates-profitable-personalised-marketing-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">personalised marketing campaigns</a>. E.g. a special deal for your customer’s favourite drink, a simple birthday offer or a win-back campaign&nbsp;if it&#8217;s been a while since the last booking.



Looking for a smart hospitality growth platform that combines CRM, bookings, marketing and much more?&nbsp;<a href="https://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book a demo</a>&nbsp;with our team to find out more about Stampede.

How To Use Bookings Data To Supercharge Your CRM

If you’re responsible for managing a restaurant or hospitality business, it can be hard to stay on top of everything. To organise your daily tasks more effectively and streamline your processes, implementing a <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/what-is-a-hospitality-crm-system-a-full-guide">Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution</a> should definitely be part of your strategy.&nbsp;



There are three different types of CRM systems:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Analytical CRM systems that gather data useful for reporting and decision-making.</li>



<li>Operational CRMs that streamline processes and communication.</li>



<li>Collaborative CRM platforms that allow departments to work together more efficiently.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>



In this blog post, we will explore these three different approaches to running an effective CRM system for your hospitality business. This will help you make the best possible decision when choosing one.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-analytical-crm-systems">1. Analytical CRM systems</h2>



When it comes to understanding your customers and analysing the results of your marketing campaigns, analytical CRM systems are game changers.&nbsp;



With these powerful tools, you can dive deep into customer data, uncover trends, and make informed decisions based on real numbers. No more relying on gut instincts or guesswork.&nbsp;



Analytical CRMs also make it easy to create customised reports and visualisations. Those help you track progress and hone in on areas that need improvement.



By using this technology to better understand your audience, you can improve customer satisfaction, increase retention rates, and boost your bottom line.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Operational CRM systems</h2>



Operational CRMs are a vital tool for businesses to streamline their processes and improve overall customer experience.&nbsp;



They allow companies to better manage every touchpoint of the customer journey, from initial interaction to after-sales care. With automation features, operational CRMs can further enhance efficiency by reducing the amount of time spent on repetitive tasks.



Implementing an operational CRM system not only leads to <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/meet-stampede-inbox-never-miss-another-message">better communication</a> with customers but also allows businesses to make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Collaborative CRM systems</h2>



Collaborative CRM systems make sure that everyone in the business has access to the same data. So that teams can work together more efficiently in order to provide a complete customer experience.&nbsp;



With a collaborative CRM, every individual involved in the customer&#8217;s journey can view the full customer record with its entire history and previous interactions. This ensures that everyone is using the correct and up-to-date data to support the company&#8217;s decisions.&nbsp;



The integration between teams helps to ensure that customer needs are met, and ultimately, it results in a much-improved customer experience.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tips on how to choose the right CRM system for your hospitality business</h2>



As businesses continue to evolve and technology advances, it&#8217;s important for hospitality businesses to keep up with the latest tools in order to stay competitive.



However, with so many options out there, it can be challenging to choose the right CRM. The operational feature is certainly the most important feature for hospitality businesses and should be prioritised. The way data can be managed more efficiently has a significant impact on daily operations. Especially with automations as they reduce the workload by removing manual and repetitive tasks.



However, ideally, a CRM system should incorporate elements of all three CRM types &#8211; analytical, operational and collaborative. As a professional in the hospitality industry, it’s crucial to have a CRM system that provides detailed insights into customer interactions and preferences. This can help you tailor your services accordingly.&nbsp;



It&#8217;s important to emphasise the significance of finding the right fit for your needs when it comes to selecting a hospitality CRM. No two businesses are the same and therefore, there can be no one-size-fits-all solution.&nbsp;



You need to identify what your hotel, restaurant or hospitality business requires and other specific goals you want your CRM system to achieve. Then you can assess which CRM can deliver on those needs. A CRM that cannot adequately cater to your requirements could end up costing you in terms of valuable time and resources



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Closing thoughts</h2>



Technology can only truly increase efficiency if it is used effectively. After all, customer experience isn&#8217;t just about having a lot of information on hand. It&#8217;s about understanding each individual guest as well as providing personalised experiences based on your insights.



By investing in the right type of <a href="https://stampede.ai/amaze">CRM system</a>, you can unlock significant potential for your business and take your customer experiences to the next level.

The 3 Different Types Of A CRM System Explained

Many Stampede users are looking for ways to connect the tech they use and simplify things. Data imports means our customers have the opportunity to cut down on their use of various systems, and use fewer systems to do more of the work.



It’s also great for consistency. With more customer data in one place you’ll know that the messaging and offers that you’re promoting are all going to the same people. Less confusion for staff processing orders and more clarity for customers.



As we write this the U.K. hospitality industry is struggling with the impact of coronavirus. In response, we brought forward the development of this feature to enable more hospitality business to contact and connect with their customers &#8211; without the need for guest WiFi as a data source.



We&#8217;ve opened up <a href="https://product.stampede.ai/marketing/campaigns">Marketing</a> and made it free to use for everyone. Data import means that even businesses not using Stampede before can start doing so immediately. Promotions about delivery service, takeaway offers or <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/new-feature-alert-gift-cards/">gift cards</a> can be set up and sent in minutes.



Data import is really simple &#8211; just head to <a href="https://product.stampede.ai/data-sources">Data Sources</a>, choose .CSV Import, select the file from your computer, map the fields and hit Upload.



For a full run through &#8211; check out this super quick how-to video



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Importing Data by CSV | Stampede" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/umendihZy6Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>

Data import product update to Stampede features

Product Update – Importing Data

There’s no doubt that the hospitality industry is going through a bit of a digital revolution. Data collection is high on the list, for obvious reasons, but what else can be done with a customer database?&nbsp;



One of the best ways to make a customer database generate extra revenue is with emails. And the primary email we recommend is always the newsletter.&nbsp;



Here’s our top tips to making a fantastic newsletter:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Consistent branding. Make sure it has the same logo and colours as they appear on your website and any other branded materials. It builds recognition and trust in your digital communications. </li><li>Consistent timing. Sending the newsletter on a specific day of the week or month gives you a schedule to keep to, and regularity will improve the number of customers opening and reading the email.&nbsp; </li><li>Make it visual. Use a mixture of images and short pieces of text to cover a variety of topics. For the layout, think like a newspaper with different columns and sections.&nbsp; </li><li>Give the audience stories, not just offers. Everyone has offers, but your business has it&#8217;s own tales to tell. Keep customers interested with topics such as:<ul><li>Stories from behind the scenes</li><li>New menu items and their design process.</li><li>New staff members</li><li>The latest news from any charities or local sports teams that you’re involved with.</li></ul></li></ul>



A quick final note: make sure you have an <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/can-you-market-to-track-and-trace-customers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">opted-in list of contacts</a> before sending newsletters.



 A regular email newsletter is the gateway to increased customer interaction.&nbsp;



As a routine part of your advertising and marketing it will deliver more repeat bookings and covers as it builds loyalty to your business and keeps you at the front of customers&#8217; minds.



 To learn more about emails, newsletters and how they can deliver more revenue, <a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">get in touch</a> with one of our team.

Newsletters Are The Foundation

Have you ever been lost in a foreign city? Ever had to send out an important text? There are moments in which we are grateful for an Internet connection on our smartphone and even more grateful for the <a class="" href="/blog/restaurant-wifi-with-tapas-blackbx-success-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bars and restaurants</a> around us that allow us to access it.  

In some situations WiFi can be a lifesaver, but at other times it seems like people simply have a crave to check their newsfeed, mails and stay connected with friends. It can be argued that WiFi is indeed highly addictive, as <a class="" href="https://www.ipass.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/iPass-Mobile-Professional-Report-2017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a study from iPass</a> suggests that 27% of respondents indicated that WiFi is impossible to give up. 
Let’s put this in relation with other cravings humanity has &#8211; gambling is only impossible to give up for 4% of the respondents, while smoking was only slightly higher &#8211; at 6%. This connectivity-craving is leading some people to use WiFi on their smartphones even in some weird situations. 
<h3>The Toilet </h3>
I am sure you remember the last text you received, but are you aware there’s a good chance this text was composed on a toilet? Fair enough, sitting on the throne can be quite inspirational. I bet the amount of texts sent from bathrooms all around the world must be quite impressive, as 72% of us make use of a smartphone in the stall. Maybe it’s the solitary atmosphere that bathrooms provide us with that make it so likely to just grab a smartphone and explore the fascinating world wide web. We really don’t mind, but please wash your hands.
<h3>On a Date </h3>
Having used Tinder in the bathroom, some of us might be lucky enough to have a date or two. Well done! Get your favourite shirt ironed and take your crush to a nice bar around the corner. Don’t forget to be charming, interested in what your counterpart has to say and keep your phone in your pocket. Apparently none of you are listening to our old-fashioned dating advice anyway &#8211; since a shocking 36% of people use their smartphone during a date. In other words, more than every third person will have a wee look at Facebook, read some mails or sends an ‘<a class="" href="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/73/b1/a7/73b1a7bafc43a649c857984719588d1e--sweet-texts-cute-texts.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emergency text</a>’ to the best friend during a date.
<h3>During Sex</h3>
In case the date goes well, brace yourself &#8211; 7% use their mobiles even during sex, unfortunately we weren’t able to find out exactly how they do it.
<h3>In a Meeting </h3>
Sure, meetings are boring and sometimes you might need to check your phone to bolster a fact or two in your PowerPoint. But, if you&#8217;re in a meeting, it&#8217;s usually a good idea to give the persenter your full attention. Which apparently more than half of us can&#8217;t do, as 53% of respondants reported that they had checked their smartphone during a meeting. For shame. 
<h3>At a Funeral </h3>
If you thought tweeting during a date (or an intimate encounter) would be rude or impolite, you might be shocked about the next odd situation. Some people would literally take their smartphone to the grave if they could &#8211; 11% of respondents during the research admitted they’d use their smartphone even during a funeral. Somethings are a little too much, even for us. 
<h3>Being Connected is a Good Thing</h3>
Just because some internet users lose control over their habits and might have a weird relation to their smartphone, doesn&#8217;t mean we all have to follow in their footsteps. 
Internet and smartphones have revolutionised the way we interact, the way we plan and even the way we live. The strong need to connect with others, share our experiences online and always be up to date, has brought an opportunity for businesses looking to expand their audience. 
The importance of offering an Internet access to customers is absolutely vital today. If you want to learn more about guest WiFi and how offering it will benefit both your business and your customers, click below. 
Just make sure you wash your hands first. 
<a class="eut-modal-popup" href="https://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a>

THE TOP 5 WEIRDEST TIMES TO USE A SMARTPHONE

So you&#8217;ve just opened your first coffee shop. Besides awesome coffee, you wanted your business to be a place where people could meet and chat about the pressing issues of the day. Sort of a modern day salon, if you will. You did everything a good coffee shop is supposed to do &#8211; order the latest in Sumatran Dark Roast, obtain sweets from your favourite local baker and, of course, install some WiFi for your customers.

The only problem is that your coffee shop has become a haven for hipsters working on the latest draft of their screenplay. Instead of lively conversation, everyone in your shop is staring at their laptop screens and silently typing away.
So what&#8217;s the solution? How can you get your customers talking and still keep your business going?
You could do what a lot of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/we-dont-want-to-be-an-office-cafe-owners-are-pulling-the-plug-on-wifi/article34859828/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coffee shops are doing these days and turn off the WiFi</a>. This will keep your business moving but might run the risk of alienating your customers and peg you as a Luddite.
Here&#8217;s a better solution: let your customers use your WiFi for free &#8211; at first &#8211; then ask them to pay. Hey &#8211; there&#8217;s no such thing as a free lunch, right?
<h2>Setting Up a Paid or Hybrid Network</h2>
But how to go about setting one of these networks up? With Stampede, it&#8217;s as easy as flipping a virtual switch.
Using Stampede, you can setup a wholly paid network, that is, one where your customers have to pay to access the WiFi for a set period of time. The other solution is to setup what is known as a hybrid network. In this type of network, your users are free to browse the internet until they&#8217;ve used up a certain amount of data &#8211; how much is up to you. Then they&#8217;ll be asked to pay for their connection. This is a great solution for keeping those bandwidth hogs off your network and has the added bonus of not penalising the people who wanted to stop by for a coffee and to quickly check their email.
<h2>Supercharge Your Marketing</h2>
Ok, so you&#8217;ve got the bandwidth hogs under control in your coffee shop. That&#8217;s a start, but that&#8217;s not the coolest feature of Stampede. That&#8217;s right. There&#8217;s more!
See when your customers want to access your WiFi, they&#8217;ll first need to login through what is known as a captive portal. This is a splash screen that appears on their device as soon as they fire up the WiFi. Your customers will need to enter their email address on the captive portal in order to be able to access the network.
And that email address, my friend, is gold. Because you can now use it to market to your customers. How so? How about this &#8211; let&#8217;s say one of your customers hasn&#8217;t visited your shop in a while, so Stampede automatically drops them an <a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/learn-how-to-boost-your-business-with-sms-and-email-marketing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">email or SMS message</a> letting them know about some of your latest creations and includes a coupon for a discount. Magic? Nope, that&#8217;s Stampede.
And it doesn&#8217;t stop there &#8211; the sky is the limit as to what you want to do. That&#8217;s because Stampede also includes Zapier integration so you can connect Stampede to your favourite marketing and productivity software like MailChimp, Slack, Trello, Dropbox and hundreds more.
<h2>Bandwidth Hog Hunter</h2>
So stop those bandwidth hogs in their tracks by setting up paid or hybrid networks in Stampede. Just click below to get started!
<a class="eut-modal-popup" href="https://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a>

Paid and Hybrid WiFi Networks with Stampede

Marketing automation on its own is powerful. However, when backed up with a <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-create-a-hospitality-crm-strategy-that-drives-results">Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system</a> hospitality businesses can take their revenue and customer loyalty to the next level.



This clever tech pairing comes with significant opportunities to engage and retain customers, drive conversions and significantly boost profit margins.



In this blog post, we&#8217;ll explore what marketing automation fueled by a CRM system means and review some best practices as well as real-life examples.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-marketing-automation">What is marketing automation?</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-1-definition">1.1. Definition</h4>



Marketing automation is a tool for businesses to streamline their marketing efforts and effectively communicate with their customers using personalisation and targeted messaging.



The driver behind this automation is customer data, which is collected and stored in the CRM solution. Many <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/marketing">CRMs</a> now include a marketing automation feature, allowing for easier campaign management and tracking.



Emails and SMS campaigns are sent out automatically using pre-defined triggers, such as specific customer characteristics or interactions.&nbsp;



Plus, automation saves staff a lot of time and also reduces the risk of human error.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-2-trigger-based-campaign-examples">1.2. Trigger-based campaign examples</h4>



Here are some trigger-based campaign examples hospitality venues should implement.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>New newsletter subscribers &#8211; a simple welcome message drives engagement and encourages revisits.</li>



<li>Win-back lost customers &#8211; attract them back with a special deal.</li>



<li>Birthday surprise offer &#8211; shows that you value your customers and helps strengthen your relationship.</li>



<li>Online review booster &#8211; an automated post-visit review request email will keep guest feedback flowing.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



The required customer data for those campaigns can easily be extracted from the CRM through segmentation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-key-reasons-to-implement-marketing-automation">4 key reasons to implement marketing automation</h2>



Marketing automation benefits hospitality businesses in a number of ways.



Firstly, it allows nurturing customers towards long-term loyalty through personalised and targeted content. Customers are more likely to feel valued and appreciated when the messages they receive resonate with their specific interests and needs.&nbsp;



Secondly, personalised emails have proven to be more relevant and therefore have a higher conversion rate. In fact, they have a <a href="https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/how-personalization-and-automation-can-supercharge-email-conversions/">2.5 times higher click-through rate</a> than a generic email.



Thirdly, marketing automation also provides businesses with additional sales and upsell opportunities based on historic customer interaction in-venue and online.



Finally, once the setup is complete, automated campaigns don’t require much work as they run automatically. This allows your team to focus on other areas of the business.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-best-practice-tips">Best practice tips</h2>



Marketing automation has become an increasingly important tool in the hospitality industry. However, to be truly effective, some best practices should be considered.&nbsp;



Firstly, input from various data sources through your CRM is crucial. By collating data from your tech tools, such as <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/wifi">Guest Wifi</a>, <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/loyalty">loyalty scheme</a> and <a href="https://stampede.ai/get-bookings">table booking platform</a>, you can build a comprehensive customer profile.



Furthermore, to make the best use of the data, it&#8217;s important to segment it into distinct customer groups. To make it easier, use the pre-defined data segments provided by CRM solutions.



Finally, operators should regularly check their triggers to ensure their automation work effectively and that customers still receive relevant and timely communications.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-hospitality-operators-succeed-with-marketing-automation">How hospitality operators succeed with marketing automation</h2>



Here are some real-life examples from hospitality businesses that have used their CRM to automate their marketing processes.



<a href="https://stampede.ai/customer/bar-tonic">Bar Tonic</a> has seen astonishing results from their automated birthday emails, offering customers a martini on the house. So far, they’ve generated over £10,000 return visit ROI from it.&nbsp;



Another marketing automation usage example comes from the <a href="https://stampede.ai/customer/signature-pub-group">Signature Pub Group</a>. By automating their review request emails, they’ve managed to collect more than 12,000 reviews in a short period of time.



Marketing automation not only increases sales but is also a real time-saver. For example, <a href="https://stampede.ai/customer/birdhouse-london">Birdhouse London</a> is able to 2 hours per week since implementing it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Takeaway</h2>



There is no doubt that marketing automation are an essential tool for any hospitality operator that wants to increase customer loyalty.



By laying down the foundation with a powerful CRM system and then leveraging it with personalised messages tailored to specific customer segments, they can make sure that their guests are engaged and keep coming back.&nbsp;

Increase Sales With Your CRM And Marketing Automation

Today, online reputation is everything. Within this, TripAdvisor and Facebook can be seen as the major players in the hospitality reputation space. But online reputation is also probably the most difficult thing to control. Once something is published online, it stays there. What if there would be a way of controlling it through your offered Guest WiFi?







<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The importance of online reputation</h4>



When asked by TripAdvisor, 93% of customers said that online reviews impact their booking decisions and that 53% of customers say they won’t visit a venue that doesn’t have any online reviews. 



Additionally, a study by Cornell University found that a 1x increase in a venue’s average user rating on a 5-point scale makes potential customers 13.5% more likely to come along. 



It’s pretty clear that <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-respond-to-positive-and-negative-customer-reviews-online/">online reputation</a> should be a critical objective for any business operating in the service industry. Especially, as online reviews affect bookings, revenue and much more. Both in the positive and negative direction. So, getting the control back over your online reviews and hence reputation should be your utmost goal.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<div class="wp-block-media-text" style="grid-template-columns:38% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-1024x768.png" alt="Reviews-feature" class="wp-image-13241" srcset="https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-1024x768.png 1024w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-300x225.png 300w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-768x576.png 768w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-150x113.png 150w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-560x420.png 560w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-900x675.png 900w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-592x444.png 592w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-80x60.png 80w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more-120x90.png 120w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Addons-reviews_more.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
Get the control back over your online reviews.



<a href="https://stampede.ai/reviews/">Check out our Reviews Feature.</a>
</div></div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



In order to get the most accurate picture of your guest experience, it’s important to get as much guest feedback as possible. As your online reputation is mainly built based on this feedback. However, if you don’t have your customers&#8217; contact details, how can you do this? 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Boost your online reputation with your Guest WiFi</h4>



Well, one obvious way is having an automated solution, integrated with your guest WiFi. This would allow you to send emails / SMS to your customers, asking them to review you on TripAdvisor and like you on Facebook. Pretty straight forward. 



With <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/getting-started-with-guest-wifi/">Stampede</a><a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/getting-started-with-guest-wifi/"></a><a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/getting-started-with-guest-wifi/"> Guest WiFi</a>, you offer your customers a <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/engaging-customers-through-wi-fi-marketing/">great WiFi experience</a> whilst they are on your premises. In addition, Stampede now has an integration that will automatically email guests after they have left, encouraging them to leave an online review on TripAdvisor and like you on Facebook. Also, it&#8217;s entirely up to you if you want to send this notification directly after they&#8217;ve left or an hour or so later.



On top of that, Stampede customers have experienced a 200% increase in Facebook likes by offering a smart guest WiFi solution.



Do you want to achieve the same results? Why not contact Stampede and start increasing your online reputation and <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-wifi-can-help-boost-guest-reviews-of-your-venue/">get more TripAdvisor reviews</a> and Facebook likes?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#schedule-demohttps://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a></h2>



Or sign-up for a free trial today. Boost your online reputation by using your Guest WiFi.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>





<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

Improve Your Online Reputation Through Guest WiFi

<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Why SMS verification is important?</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The whole world has a mobile phone number</li><li>Guaranteed deliverability </li><li>Instant validation through modern smartphones</li><li>SMS marketing has a 97% read rate within 15 minutes </li></ul>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Why did we build this?</h4>



We have always validated customer phone numbers as they type it out, but after lots of customer feedback, we realised that more advanced guaranteed SMS delivery would require a product update



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How does it work?</h4>



After we have run our first validation check on the phone number we will now send that number a unique code. If using a mobile phone the field will automatically populate and that&#8217;s it!



<figure class="wp-block-embed-vimeo aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" style="max-width: 340px;margin: 0 auto;">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="SMS Verification" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/389474237?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="346" height="750" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How to use this feature?</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-1004x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-14196" width="473" height="482" srcset="https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-1004x1024.png 1004w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-294x300.png 294w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-768x783.png 768w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-1200x1224.png 1200w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-150x153.png 150w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-16x16.png 16w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-592x604.png 592w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-59x60.png 59w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18-88x90.png 88w, https://website-backend.stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screenshot-2020-02-05-at-12.45.18.png 1290w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px" /></figure></div>



Log in to the product <a href="https://product.stampede.ai">here</a> and goto Branding > Capture and then select SMS Code Verification



That&#8217;s it now any new phone number will get verified.

Product Update – SMS Verification

Getting Started with Guest WiFi in your Venue Today

Providing Guest WiFi to the Royal Highland Centre

GDPR, WiFi, Stampede and You

Stampede WiFi and GDPR

Stampede at EIE Scotland

Why Offer WiFi as a Service?

Good Adverts, Bad Adverts

Shorter is Better! The 133 Character Limit

Offer GDPR Compliant WiFi with Stampede

According to the calendar, it’s the first official day of Autumn this week, which already is a treasure trove of inspiration. Changing seasons, changing ingredients, changing menus.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



 For this week, we’ve got these three topics to inspire your social media and email content.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tuesday-22nd-national-ice-cream-cone-day"> Tuesday 22nd &#8211; National Ice Cream Cone Day</h4>



 True fans of ice cream know it can be enjoyed all year round. A luscious multi-scoop cone with all the toppings will look great in social media feeds. Try asking fans and followers to tag who they’d get a cone with to celebrate the day.&nbsp;



 If you don’t serve ice cream cones, Tuesday is also white chocolate day which can provide just as big a visual impact on social media.



 Recommended channels: Social media



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-friday-25th-national-cooking-day"> Friday 25th &#8211; National Cooking Day</h4>



 We might have passed the primetime of virtual cooking demos, but National Cooking Day is a great opportunity to record a new video demo, or simply share one you recorded a few months ago again&nbsp;with customers and fans.&nbsp;



 You could go down the route of how to make a favourite dish super-quick or a longer more detailed presentation. <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/a-recipe-for-video-showcase-success/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Check out this article</a> about cooking video best practice, using Wagamama&#8217;s example.



 Recommended channels: Email and social media



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saturday-26th-better-breakfast-day"> Saturday 26th &#8211; Better Breakfast Day</h4>



 The fast pace of modern daily life often makes many people skimp on or miss breakfast entirely, and Better Breakfast Day aims to remind us all of the importance of that first meal.



 If you offer a healthy and hearty breakfast menu, this is an ideal day to show it off. A one day offer could be just the incentive people need to stop by and fuel up properly in the morning.&nbsp;



Otherwise, there are lots of breakfast dishes that make for great visual content, like pancake stacks, health-food bowls and eggs of all kinds.



 Top tip: Schedule social media posts for Thursday or Friday.



 Recommended channels: Email and social media.



Want to learn more about how email can grow your business? <a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Get </a><a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in touch</a> with one of our team.

What’s On This Week? – 21/09/2020

Chris Wilkie

Omnichannel Marketing, Snackable Content and Storyscaping &#8211; we know, there are many cool words around the broad topic of marketing. Actually, there are so many fancy words that sometimes you get the feeling some of the marketers don’t even know what they’re talking about. It’s all too easy to get lost in the marketing jungle. The most worrying factor, however, is losing sight of your customers, in a world where <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2019/10/15/what-happens-when-your-customers-love-you/#7a84ff425eb7">loyal customer</a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2019/10/15/what-happens-when-your-customers-love-you/#7a84ff425eb7">s</a> are one of the most important factors.







So, the most crucial principle revolves around your <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/engaging-customers-through-wi-fi-marketing/">returning customers.</a> They&#8217;re the base your business is built on and you should never forget that. But how do you make sure that your customers feel like kings and queens? 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Focus on existing customers</h4>



Instead of channelling all your efforts into acquiring new clients, why not take a second and reflect on the fact that your business isn&#8217;t able to serve all possible customers out there. The number of customers you can do business with is finite! So, why not channel your efforts into making the customers you already have happy and stay with your brand?



Focus on your existing customers and try to get a <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/getting-customer-insights-into-your-companys-dna/">deep understanding</a> of their needs and wants. By using this gained information, you&#8217;re able to offer them a much more customised and personalised experience. That way, they want to come back to your venue, as they know what to expect and that they&#8217;re highly valued by you.



Not convinced? How about this fact: returning customers could only cost you 4% as much as acquiring a new one AND they spend more than the double amount of money. So focusing on your loyal customers does not only help you save money, even better it gets you more revenue.



Still not sure? Have a look at this video.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<div style="position: relative; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><figure><iframe loading="lazy" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; left: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/C1jt6xvISqw?ecver=2" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></figure></div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Start with your Loyalty Program today</h4>



That’s why the big players usually have a Loyalty Program in place for their returning customers. Their loyalty program allows them to rewards their most valuable customers in a special way. 



So why not treat your customers with something special after their 5th visit? What about a nice discount or a bottle of wine for free? Or what about a special treat for their upcoming birthday? That will definitely make them feel special. All well and good, but is this whole loyalty program thing not expensive?



The good news is, Loyalty Schemes can now be implemented for businesses of any size. It’s neither expensive, nor time-consuming to add a Loyalty Program to the marketing strategy of your business. But most definitely highly effective. 



If you want to learn more about Loyalty Programs, their importance for your business and the benefits you and your customers can get from them, have a look at our free eBook. Find out how you can transform your business today to really connect to your customers and boost their loyalty.&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>





Or why not get started right away. Transform your loyal customers into kings and queens.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#schedule-demohttps://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a></h2>

Why Loyal Customers Should be Kings and Queens

Are you thinking of opening a retro-styled bar offering latest custom-crafted cocktail trends like Switchels? Or what about a specialised bar for Gin lovers with a wide range of corresponding tonics? Maybe opening a microdistillery with your own taproom is your secret passion?



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



No matter what type of drink and food you plan to serve your customers. There’s going to be one thing that your customers demand as soon as they enter your bar: WiFi. As a matter of fact, a survey showed that<a href="https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/restaurant-management-statistics"> over 70% of customers</a> felt that technology, like free bar WiFi, enhanced their experience.



In order to give your customers the best guest experience, you need to get everything right. Including your decor, your staff, your drinks and, yes, your WiFi. With that in mind, here are our top five tips (plus one bonus) on how to set up WiFi for your bar.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Use Professional WiFi Equipment</h4>



You’ve poured your heart and soul into your new business. So are you going to let your customers sign in to the same crappy WiFi router that your internet company gives to pensioners downloading pictures of their grandkids? No. It’s time to put on your big boy pants and pay for a decent router. But buying the best doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean you&#8217;ll need to empty your bank account. Some of the best brands, like<a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/ubiquiti-unifi-integration-with-blackbx"> Ubiquiti UniFi,</a><a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/cisco-meraki-integration-with-blackbx"> Cisco Meraki</a>, Netgear and, of course, Google, can go for as little as $100. Techradar has a nice roundup of<a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/networking/routers-storage/best-router-9-top-wireless-routers-on-test-1090523"> some of the best routers out there</a>.



The standard that WiFi uses for connections is called 802.11, appended with letters to reflect the WiFi generation. For example, when WiFi was first released to the public, way back when in 1999, it was known as 802.a. As of 2020, the most widely used standard is 802.11ax and support network speeds of up to 14gb/second. Yes. 14GB. But don’t sit around waiting for the latest standard to come out before you purchase your equipment. Since WiFi devices are backwards compatible, you shouldn’t have to worry about getting outpaced by technology.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Big Place? Go Mesh</h4>



If you&#8217;ve got a large bar with lots of hidden nooks and crannies, then you&#8217;re going to want to go with a mesh network. The idea behind mesh networks is to provide all-around coverage for your bar. Even better it eliminates any WiFi blind spots. A mesh network typically consists of a number of WiFi separate broadcast units. Usually, between two to four, that seamlessly integrate into one network.



Hooking up mesh networks isn’t as difficult as it sounds. The router software usually takes care of the integration for you. Even though you may have up to 4 devices bouncing a signal around your business, customers only have to worry about connecting to a signal network.<a href="https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/network-wifi/best-mesh-wi-fi-network-systems-2018-3661110/"> This article in Tech Advisor</a> is a quick read and gives you a nice overview of some of the best mesh routers out there.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Setup a Captive Portal</h4>



Alright, so you’ve got your network all set up and broadcasting. You’re getting a great signal from every location in your place of business.<a href="https://stampede.ai/start-now/"> </a>Even in the most distant bathroom stall (for those omnipresent Tik Tok addicts). Now all you need to do is write up your complicated network password on all the walls so your customers can connect, right?



WRONG. You’ve just spent some bucks paying for a professional bar WiFi network for your business. So why give it away for free? By using a software product like Stampede, you can set up what is known as a<a href="https://stampede.ai/product/captive-portal/"> </a><a href="https://stampede.ai/product/captive-portal/">captive portal</a>, to give your customers access to your shiny new WiFi network.



Here&#8217;s how it works: After a customer connects, they’re prompted to register for your network with their email address or using their social media account. Once they’ve verified their email, they’re logged in. No chalkboards on the wall, but more importantly no passwords to remember or to change monthly.



The other cool part about a captive network is that it will automatically connect your customer in the future. No more logging in! And the best part &#8211; at least for your business &#8211; you now have your <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/gathering-the-right-data-for-your-restaurant-marketing/">customer’s email address</a>. So, win-win for you and your customers. With their permission, you can use this valuable customer information for our next tip: Automated Marketing.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Use Automated Marketing</h4>



You’re providing free bar WiFi for your customers and, in return, you’re <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-marketing-power-of-wifi-analytics-for-your-business/">getting their data</a>. So use it! When you have a customer login to your WiFi with Stampede, in addition to an email address, you can ask for other details on the captive portal login screen. Name, age, gender &#8211; anything you can think of. You can even add custom questions. This is a great place to ask your customer opinions about specials you’re thinking about offering or about their favourite drink.



Once registered, you can then import your customers&#8217; email into mailing list software like MailChimp. Or<a href="https://get.stampede.help/portal/kb/articles/zapier-introduction"> use software like Zapier</a> to do thousands of different tasks. Like importing emails into a Google Docs spreadsheet. You can also use Stampede to send an automated text or SMS messages, reaching your customers wherever they are.



Want to reward<a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/loyalty-program-ebook"> loyal customers</a>? Send them an<a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/learn-how-to-boost-your-business-with-sms-and-email-marketing"> email or SMS</a> with a voucher for a free drink on their third visit. Haven&#8217;t seen a customer in a while and want to get them back? Drop them a voucher for 20% off their next visit &#8211; who can resist a bargain?



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>





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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Get Social</h4>



So you’ve got an awesome bar WiFi network with a captive portal set up in your bar and your customers are loving it. Now it’s time to spread the word! Put your Instagram, Facebook and Twitter usernames EVERYWHERE &#8211; menus, the walls, even on your receipts.&nbsp;



Encourage your customers to share their experience, and more importantly, their photos with their family and friends. Remember, <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-importance-of-user-generated-content-on-social-media/">user-generated content</a> on social media means free advertising for you! To give your social media channels an additional boost, you can redirect your customers to your desired social channel once they’ve signed into your WiFi.



As we all know, online reviews influence customers&#8217; decision making more and more. So, let Stampede send an automated message after your customers have left the venue. Asking them to login to<a href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/press/how-wifi-can-help-boost-guest-reviews-of-your-venue"> TripAdvisor or Google Reviews</a> and write about their experience.&nbsp;



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Here is a short case study with one of our customers Cru Holdings, who are owning and operating six bars and restaurants in Scotland. They have used Stampede to generate more personalised email campaigns and events. But also to automate important processes and boost the overall performances of their venues.



<div class="wp-block-file aligncenter"><a href="https://stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Cru-Holdings-Case-Study-1.pdf">Cru Holdings Case Study</a><a href="https://stampede.ai/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Cru-Holdings-Case-Study-1.pdf" class="wp-block-file__button" download>Download</a></div>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Bonus Tip</h4>



The last bonus tip is on us! Forget about old fashioned print advertising. <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/introducing-stories/">Our unique Stories feature</a> allows for a dynamic in-venue promotion for your upcoming events, new menu items, happy hours, special deals and much more. Similar to Instagram Stories, they will be shown on your customers mobile during the WiFi log-in process. Therefore, viewing is guaranteed.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Awesome WiFi in Your Bar Set-Up</h4>



Now that you have awesome WiFi in your bar set up that your customers love. They&#8217;re spreading the word about you all over social media and you&#8217;re keeping them loyal with automated marketing. That wasn&#8217;t so hard now, was it?



So, if you&#8217;re thinking about taking the plunge and opening up the bar of your dreams, and see the importance of offering awesome WiFi. Why not give us a try? 



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5 Tips for Setting Up WiFi for Your Bar [2020 Guide]

With barely a few days to breath, we move on from Mother’s Day to that other big March event: St. Patricks Day. So we&#8217;re going to keep it brief and get going!



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wednesday-17th-st-patrick-s-day">Wednesday 17th&nbsp; &#8211; St. Patrick’s Day</h4>



This will be the first (and hopefully last) St. Patrick’s Day at home. This time last year&#8230; well we all know what was going on and St. Patrick’s wasn’t really front of mind. This year, we&#8217;ve got lots of ways to celebrate!



Some ideas to engage with your customers and fans this Wednesday could include:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Authentic <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/st-patricks-day-recipes">Irish food recipe</a> kits and cook-a-longs</li><li>St. Patrick’s Day feast-at-home boxes</li><li>Post up a variety of green drink recipes and how-tos</li><li>Takeaway/Delivery/Collection for St. Patrick’s Day desserts</li><li>Irish whiskey tasting sessions and kits</li></ul>



And don’t forget to post up some pictures of your teams dressed in green too!



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saturday-20th-international-day-of-happiness">Saturday 20th &#8211; International Day of Happiness</h4>



It’s sometimes the simplest things in life that can bring us an extra bit of happiness. We all know how uplifting the smell of your favourite food or the first sip of a refreshing drink can be.&nbsp;



Many of you will take great pride in the pure joy that your business brings to your patrons from wonderful customer experiences. For International Day of Happiness, you could share your and/or your team’s thoughts on what happiness is to them.



For some people, happiness is simply not having to prepare food for the family that night. This is a perfect opportunity to remind them of your delivery services!



Share some happy, inspirational thoughts or some pictures of happy customers and staff, or maybe just a foodie smiley face on a plate!



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-topics-to-choose-from">More Topics to Choose From</h4>



Fri 19th March &#8211; Chocolate Caramel Day Sat 20th March &#8211; Ravioli Day Sun 21st March &#8211; French Bread Day&nbsp; Sun 21st March &#8211; World Poetry Day Sun 21st March &#8211; Vermouth Day 



If you&#8217;re looking to get your stories and promotions in front of your customers <a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">get in touch</a> with our team. We’re here to help with your email marketing and much more.

What’s On This Week? – 15/03/2021

If you&#8217;re not offering WiFi for your Airbnb guests. You&#8217;re already losing out. According to a recent survey in <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/TripAdvisorInsights/n2670/6-key-travel-trends-2016">TripBarometer</a>, nearly half of all travellers &#8211; 46% &#8211; considered in-room WiFi a &#8220;must-have.&#8221; So if you don&#8217;t have WiFi in your property, your listing isn&#8217;t even going to show up when Millennials and Digital Nomads click the &#8220;On-site WiFi&#8221; box in Airbnb searches. But how do you ensure your offered WiFi is secure?







Even if you already have WiFi in your Airbnb places, you could still be leaving yourself open to hackers and those bent on stealing your data. 



You know that router sitting in the living room you use to connect to the internet? You know &#8211; the one out in plain sight. Yeah &#8211; that one &#8211; the router provided by your internet company that is still protected with the default password. The <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/take-the-risk-out-of-guest-wifi/">default password</a> that is probably on a sticker on the bottom of the router somewhere.&nbsp;I think you can see where this is going.



But what to do? You want to give your Airbnb guests an <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-marketing-with-wifi-benefits-your-business/">awesome experience,</a> so you can gather those <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-power-of-reviews-and-recommendations/">positive reviews</a> and keep your place at the top of the listings. All this without leaving your data and valuable computer systems open up to evil-doers.



Don&#8217;t worry. There are a few simple precautions you can take to keep both you and your guests secure.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Keeping your Airbnb WiFi Secure</h4>



CHANGE YOUR ROUTER PASSWORD&nbsp;&#8211; Let&#8217;s start out simple. CHANGE THE DEFAULT ROUTER PASSWORD. You big dummy. Interesting trivia bit &#8211; one of the first tricks a hacker will try is checking default passwords. This is detailed in the 1989 computer security classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg">The Cuckoo&#8217;s Egg</a>.



INSTALL A GUEST WIFI DEVICE &#8211; If you don&#8217;t want to bother with changing passwords, <a class="" href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/press/guest-wifi-the-fourth-emergency-service">Guest WiFi </a>allows you to set up a separate, more secure WiFii network exclusively for your Airbnbers. 



This keeps things secure by keeping them off your WiFi network. Simply take the guest Airbnb WiFi device, plug it into the router, adjust a few settings, and you&#8217;re good to go. Setup the Guest WiFi so users can register with their email address or even use a social login like Facebook. 



If you&#8217;re running a high volume Airbnb with a lot of turnover, you can even use the <a class="" href="https://www.stampede.ai/how-it-works#marketing">built-in marketing capabilities</a> of Guest WiFi devices. They allow you to gather valuable customer data and start building a mailing list or use the built-in SMS/Email messaging to alert previous guests to special offers or discounts.



These devices are typically pretty inexpensive and can be <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/setting-up-your-airbnb-for-guest-wifi" target="_blank">setup in just a few minutes</a>. Don&#8217;t believe us? Just check out the video.&nbsp;



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<figure><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VhXYSfzX_8s" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure>



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If you&#8217;d like to read a little more in depth on how you can use WiFi marketing to help keep your AirBnB full. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" class="" href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/tips-on-using-wifi-with-your-airbnb-during-the-holidays" target="_blank">Have a look at this article</a>.&nbsp;



In addition, check out one of our free eBooks with useful tips on how to avoid common WiFi mistakes in your venue.



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INSTALL A VPN ROUTER &#8211; This is probably the most technically challenging of the bunch. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your data and tunnels it to another network location. What&#8217;s the point of this? Thanks for asking &#8211; few of reasons here. 



Number one, this protects all your data, which is always a good thing. Your Airbnb guests can surf to their hearts content, knowing that they&#8217;re protected from the bad guys. Last, but not least, your ISP can&#8217;t see where the traffic is going on a VPN. So, if your visitors decide to get on your WiFi and download the latest Hollywood releases from the newest Pirate Cove site &#8211; you won&#8217;t be left holding the bag when the lawyers come calling.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Ready to Offer Secure WiFi in Your AirBnB?</h4>



Then why not take Stampede for a spin? We offer a free trial so you can see how fast and easy it is to offer safe and secure WiFi in your AirBnB property.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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Airbnb WiFi: Offering Your Guests Safe and Secure Wireless

Recent research from <a href="https://getbento.com/blog/restaurant-takeout-delivery-trends-q2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bentobox</a> revealed that 80% of diners actually plan to keep up their current delivery/takeout volume even with indoor reopened. Deliveries do still make up a large proportion of revenue for hospitality businesses.



By now, most hospitality businesses have gained a strong delivery-only customer base. Those customers that have never been in to the venue present a revenue opportunity to be unlocked. But how do you attract those delivery-only customers to your venue to generate more sales?



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-make-use-of-customer-data">Make use of customer data</h4>



The secret lies in the data you’ve gained from your delivery customers through various ordering platforms and your website. Data you can now use to reach out via email and <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-sms-marketing-drives-10x-more-revenue-than-email/">SMS</a> to highlight your exclusive in-venue only offerings.&nbsp;



Here are some ideas to attract your delivery customers to dine-in.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Highlight the difference between your delivery and your in-venue offerings</h4>



Your message should focus around the fact that customers might miss out on certain dishes and drinks when using your delivery service only. Your delivery menu is probably a condensed version of your actual menu. Plus, some of your menu items might simply not be suitable for delivery.&nbsp;



So, the likelihood is that customers who regularly buy your delivery offers are interested in discovering more of your menu. You just need to make them aware of it.



Take a look at some examples:



“Why not pass by our venue this weekend to enjoy even more of our all-time favourites …? Book your table now and get % off your visit.”



“Are you a fan of our …? Then you should also try … Exclusively available at our venue only. Reserve your spot now.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Create in-venue exclusives</h4>



Why not go a step further with several special promotions around your in-venue exclusives to entice customers?



And don’t forget to mention your special deal/offers that are only available for sit-in customers, e.g. 2-4-1, happy hour, etc.



Some items to point out:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>A wider menu choice in general</li><li>Daily specials with limited availability</li><li>Fresh beer on tap/draught</li><li>Wide range of cocktails and drinks</li><li>Drinks refill&nbsp;</li></ul>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tap into the unique in-venue experience</h4>



Customers are not only missing out on certain dishes and drinks but they’re also not able to experience your in-venue atmosphere. Think about what makes your venue special and focus your messaging around the overall dining out experience they won’t get at home.



What to include:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>It’s time to relax &#8211; you’re being taken care of by our team</li><li>Enjoy a meal/night out with family &amp; friends in our relaxing atmosphere</li><li>Got an occasion to celebrate? We’ve got you covered</li><li>Highlight any special events and themed nights</li><li>Don’t miss out on our live music events</li><li>Instagram-worthy presented dishes</li></ul>



Want some help attracting your delivery customers to dine-in via email or SMS marketing? <a href="mailto:contact@stampede.ai?subject=&amp;body=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Get in touch</a> with one of our team. We&#8217;re happy to help.

4 Ways to Attract Delivery Customers to Dine-In

Never miss a message from your customers again with our brand new product feature: the Stampede Inbox.



It can indeed be a challenge and time-consuming task to stay on top of your various inboxes.



<a href="https://www.superoffice.co.uk/resources/articles/customer-service-study/">A recent customer service study</a> found that a worrying number of 62% of customer enquiries are left unanswered.



Common reasons are inboxes not being connected to a CRM and only a limited number of staff having access to incoming emails.



So, what about centralising all customer communication to one platform that is accessible to the whole team?



Such a unified inbox massively improves your response times and gets you extra points for your quick and streamlined customer service.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-it-works">How It Works</h2>



All incoming customer requests and responses are received in the inbox and stored under their individual profiles.



Staff members can then reply straight away in only a few clicks which means happier customers.



There is also the option to add internal notes to keep your team updated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Why The Stampede Inbox Is Unique</h2>



What makes our inbox a one-of-a-kind is that it comes ready-linked to every other interaction your customers have via Stampede. 



There&#8217;s no more piecing together the conversations and information from disjointed platforms. 



This creates a single 360° customer view, providing you with more context based on previous customer interactions and historic data.&nbsp;



So you can craft personalised responses that are relevant to each customer.



The Stampede Inbox is now available for all customers. Head to <a href="https://product.stampede.ai/">Stampede</a> to explore our new product feature in more detail.



If you have any questions or need a hand, reach out to our <a href="https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/murdo">Customer Success team</a> who are happy to help.

Meet Stampede Inbox: Never Miss Another Message 

Working In Hospitality: Harnessing The Efficiency Of Tech

How to Set Up a Coworking Space in Your Coffee Shop

Grow Your Coffee Shop With Free WiFi And A Captive Portal Solution

The Internet is a great place, full of valuable information, shared experiences and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXtC0jOVZNs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cute animal videos</a>. 

In 2018, more than 4 billion people are expected to make use of mankind’s greatest invention. Keeping this number in mind, the problems that can arise are obvious. The anonymity we all have on the Internet often times results in people behaving rudely and sharing their (sometimes very questionable) view on things. It’s easy to see why opinions clash with so many strange people meeting each other online.
In order to inspire a conversation about safety and respect online, especially for children and young people, today we&#8217;re celebrating <a href="https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Safer Internet Day</a>!
 The Internet is a free place, which means it can be wonderful and fascinating place, but it also means that it’s easy to encounter content that is sometimes not suitable for children and youngsters.
<h3>Create, Connect &amp; Share Respect</h3>
It’s a fact- children need to try everything- just think of the hand on the stove, a real classic. Their natural curiosity helps them to understand the world and make sense of their environment, but it can be dangerous, especially when we think about exploring the internet. The most basic example are videos from battle zones that we see in the news everyday (and this is still a rather mild example). The web reflects our human nature and, to be honest, it’s not always pretty. Guns, drugs and pornography (not even mentioning Trump’s hair here) is nothing a child should be able to find easily on the world wide web. If you don’t believe me what a weird place the internet can be, <a href="http://weirdorconfusing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">simply click here</a>.
Protecting youngsters from cruel and unsuitable content is only one aspect of the Safer Internet Approach. The other major topic that Safer Internet Day touches on is the way people communicate with each other and behave while online. I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve encountered rude comments on YouTube or people insulting each other in a forum. One of the factors that enhance the questionable way some people treat each other is the anonymity we have on the Internet. Let’s take the Safer Internet Day as a reminder to act as role-models in the way we treat each other online (and even offline) and make the Internet even more beautiful.
Stampede supports Safer Internet Day and the idea of making the Internet a safer environment for children. That’s why one of the amazing <a class="" href="https://www.stampede.ai/how-it-works#security" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">security features</a> we offer is the web filter that helps businesses to be sure everyone can use Guest Wifi in the venue without having to worry about what might pop up on their browser. Let’s make sure we all create, connect &amp; share respect. 
If you want to learn more about how a proper Guest WiFi can help businesses to grow, click the button below and find out.
<a class="eut-modal-popup" href="https://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a>

Safer Internet Day

The Guest Re-Engagement Workflow Every Venue Needs

Introducing – Marketing Workflows

Coming Soon – The Enquiry Pipeline

June Update – AI Review Insights, New Features and More

Build, Build, Build

Introducing AI Segments for Marketing

A more effective ways to run Meta ads for hospitality

4 Ways CRM Data Can Be Used in Day-to-Day Service by Your Staff

How to Use Segmentation to Increase Guest Engagement in Hospitality

Introducing Quick Campaigns

Instagram is all about image. Whether you’re an individual giving a sneak peek into who you are and what you enjoy or a brand looking to engage with new customers, Instagram is the perfect platform to showcase what makes you unique.&nbsp;Keeping the wordcount minimal, you may have noticed that this social platform makes photos and illustrations a priority. Instagram is an entirely visual medium that, if used correctly, can hook audiences so that they become loyal followers.&nbsp;One way to engage your customers is by creating an Instagram Theme.







We believe the most successful Instagram accounts are ones that keep to a particular theme. A theme helps to emphasise a brand’s identity and it also adds to the visual appeal of an account. This helps followers so stay intrigued and engaged.&nbsp;



Further read from our blog &#8211; <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-take-perfect-food-image-for-instagram/">https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-take-perfect-food-image-for-instagram/</a>



Before we delve into how you can create an engaging Instagram theme that will work for your business, let’s review what an Instagram theme is, exactly.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What Is an Instagram Theme?</h4>



A theme allows you to add consistency to your profile. It’s all about being deliberate with your posts so that you create a “personality” on Instagram that best reflects who you are and what you want to share. To develop a theme that will work for you, first consider what your audiences will find appealing as well as what will best reflect the personality of your business. 



Think of your brand’s colours and the type of messages you would like to communicate (for example, are you a restaurant that likes to keep things fun and trendy or are you an accountant who needs a more formal and serious approach)? Once you know what type of theme you should have, you can use Instagram’s tools to create it. You can use filters and other effects to design a style that works for you.&nbsp;



To help you to draw some inspiration for your own account, we’ll take a look at some different Instagram theme ideas and how they can be applied to engage your customers.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">8 Instagram Themes to Make Your Feed Unique and Engaging</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme One: Consistent Colour Palette</h4>



This is probably one of the easier themes to create and requires little work other than ensuring you stick to a certain colour palette when designing your posts. A consistent colour scheme will automatically present your feed in a cohesive way whilst enhancing the overall aesthetics of your feed.



When executing an Instagram colour palette theme, it does not mean that every post needs to be one colour only. Instead, you can post content that always contains an element of the same colour. This alone will show consistency and generate a theme.&nbsp;



Check out this Instagram account for an example of a consistent colour palette: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/trivago/?hl=en">https://www.instagram.com/trivago/?hl=en</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Two: Grid Tile Effect</h4>



This theme requires a little more strategic planning but if you get your layout right, you will certainly knock the socks off of your followers.&nbsp; The idea is to create a larger image or a design on your Instagram feed using individual posts.&nbsp;



This type of theme can have a great impact on audiences and adds tons of intrigue to your account. What’s important to remember with this theme, however, is that each individual post will need to make sense on its own. This way, it will still communicate a relevant message to audiences who have not clicked on your profile.



Find a grid tile effect on this account: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/juniperoats/">https://www.instagram.com/juniperoats/</a>



As a side note, if you choose to go with this type of theme, you will also need to remember to post in groups of 3 so that your design never shifts out of place.



Special tip: The easier and quicker option to create this grid tile effect is to split one big image into individual tiles. 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Three: White Borders</h4>



Adding white borders to your posts is a clever hack that will make your Instagram feed look more like a photo album or brochure. It’s also another strategy you can use to create eye-catching patterns.&nbsp;



Instagramers have been using this technique for yonks so that they do not have to crop portrait or landscape posts to fit into the square template. Now it is a thematic option that can be used to add intrigue to a feed.&nbsp;



That&#8217;s how the effect of the white borders could look like on an account: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lady.austin/">https://www.instagram.com/lady.austin/</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Four: Black and White</h4>



Posting your content in monochrome is another way to maintain a cohesive Instagram theme. This creates quite a “moody” atmosphere, however, so we would only suggest this theme to alluring brands that don’t need colour to communicate a visual message. &nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Five: Flat Lay</h4>



This theme is great for restaurants who enjoy showcasing their dishes. Here, you don’t have to use colours or patterns to create a theme. Instead, you can use a consistent “flat” style of photography. &nbsp;



You can easily create this “flat” look by photographing products from above.



An example of the flat lay theme can be viewed here: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/aldiuk/">https://www.instagram.com/aldiuk/</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Six: Horizontal Lines</h4>



Another way to catch a person’s attention is to create a pattern using horizontal lines that stretch across an Instagram feed.



An example of a horizontal-type theme can be viewed at the following Instagram account: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/personaljournalapp">https://www.instagram.com/personaljournalapp</a>



This theme (like the grid tile effect), requires you to post in bundles of three again. This means it will take a bit of prior planning.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Seven: Vertical Lines</h4>



This theme is applied similarly to the horizontal theme, just, well, vertically! Many prefer this look to the horizontal layout, however, because it draws the eye downwards &#8211; which naturally encourages scrolling!



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Theme Eight: Checkerboard</h4>



A checkerboard theme is created by alternating different types of content. This effect works well if you post a lot of text posts.&nbsp;



View an example of this type of theme at: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thefemalehustlers">https://www.instagram.com/thefemalehustlers</a>



<a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/rock-your-restaurant-with-wifi-and-instagram/">Creating an Instagram account that engages</a> audiences and supports your brand through an Instagram theme, is one way to ensure that your social media marketing strategy is ultimately refined for the best results. 



If you want to know more about how you can nurture your social media efforts and draw in followers, why not chat to us here at Stampede about <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-marketing-with-wifi-benefits-your-business/">WiFi marketing</a> and how it can enhance your marketing efforts? 



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How to Create an Engaging Instagram Theme

We’re working hard towards January&#8217;s Beta release of Connect 3.0. What does this mean to you? It means you can register to be one of the first testers!

So what&#8217;s coming up in Version 3.0? Man &#8211; you are just full of questions today, aren&#8217;t you? No worries. Happy to let you know what&#8217;s coming up.  Just take a look at some of the goodies we&#8217;ve packed into version 3.0:
<h3>Version 3.0 Changelog</h3>
<ul>
<li>Connect Account Login via Google</li>
<li>Simplified interface</li>
<li>Zapier Integration &#8211; New zap &#8216;Unvalidated Registration&#8217;</li>
<li>UniFi Integration &#8211; Enter details once, stay in sync forever
<ul>
<li>Email validation timeouts now work on UniFi</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Meraki Integration &#8211; Simple integration with the Cisco Meraki platform</li>
<li>PayPal Integration &#8211; Enter details once, rather than site by site basis</li>
<li>Notification Center &#8211; e.g. email alerts for invoices, insight reports and much more!</li>
<li>Advanced device management of user payments/devices</li>
<li>Marketing
<ul>
<li>Setup wizard</li>
<li>Templates</li>
<li>New &#8220;Not seen in Audience&#8221; segment</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Beyond</h3>
After Beta moves to Golden Master Release; there will be more big changes coming up, including the refactoring of the way we offer content filtering and major under-the-hood changes which should make some of the other features you’ve been requesting at our <a class="" href="https://feature-vote.stampede.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Feature Vote</a> easier to implement (dual daily schedules for example).
<h3>Want to Try the Next Generation?</h3>
You can register to become part of our Beta testing programe and try out new Connect 3.0, with all its new features, by simply sending us a request through the button below:
{{cta(&#8217;16b1f36f-18b6-4053-8d18-8acaf0bece0f&#8217;,&#8217;justifycenter&#8217;)}}
NOTE: Connect 3.0 has undergone our normal stringent internal testing. However, as it is in Beta, some bugs may still be present. If you come across any, please report them <a class="" href="mailto:beta@stampede.ai?subject=Beta%20Bug" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
Releasing an update of this magnitude as a Beta is a first for us&#8230; and we&#8217;ll keep doing this going forward as we can get feedback from you  and implement incremental changes quicker.
Connect 3.0 will be in Beta for approximately one month in order to ensure all bugs have been ironed out. It will then be rolled out to all customers.

ANNOUNCING Connect 3.0 Beta

You&#8217;ve just returned to your property after letting it over a long holiday weekend. Checking around, it looks like everything is in the right place &#8211; garbage emptied, no spills on the cushions and your guests have even thoughtfully stripped the bed. The only problem is that they didn&#8217;t exactly take everything with them. They left something behind. Something that you&#8217;ll never be able to spot. Because it&#8217;s all digital. What your guests left behind is a trojan sitting on your Guest WiFi network in your Airbnb, silently gathering all the personal information that you&#8217;re sending out through the internet.







And it might take you months to find out. Sounds scary? <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/05/airbnb-wifi-security-threat-risk-travel" target="_blank">It&#8217;s totally possible</a>.



But don&#8217;t let that put you off from offering Guest WiFi to your Airbnb guests. Travellers love WiFi. So much so, in fact, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tripping.com/industry/trends/most-important-vacation-rental-amenities-tripping" target="_blank">that guest WiFi is the number one amenity</a> that guests look for now when travelling.&nbsp;So you&#8217;re left with the question &#8211; how to offer <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/take-the-risk-out-of-guest-wifi/">safe and secure WiFi</a> to your Airbnb guests while keeping your home networks safe?



We&#8217;re more than happy to give you the answer &#8211; enter Stampede.



With Stampede, not only can you offer your guests WiFi, you can use collected customer data to run automated marketing campaigns enticing your Airbnb guests to come back. And safety? Because Stampede uses email addresses to authenticate users, you&#8217;ll have an instant, easy to access record of everyone who&#8217;s ever used your WiFi. All GDPR compliant. 



So how to get started? Couldn&#8217;t be easier. There&#8217;s a couple of options here. It depends on whether you have your own WiFi hardware (which may be the case for larger Airbnbs with multiple rooms) or not (most common for smaller Airbnbs).



Let&#8217;s take a look at how these two break down.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Own Hardware</h4>



If you&#8217;re running a larger Airbnb with multiple access points, you might already have the required hardware and don&#8217;t need anything else to get started. Currently, Stampede&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stampede.ai/how-it-works#integration" target="_blank">integrates with hardware</a> from leading WiFi manufacturers like UniFi, Open Mesh, IgniteNet, Cisco, MikroTik and more! 



In order to get going with awesome WiFi, simply sign up for a free trial,&nbsp;log in to your dashboard, adjust a few settings and you&#8217;re good to go!



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">No Hardware</h4>



This is typically the case for smaller Airbnb&nbsp;owners. Most likely you have an apartment or house with a cable modem/WiFi router. You&#8217;ve got the password tacked up on the wall or, even worse, you&#8217;re still using the default password that came with the router. That&#8217;s bad &#8211; but we won&#8217;t be too angry. At least you&#8217;re taking a step in the right direction.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Setting Up Your Home Network</h4>



First of all, change the default password on your router. This is typically done through a web-based interface for your router, the web address of which came with your setup information or &#8211; in all likelihood &#8211; on a sticker on the bottom of the router. We&#8217;ll call this your Home Network.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Setting Up Your Guest Network</h4>



Here&#8217;s where the magic comes in. What you&#8217;ll need for this setup is a Guest WiFi router. This will set up a second WiFi network, entirely separate from your Home Network for use by your guests. And where can you get one of these routers? Glad you asked because we&#8217;ll be more than happy to provide you one. We&#8217;ve got routers in all shapes and sizes. Head over to our <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://signup.stampede.ai" target="_blank">contact page</a>, sign up for a free trial and one of our helpful tech support representatives will be in touch to ensure you get the exact right router for your Airbnb location.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Configuring Your Guest WiFi&nbsp;</h4>



Once you&#8217;ve got your WiFi router from us, the setup couldn&#8217;t be easier. Don&#8217;t believe us? Just take a look at this video.



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<figure><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VhXYSfzX_8s" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure>



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And that&#8217;s it! You&#8217;re good to go!



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Customising Your Guest WiFi&nbsp;</h4>



Whether you have your own hardware or a handy piece of equipment (and that spiffy sticker) you received from us, set up for both options is the same. Now it&#8217;s time to get creative! 



Login to your Stampede portal and, under the marketing section, you can upload your guest house logo (you&#8217;ve got one of those, right?), a picture of your location, or whatever comes to mind. This will be the screen that your guests see when logging in, so make it memorable and unique to your venue.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Gathering Data</h4>



Now comes the really cool part. You can have your Airbnb guests confirm their account in a couple of different ways.



Either by verifying with an email address or with a Facebook check-in. Both have their advantages. 



With a Facebook check-in, guests can gain access to the WiFi quickly, and you can then redirect them to your Facebook page where they can easily review and rate your venue and be seen by their friends. An easy word of mouth marketing victory! 



But if you want to get to know your customers a little better, you can ask questions like their name, age, gender, postcode as they register. Even better &#8211; we&#8217;re aware that in some countries you will need to get your guests&#8217; passport details, so in cases like this, you can just add a &#8220;Passport Number&#8221; field to your capture page. How&#8217;s that for efficiency?&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Automated Marketing Campaigns&nbsp;</h4>



Did we say that gathering data was the cool part? Ok yeah, it&#8217;s kinda cool but it&#8217;s not the REALLY cool part. 



No, what&#8217;s really neat is all the ways in which you can use this shiny <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-marketing-power-of-wifi-analytics-for-your-business/">new customer data</a>. Like how? Well, how about importing your guest email addresses into your newsletter email list? Or, even better, sending <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-marketing-with-wifi-benefits-your-business/">automated marketing messages</a>. 



Let&#8217;s say one of your previous Airbnb guests has a birthday coming up &#8211; send them an automated email or SMS message saying &#8220;Happy Birthday&#8221; and offer them a discount on their next stay. Did a guest drop out at the last minute and you&#8217;ve got an opening? Send an email or SMS blast to some of your best guests letting them know your place is available.



Did someone say video? Because we&#8217;ve got another video which gives you a quick walkthrough of how to get going with Marketing in Stampede.&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<figure><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uX-Vy3m0dcg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Don&#8217;t Forget the Reviews&nbsp;</h4>



We all know that customer reviews on Airbnb are important and are one of the first things that guests are going to see when considering your property. Good <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-respond-to-positive-and-negative-customer-reviews-online/">reviews</a> can also push your site up in the Airbnb rankings. And bad reviews? Let&#8217;s put it this way &#8211; there&#8217;s an entire site called Airbnb hell <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.airbnbhell.com/airbnb-guest-stories/" target="_blank">filled with Airbnb horror stories</a>. 



So, while the experience is still fresh in your guests&#8217; mind, use the automated marketing feature in Stampede to send an email or SMS reminder to review your Airbnb. Even easier &#8211; <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stampede.ai/blog/133-character-limit-the-shorter-the-better" target="_blank">include a link so they can leave a review right from their mobile</a>.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Awesome Airbnb Guest WiFi&nbsp;</h4>



See &#8211; that wasn&#8217;t all that hard now, was it? You can now rest easy knowing that you&#8217;re offering fast, safe and secure Guest WiFi to all your Airbnb guests. Even better, you&#8217;ll be able to automatically target them with promotions or specials enticing them back to your location.



Don&#8217;t keep your guests waiting!&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#schedule-demohttps://calendly.com/stampedeae/stampede-demo-request?month=2020-02">Click here to get started.</a></h2>

Setting Up Your Airbnb for Guest WiFi today

This week the results of BusinessCloud&#8217;s 100 SmartTech Innovators were announced for 2020. The final rankings were decided by a combination of an independent judging panel of industry experts and more than 1,500 votes from <a href="https://www.businesscloud.co.uk/100-smarttech-innovators">BusinessCloud</a> Media readers. 



<a href="https://stampede.ai/">Stampede</a> came 49th in the overall rankings and was one of only 3 Scottish companies to appear in the top 50 of the full list. We&#8217;re really excited by this brilliant recognition by the technology publication and want to congratulate all the other companies who made this list.



The 100 SmartTech Innovators list features a diverse range of businesses covering retail, transport, environmental, agriculture and more. To rank in the top 50 for the whole U.K. and as 1 of only 8 Scottish businesses is a great achievement for us that all our team can be proud of.



As reported in Scottish Business News the other 7 Scottish companies to make the 2020 100 SmartTech Innovators list are Synaptec (Glasgow), Ecometrica (Edinburgh), arbnco (Glasgow), GSS (Cumbernauld), Beringar (Edinburgh), DeepMiner (Aberdeen), and PureLiFi (Edinburgh). Mobica took the number one spot this year overall.



Many thanks to everyone that voted for us, it&#8217;s great to see growing awareness and understanding of technology like ours in the wider scope of the industry.

Stampede ranked in top 50 SmartTech Innovators 2020

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=&#8221;color&#8221; padding_top_multiplier=&#8221;2x&#8221; padding_bottom_multiplier=&#8221;2x&#8221; columns_gap=&#8221;15&#8243; equal_column_height=&#8221;middle-content&#8221; desktop_visibility=&#8221;hide&#8221; tablet_visibility=&#8221;hide&#8221; bg_color=&#8221;#edf2f7&#8243;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1661434797657{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-left-color: #1f2888 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #1f2888 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #1f2888 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #1f2888 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/2&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;1-2&#8243;][fildisi_single_image image_type=&#8221;image-link&#8221; image_mode=&#8221;square&#8221; image=&#8221;22087&#8243; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fcalendly.com%2Fstampede-web%2Fnew-customer&#8221;][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/2&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;1-2&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1661436193144{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}&#8221;]
<h2><a style="color: #ff3a9b;" href="https://h.stampede.ai/meetings/stampede/demo">Book a Demo</a></h2>
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1661436113271{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}&#8221;]
Book a screen-share demo at a time to suit you with one of our specialists to learn more about Stampede and see how it works in real-time.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=&#8221;color&#8221; bg_color=&#8221;#edf2f7&#8243;][vc_column text_align=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_column_text]For anything else please <a href="https://stampede.ai/contact/">contact us:</a>
contact@stampede.ai 
(+44) 0131 510 7008[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][fildisi_flexible_carousel items_per_page=&#8221;1&#8243; items_tablet_landscape=&#8221;1&#8243; items_tablet_portrait=&#8221;1&#8243;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/4&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;22146&#8243; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221;][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;3/4&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848770854{padding-bottom: 35px !important;}&#8221;]Stampede has helped us increase our returning guests and also our revenue. We’ve seen an increase of over 50% with guests coming back in.
Ieuan Davis &#8211; Marketing Manager, The Coal Exchange Hotel[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848869886{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ 8,500 
Contactable Customers[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848876929{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ £2,500 
Return On Investment[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/4&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;22072&#8243; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221;][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;3/4&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848764231{padding-bottom: 35px !important;}&#8221;]Stampede became a part of our recipe for success. It has been an integral part of our marketing to retain customers.
Graham Atkinson &#8211; Director, Butta Burger[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848853847{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ 8,000 
Contactable Customers[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848862097{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ £26,000 
Return on Investment[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/4&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;22202&#8243;][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;3/4&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848778895{padding-bottom: 35px !important;}&#8221;]The platform is really easy to navigate around, helping us to work intuitively without having to constantly ask for help. It took us no time at all to find our feet!
Emma Luke-Ward &#8211; Digital Marketing Manager, Lane 7[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848784644{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ 100,000 
Contactable Customers[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1/3&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;10px&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1663848791101{border-top-width: 3px !important;border-right-width: 3px !important;border-bottom-width: 3px !important;border-left-width: 3px !important;padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #edf2f7 !important;border-left-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #ff3a9b !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 25px !important;}&#8221;]+ £91,000 
Return on Investment[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/fildisi_flexible_carousel][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Get Started

The news keeps coming about recruitment troubles for hospitality and tourism businesses. How about tapping into your customer list and asking them to send it on to their family and friends? This works because your customer database is full of brand advocates which can support your recruitment efforts! If they’ve enjoyed their experience with you, it&#8217;s highly likely they would mention job openings to their family and friends.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



You might even find your next employee within your loyal customers. They know your business, they’re highly engaged and attached to your company, so it is worth reaching out (plus it’s probably cheaper than recruitment websites…).



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-include-in-your-email">What to include in your email</h4>



The goal here is to get people excited about working at your business or to make it attractive to the point where they want to send it to family and friends.&nbsp;



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-subject-line">Subject line</h5>



Subject lines are arguably one of the most important parts of any email. Get straight to the point, make them personal and create some sense of urgency to increase open rates.



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>“We need you now &#8211; help us find our new team mate”</li><li>“Support your favourite [company] in finding their next team members”&nbsp;</li><li>“Spread the word &#8211; help us find new staff members”</li><li>“Want to join our team? Help us find a new [job title]”</li><li>“Love what we do? Here’s a chance to join our team now!”</li><li>“Do you know someone who could be our next [job title]?”</li></ul>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-intro-text">Intro text</h5>



Your goal is to have your email shared and forwarded as much as possible. So, ask for interaction early on in your email.&nbsp;



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-main-text">Main text</h5>



Keep it short and simple. Include a brief list of your open positions and a bit about what it’s like working with your business to get potential candidates excited. Think about the culture and perks as key points. You might as well include a team photo to give it a personal touch.



Finish with information on how potentially interested candidates can best get in touch with you. You can use a “Join our team” CTA here or links to the individual roles you’re recruiting for on recruitment websites.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-make-subscribers-forward-your-email">How to make subscribers forward your email</h4>



You’ve got your email all set up, but how do you get your customers to share your job openings with others? Make the sharing process as easy and straightforward as possible.&nbsp;



Here’s some best practice tips:



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-call-to-action-cta">Call-to-action (CTA)</h5>



Include a highly visible CTA at the end of your email. E.g. “Share with a Friend”.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-link">Link</h5>



Use a “mailto” hyperlink for your CTAs to make it as easy as possible for your customers to forward your email. By clicking on the button, your customers’ email system will open a new email draft automatically. They can then insert the recipient(s). 



<a href="https://mailtolink.me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Use this free tool to build your mailto link</a>.



You can also insert a predefined subject line and/or body text if you want.



If you’d like any assistance setting up an email recruitment campaign from your customer database, <a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">get in touch</a> with one of our team.

Can Your Customer Database Help With Recruitment?

Stampede-Meta Audience Connect: Simplifying multi-channel marketing strategies

A new kind of marketplace for hospitality apps

October Update – 3x Faster Guest WiFi and more

New Features & Updates – September 2023

Feature Update – Improved campaigns, reporting and imports

Very soon, hospitality venues will be encouraged to have another QR code in their venues.



Much like New Zealand, the U.K. Government have created a QR code check-in system, as part of the new NHS contact tracing app, for hospitality businesses to display in venues.&nbsp;



Many Track and Trace systems are QR code-based, but the NHS QR codes are separate. With many places also using QR codes for order-and-pay apps or digital menus, we’re heading for customer QR overload.



But there’s a way to cut back on QR codes. <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/hospitality-reopening/#no-paper" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Customer WiFi.</a>



Here are some of the advantages of using WiFi as part of your track and trace system.



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The process is easier for customers. No downloading QR scanner apps, no queuing to scan the code on the door. Just connect to the WiFi in a way that’s familiar to most of the population.</li><li>It’s still GDPR compliant. We’ve put a lot of effort into our <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/hospitality-reopening/#no-paper" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">guest WiFi system</a> so that venue owners don’t have to fret about data compliance, and customers know that their data is handled correctly</li><li>Each visit is time-stamped,&nbsp;the system automatically records when people are in the venue – and when they leave.</li><li>Customers don’t need to scan again and again. The WiFi system remembers them when they come back, so they don’t have to scan the code to check-in again.</li><li>Free internet makes people happy and it will take the friction out of other digital services and apps that depend on internet connectivity.</li></ul>



The way customers use WiFi when out dining and drinking hasn’t changed. Using it for Track and Trace is one less weight on the customer experience.



To find out more about the advantages of using <a href="https://stampede.ai/how-it-works/hospitality-reopening/#no-paper" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WiFi for Track and Trace</a>, <a href="https://stampede.ai/company/#contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">get in touch</a> with one of our team.

Making Track and Trace Easier

SaaS Agreement

[vc_row][vc_column][fildisi_slogan title=&#8221;Seamless installation&#8221; heading_tag=&#8221;h3&#8243; heading=&#8221;h3&#8243; subtitle=&#8221;Hardware Integrations&#8221; button_text=&#8221;&#8221; button2_text=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;bx-caption&#8221;]We integrate with hardware from these renowned suppliers &#8211; if you are currently using other hardware, or need some to get started, we can arrange everything for you.[/fildisi_slogan][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_wrapper_class=&#8221;vendor-holder&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1/6&#8243;][fildisi_single_image image_type=&#8221;image-link&#8221; image=&#8221;12370&#8243; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fstampede.ai%2Fsupported-hardware%2Faerohive%2F|title:Aerohive||&#8221;][fildisi_button align=&#8221;center&#8221; button_text=&#8221;Learn More&#8221; button_shape=&#8221;extra-round&#8221; button_link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fstampede.ai%2Fsupported-hardware%2Faerohive%2F|title:Aerohive||&#8221;][/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1/6&#8243;][fildisi_single_image image_type=&#8221;image-link&#8221; 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Competitions are everywhere on social media. You’ve likely entered a few yourself, especially with such fantastic prizes to be won. As a business, they are a really effective marketing tool. Which is why even though you are giving something away &#8211; you’re set to gain a lot more back. But how do you set up a successful competition on your social media channels in your venue?







With any social media post (especially competitions!) the aim is to get as many people as possible to engage with your content. The reason for this is because the more your followers are reacting and sharing your content, the more likely they are to buy your product or service. As a restaurant with tables to fill all week long, that could make the difference between empty tables or even a waitlist.&nbsp;



Further reading: <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-effectively-design-social-media-posts/">https://stampede.ai/blog/how-to-effectively-design-social-media-posts/</a>



If you are thinking about setting up and running a competition across your social media channels. Here are our top tips to make it a success.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Why it pays to do giveaways&nbsp;</h4>



On the face of it, giving something away for free might appear like a simple way to reward your followers with no real business sense behind it. But that couldn’t be further than the truth. Competitions on social media are big business, <a href="https://outgrow.co/blog/stats-giveaways-contests">scoring an average of 3x the amount of engagement</a> compared with regular posts. What that means is triple the number of people will be viewing your content. 



Given competitions normally <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/the-importance-of-digital-word-of-mouth/">require users to comment, like, share or tag a friend</a>. Every time someone does so, this greatly increases the engagement on your page. Therefore, it doesn’t take many people to enter and follow those steps before the number of new followers and engagements your page receives, far outvalue the prize itself. 



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Mastering the basics</h4>



First of all, you’re going to need to think of a good prize! The focus here shouldn’t be on the value of the prize alone. Rather, make sure that the prize is tied in with your core audience to attract the highest number of entrants. As a restaurant, giving away a free meal for two is always going to be a winner. However, there’s plenty of room for something more creative too. 



You can set up the competition on your social media channels through a number of different methods. It can either involve a singular platform or can be run across all platforms. You can either create it as a generic post or <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-does-facebook-boost-posts-work/">create a boosted post to reach a wider audience</a>. Boosted posts are especially great for newly opened restaurants. As they can supersize your follower count in no time, and really get your name out there in the wider community. 



Before you post the competition, you should type out your message in advance and make sure it really builds a sense of excitement. After all, you want people to enter and share your content! Don’t be afraid to break a lengthy text up with emojis. Also, be sure to include any terms &amp; conditions (T&#8217;s&amp;C&#8217;s) in with your post. It’s also a good idea to use pictures or a video along with your post. These will get even more engagement from people scrolling through their feeds. Clearly show them what they can win, and make it worth their while. 



Also, check out our 5 useful free marketing tools that can help you design your competition post. Further reading: <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/5-useful-free-marketing-tools-that-anyone-can-use/">https://stampede.ai/blog/5-useful-free-marketing-tools-that-anyone-can-use/</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Hitting the right audience</h4>



Along with tailoring your message and prize to the right audience. There are some other key strategies you can employ to make sure your competition reaches its maximum potential. The first one is the time at which you post. Food-related posts typically work best when posted at mealtimes, so you might want to schedule your message to go out just before lunchtime or dinner time in the evening.



Many social media platforms will have analytics sections, that will show when your users are most active online. It makes sense to post during peak hours if you want to achieve maximum impact. For example, posting about your curry house isn’t likely to do well at 9 am on a Monday morning. However, would do much better at 6 pm on a Thursday, when people are more likely to be receptive to such content.



Remember that each platform will have a slightly different way of doing things. For example, Instagram is a great place for <a href="https://stampede.ai/blog/how-hospitality-businesses-can-use-instagram-stories-more-effectively/">visual storytelling</a>, whereas Twitter is more about the short and sweet message. Facebook is the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media">biggest platform with over 2.3 billion users</a>, meaning it’s likely to give you the biggest ROI overall. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s important to tailor your delivery to suit the platform you choose.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h4>



Setting up social media competitions that go out across your social media feeds are an excellent way to connect with your followers. Ultimately, building an online community. The stronger your social media presence is, the more people your regular content will reach. As a hospitality business, having as many people as possible in touch with your products or services is a real recipe for success.



Every social media competition should state the requirements (such as like, follow, etc.) so that with every entry, you are returning value to your business. You can even do an announcement post or video that further encourages engagement, giving social media competitions endless potential to boost your overall stats.&nbsp;



Competitions on social media can help you grow more than just your post reach and audience. With our free <a href="https://signup.stampede.ai/?source=marketing">Mailing List form tool</a>, you can turn those social media followers into a powerful mailing list for email and SMS marketing. This gives you measurable results and massively increased engagement and uptake in your offers and services. 



Take the guessing game out of your digital advertising and deliver targeted campaigns that actually work for your business. Why not give it a try in your venue?



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