Digital Marketing Research

Assignment
_______________________

Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Marketing

141001- PG1-DUB-Term 1
Laura O’ Brien

Word Count: 5,498

(Excluding Table of Contents, References & Appendices)
 Plagiarism Declaration

I declare that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, this assignment is my own work,
all sources have been properly acknowledged, and the assignment contains no plagiarism.
I further declare that I have not previously submitted this work, or any version of it, for
assessment in any other course or award offered by the Digital Marketing Institute, or
any other institution, without first ensuring that an explicit provision has been made and
that I have obtained written permission from my Course Director for doing so.

Student Name: Laura O’ Brien

Submission Date: 22nd January 2015
Assignment Title: Digital Marketing Research- Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant

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Table of Contents Page

1. Executive Summary 3
2. Research Methodology 4
3. Target Audiences 6
4. The Evolution and Impact of Digital Technologies relevant to the Target Audiences 8
4.1 Social Media 8
Facts & Stats 8
Two-way Conversation 8
More Sophisticated Features 8
Click Bait & Changes to Newsfeed 9
Content Quality 9
Facebook Insights 10
4.2 Email Marketing 11
Facts & Stats 11
Targeting & Tracking 11
Boosting Engagement 12
The Power is in the Hands of the Consumer 12
4.3 Online Review Sites 14
Facts & Stats 14
Claiming your Businesses 14
Increasing Trust & Influencing Buying Decisions 15
Customer Service & Negative Reviews 15
4.4 Conclusion 16
5. Digital Technologies and their Impact on the Restaurant Industry Locally and Globally 17
5.1 SWOT Analysis 18
5.2 The ‘Digital Disconnect’ 18
5.3 Providing Actionable Insights 18
5.4 Case Study: The Brazen Head 19
6. Future Trends that will Impact the Restaurant Industry 20
6.1 Apps 20
6.2 Location-Based Technology 21
6.3 ‘The Internet of Things’ 21
7. Bibliography 22
8. Summary of Organisation & Appendices 28

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Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to support the integration and development of a digital

marketing strategy for Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant, an Authentic Dublin-based venue

founded in 1997. Nancy Hands has made an almost non-existent digital footprint to date, and

this report aims to illustrate how digital for business has now become a pre-requisite rather

than an added ‘extra’ in order to survive in such a competitive industry. Current customers

are identified, which include a mix of local professionals, domestic tourists, overseas holiday-

makers, and more. Four main personas from these groups were then developed to target based

on their online accessibility, and potential for market segment growth.

The report then documents the enormous level of growth that digital technology- in

particular Social Media, Email Marketing and Online Review platforms- has seen in recent

years, and directly assesses the impact this growth has had, and will continue to have, on

Nancy Hands, and it’s target audiences- both now, and in the future. The effects are positive,

illustrating how these technologies, when implemented correctly, can boost a restaurants ROI

in numerous ways- including boosting customer engagement, retaining existing customers

and facilitating the reach of new audiences.

The effects that these technologies have on the restaurant industry as a whole are

identified via a SWOT analysis , with the report detailing the problem of ‘Digital Disconnect’

for many restaurateurs around the world, along with illustrating the positive result of

providing them with actionable insights as a result of web analytics. Future trends such as

Mobile Apps, Location-Based technology and “The Internet of Things’ are then discussed in

the final section to conclude the report.

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Research Methodology

The overall objective of this report is to provide evidence to support the

implementation of a digital marketing strategy for Nancy Hands. Instrumental to achieving
this objective was the collection and analysis of valuable and insightful data in relation to the
organisation itself, along with studying published research and information in the area of
digital, in particular for the restaurant and tourism industry. In order to ensure that the results
of the report were justified, and as accurate as possible, both qualitative and quantitative
research methods were used.

Keeping the overall objective in mind; the following forms of primary research were
initially undertaken, along with a brief outline as to why these methods were chosen (a more
extensive list of reasons can be found in appendix 1).

Directors Meeting

An initial ‘discovery’ meeting was held at Nancy Hands with the two co-
owners/managers, along with numerous follow-up meetings which took place over the course
of several months. The main objectives of these meetings were to discover who Nancy Hands’
current customers were, and how they were actively engaging with them online.

On-site Survey

A survey was developed and distributed on-site at Nancy Hands over the course of
two days, to which it received 73 respondents. It was distributed during lunch-time hours
only, as management felt it was best not to interfere with customers having dinner in the
evening-time. The owners of Nancy Hands incentivised the survey by entering those who
completed it into a draw to win a dinner for two in their A La Carte Piano Restaurant. The
survey was designed using survey monkey, and the responses were manually inputted. The
main aim of the survey was to further define Nancy Hands’ day-time customer audiences
along with ascertaining which digital channels they were currently using (please see appendix
2).

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Meeting with Irish Tourism Business Consultant

A meeting was held with one of Ireland’s top tourism business consultants (Andrews,
2014) who is working on behalf of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, two interlinking
organisations responsible for the marketing of the island of Ireland to others, both
domestically and overseas. With over fifteen years’ experience in the tourism field, her key
roles are helping businesses understand current trends in Ireland’s marketplace and how
adjustments in their marketing strategies must be made iteratively and in conjunction with
these varying changes.

Meeting with the director of ‘Open Wifi’

Open Wifi is a relatively new company which specializes in providing public wifi
hotspots within bars, restaurants and hotels around Ireland. Their technology also delivers a
full suite of reporting and analytics tools, enabling businesses to learn more about their actual
customers. The main purpose of this investigation was to identify any key trends in
technology, of interest to restaurateurs, within the analytics industry.

Secondary research was also heavily relied upon in order to discover new information
and to further support, or contradict, the outcomes of the primary research that was conducted.

Sources include:

 Blogs, articles and online newsletters related to the digital sphere, with an emphasis
on those related to the restaurant and tourism industry
 Academic E-Journals and online databases published within the last four years
 DMI class slides and videos on digital marketing
 Online tools developed for market research, website evaluation, consumer insights,
trends in keyword search etc.
 Facebook Insights data for Nancy Hands’ Facebook business page

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Target Audiences

There is one office person responsible for meeting tour groups, event coordination,
email, general administration, and HR at Nancy Hands, however there has never been a
marketing role created; as was discovered after the initial meeting with the owners.

Email- Bookings are made with the restaurant via email or phone. There is an email contact
list which is only used at Christmas to remind people about booking their upcoming
Christmas party.

Website- Nancy Hands currently has an old fashioned, non-responsive website which was
built by a web developer two years ago. It is not built on a content management system, and
there is no analytics installed. In January, they were still advertising for Christmas as the
developer was on holidays and none of the in-house staff had access to the site.

Facebook & Twitter- Posts are made on average twice a month, by the bar manager, with no
particular objective in mind. They currently have 998 Facebook ‘likes’, and according to
Facebook Insights, only 150 of these occurred in the past two years.

The table (see appendix 3) outlines all of Nancy Hands’ current revenue streams, as
identified by the owners. It was discovered that Nancy Hands has a very mixed clientele,
comprising both Irish and overseas visitors. It offers a wide range of experiences including
food, pub life/atmosphere, private group events, tour group events, family events, music and
more. The business appears well balanced, not relying too heavily on any one segment.
Potential customer groups that Nancy Hands were not currently targeting or engaging with in
any way were also identified after the meeting with Andrews (2014) was held, these included
cruise ship clients and coach tour operators. Main audience groups identified as per table;

 The Local Professional

 The Overseas Holiday-Maker

 The Domestic Tourist

 The Elderly Resident
 The Tour Group

The top two of the above current customer groups were then chosen to target, and were then
further subdivided and profiled into particular personas. Full personas for these can be found
it appendix 4.

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 1) ‘Peter’ the Busy Local Professional (Primary Persona 1)
2) ‘Sarah’ the Heath Conscious Local Office Worker (Secondary Persona 1)
3) ‘Sam’ the North American Culture Lover (Primary Persona 2)
4) ‘Emma’ the British Social Energizer (Secondary Persona 2)

These personas were chosen based on two key reasons;

1) Easy to access online; From research gathered via the in-house survey, it was found
that out of the 92% of local professional respondents, an enormous 86% of these
engaged with 2 or more digital channels at least once day- with smartphones,
Facebook & email being the clear winners. For the overseas holiday-makers, a Fáilte
Ireland report (2013) stated that 73% of all visitors to Ireland used the internet as their
primary source of information when planning their holiday here.
2) Potential for market segment growth; Nancy Hands’ professionals come from a
spread of large local organisations and businesses, such as the HSE building, AOL,
Eircom and the Criminal Courts of Justice to name a few. However, they are still only
serving approximately 100 lunches on any given day. With the correct placement and
targeting strategy in place, this segment could see significant growth quite quickly.
For the overseas visitors, a Tourism Ireland report (2013) found that there was
730,000 North American and 1,146,000 British holiday-makers to Ireland in 2013, a
colossal increase of 5% and 9% in numbers since 2012. This trend is set continue.
Combined visitor numbers in the same year (from all countries) to Nancy Hands’
nearby fee charging attractions (Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Zoo, Kilmainhaom
Gaol & National Museum at Collins Barracks) was a staggering 2,761,134 (Fáilte
Ireland, 2013).

Those segments that showed little or no opportunity to grow such as the ‘Elderly Resident’
segment, or were quite difficult to access online were ignored for the purpose of this report.
Even though some might argue that there is huge potential of ‘Tour Group’ growth similar to
the overseas holiday-maker segment, it must be remembered that the venues for these tours
are chosen through tour agent influencers (making it a B2B offering) whose choice of venue
is mainly down to venue location, product offering and face-to-face sales (Andrews, 2014).
The ‘Domestic Tourists’ tended to visit nearby attractions, such as the Zoo, only in the
summer season although they will be considered in future targeting plans.

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The Evolution and Impact of Digital Technologies relevant to the Target
Audiences

The Evolution of Social Media (Facebook)

Facts & Stats

Social Media in its simplest definition is a “catch all term used to describe the tools
and technologies that facilitate social interaction over the internet’ (Fry, 2014). It is, in
essence, a means for people to have conversations and express their opinions freely with
others. According to Cooper (2013) the use of social media, in one form or another, has now
even overtaken porn as the no.1 activity on the web. User numbers have grown exponentially
since the launch of Facebook, YouTube & Twitter, with Kolowich (2014) reporting that
Facebook alone now has a phenomenal 1.32 billion users in the world- a colossal jump from
when it was first launched as a Harvard only exercise for campus students in 2004 (Digital
Trends 2014).

Two-Way Conversation

As has been proven by the countless new hospitality trends popping up, it is hugely
apparent that the online digital landscape is evolving and affecting hospitality marketing in a
variety of new forms. According to Torres (2011), what was always a traditional one-way
marketing model-that of informing the consumer-is ever evolving to a more of a two-way
dialogue, it is empowering consumers and as a result it is forcing marketers to convey their
message across a variety of social channels. This shift means that potential diners are now
spending hours online, engaging with their favourite restaurants on Facebook and seeing what
others have to say about them.

More Sophisticated Features

Facebooks sophistication has grown in line with its numbers, with a particular
emphasis on ‘Facebook for business’, a relatively new platform within Facebook which
allows businesses to have their own page with contact details, business description, on-page
reviews, and the brand new feature of ‘Call to Action Buttons’, a choice of seven buttons
which can link to any destination on, or off, Facebook (Beck, 2014). For restaurants in
particular, this is a huge development as it can encourage email signups on Facebook as well

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as increase phone inquiries or bookings, along with make life a lot easier for the potential
diners such as ‘Sam’, our pre-planning holiday-maker. Another creative, newly launched
feature is the ‘New Places Directory’ which would allow potential diners, for the first time,
to actually use Facebook to search for restaurants in a particular area (Sterling, 2014).

Impact on Target Audience

Click Bait & Changes to Newsfeed

With the increasing presence of businesses on Facebook however, also came the
unwanted increase in Click Bait; which according to Loomer (2014) is an example of when
“brands attempt to take advantage of an algorithm to improve performance of their content,
even if it lacks value”, Loomer further stresses that this conduct negatively impacts the user
and businesses should focus on sharing content that is helpful, entertaining or educational,
and not deceiving. Click baiting has since been banned by Facebook to facilitate better user
experience, but potential diners such as ‘Sarah’ our local professional may never trust ads on
Facebook again. Facebook have also made huge changes to how businesses can promote their
products, reducing the organic reach of business posts in an effort to reduce the amount of
promotional content users see in their timeline (Facebook, 2014). This impacts on users
positively, but has huge repercussions for smaller businesses who are now struggling to have
their posts seen.

Content Quality

Facebook is a relatively cheap and efficient way of giving brands, especially those in the
hospitality industry, a ‘personality’, allowing them to promote themselves online, create buzz
and generate interaction with customers via the ‘like’ or ‘share’ buttons which Digital Trends
(2014) say is the instrumental reason for Facebooks success. According to Ditman (2013)
guests should be encouraged to post pictures of their own experience at the restaurant, stating
that posts which include pictures generate the most interaction amongst fans. The increased
prominence of nicely scripted recipes and good quality photos on Facebook entices potential
diners, like ‘Emma’ our Social Energizer, to value a restaurant more- whereas a stale page,
with little or no updates, might deter her from engaging with it.

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Facebook Insights

The evolution of Facebook Insights has also impacted on potential diners, in that
businesses can now learn more about their current fans, and apply this information to further
refine their messaging and ad targeting using the custom audiences function (Loomer 2014).
This means users who don’t normally trust online ads, have begun to see ads that are more
personalised and relevant to who they are, what they like, and what interests them.

What about Nancy Hands?

According to the in-house survey, 66% of all local professionals used Facebook once
a day, yet 76% of these reported that they were not friends with Nancy Hands on Facebook,
and a staggering 56% said they didn’t even know Nancy Hands had a Facebook page. If
Nancy Hands were to begin uploading creative content, videos and recipes regularly, along
with hosting competitions and providing online deals, they could encourage more interaction
with their business, and create more value for their customers, therefore helping them to
overcome the ‘challenges’ or barriers which might prevent potential customers from visiting
the restaurant.

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The Evolution of Email Marketing

Facts & Stats

Email Marketing is an essential channel within the marketing mix. More and more we
are seeing a continued move from very basic email marketing tools to more sophisticated
cloud-based software that can take advantage of advances in digital marketing such as the
embedding of videos (Newsweaver, 2013). In the Us, Canada, Australia and Europe, between
40-60% of consumers are now reading email on smartphones (Exact Target, 2014), which
means in order to ensure adequate click through rates, marketers must understand which
smartphones their subscribers are using and make their emails responsive to that mobile
experience. The below illustration by Smart Insights (2014) highlights the percentage of
market share per marketing client used, clearly demonstrating a need to optimise for IOs and
Android in particular.

The average open-to-click through rates are still quite low for SME’s in the hospitality
industry across Ireland, the US and UK, which could be down to lack of expertise with
cloudbased software, non-optimisation or inefficient targeting (Chaffey, 2014).

Targeting & Tracking

Email marketing has evolved and developed to become more sophisticated as Irish
marketers include personalisation, segmentation and content targeting in their email
campaigns (Newsweaver, 2013). According to their report, as part of the growing trend

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towards personalisation and segmentation, over 62% of Irish marketers say that targeted
content holds the biggest opportunity for email success in the future. Cloud Based software,
such as Mailchimp, offers marketers the ability to create lists, groups and segments of
consumers and send email campaigns with tailored messages to each group. According to
Faggela (2014), it is essential to think of each email address in your list as a “geological
aggregate”, that is, a mix of elements that you can separate into sub-segments. The single
biggest benefit of software such as this, however, is the ability to track opens, clicks through
or bounces, with 31% of Irish Marketers saying they view open rates as the single most
important metric versus 33% choosing Click-through (Newsweaver, 2013).

Impact on Target Audience

Boosting Engagement

Email Marketing affects users, in particular those receiving emails from restaurants,
in that it significantly boosts their engagement with the restaurant. Patel (2014) states that it
can help bring return visitors to a website, help the business remain central in people’s minds,
increases onsite engagement, improves number of linkbacks to sites and drives up social
engagement. Email campaigns evoke interest in the receiver via the sending of appropriate
relevant content and, essentially, using an interesting and effective subject line which tempts
the receiver to open. According to Jerry Jao (as cited in Retention Science, 2014) “Subject
lines are arguably the most critical component of any email marketing campaign as they’re
the first thing people see in their inbox and what they consider when making the decision to
open or trash a mail”. The use of social icons within a mail also encourage receivers to visit
or interact with a restaurant’s social media by enticing them to like, or share, the content
within it.

The Power is in the Hands of the Consumer

One of the huge impacts that email marketing has on the receiver is that it gives them
choice. Consumers prefer receiving email promotions because they are in control and they
trust businesses to respect their preferences (Exact Target, 2013). Consumers are given the
option to sign up for emails, and can unsubscribe whenever they please. They can subscribe
via an array of mediums such as slide-ups boxes, HelloBar, Slidebars, Twitter Lead
Generation cards, Postscripts, Facebook Page Email signup App, Slideshare and many more

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(Lee, 2014). Spam has also been an issue for users however this is declining as internet service
providers put smarter algorithms in place. Continual or irrelevant emails from businesses that
users have opted into are also considered spam and will lead to users ‘opting out’.
StumbleUpon had the highest unsubscribe rate in 2014 at 51% (Ratcliff, 2014).

What about Nancy Hands?

Nancy Hands currently have no email marketing strategy in place, rarely sending out
group mails of any description except around the Christmas period, even though 87% of all
respondents to the survey reported using email on a daily basis. Nancy Hands could benefit
hugely from the use of a free email marketing provider, such as Mailchimp. They could
segment based on gender, location, age, hobbies, tour operators, local businesses etc. and they
could tailor offers accordingly.

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The Evolution of Online Review Sites

Facts & Stats

Word-of mouth marketing- earned media- is the oldest form of advertising, it is

considered one of the simplest forms, and often one of the most effective. Before there were
billboards, radio commercials or newspaper ads, people shared their opinions of products and
services through conversation with their friends and family (Hollowell, 2014). Today, with
the online communities that form on social networking and review sites, word-of-mouth
marketing has become even more important. Online review sites such as Trip Advisor, Yelp
and MenuPages are particularly influential in the restaurant industry. More consumers (61%)
have read online reviews about restaurants than any of the 18 other business categories listed
in the BrightLocal’s Consumer Review Survey 2013 (National Restaurant Association,
2013).

Claiming your Business

With consumers, especially diners, increasingly taking to online review sites to help
make their decision on a potential restaurant, it is essential that the restaurant owners take
responsibility for their presence online. Google Reviews, Yahoo! And Local Listings are
amongst the few places where consumers are leaving reviews that the restaurant may not even
be aware of (Eridon, 2012). Restaurants must now claim their business online and develop a
detail loaded presence with plenty of good quality images and, most importantly, respond to
both positive and negative reviews carefully (Andruss, 2014). Yelp have recently even
launched a new app for business owners with push notifications, showing a real emphasis on
the growing trend of businesses claiming their presence online (Sterling, 2014). Reputation
management is key to any restaurant that is open to online reviews, and according to Fáilte
Ireland (2014) the following steps are crucial when responding to a negative review;

• Thank them for the review

• Highlight any positive comments they made

• Address the specific complaint

• Explain the remedial action you will take

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• Let them know you’re shocked, explain what happened

• Provide an offline channel to continue the conversation

Impact on Target Audience

Increasing Trust & Influencing Buying Decisions

The evolution of online reviewing for restaurants has inevitably led to a huge growth
the level of trust consumers now place in these sites when making their booking decision.
According to a local consumer report survey by BrightLocal on consumers from the USA (as
cited in Anderson, 2014), an enormous 88% of consumers have read reviews online to
determine the quality of a business- with 72% of these stating that positive reviews make
them trust a local business more. For the consumer, online reviews are now playing a huge
role in the perceptions they have of a particular business- the better the reviews, the better
their perception. Along with increasing trust for a restaurant, online reviews also offer
consumers more choice and easy access to comparisons online (National Restaurant
Association, 2013). In the US, Yelp is by far the most used review site- boasting over 42
million reviews of local businesses (Tuttle, 2013). This is an interesting fact that Irish
restaurants, who predominantly use Trip Advisor, should bear in mind when looking to
market themselves to a US audience.

Customer Service & Negative Reviews

Another major impact on consumers, resulting from the increased use of review sites,
is the role it plays in customer service. Restaurants are now terrified of receiving bad reviews
and are putting all their efforts into ensuring the diner has the best experience possible. In a
report by Dimensional Research (as cited in Gesenhues, 2013), 58% of US consumers which
had recently had a bad customer experience said they were more likely to share their bad
experience with others online now, than they were five years ago. Bad reviews have also led
to the ‘falsification’ of good reviews by the businesses themselves which may be misleading
for the consumer (Doward, 2012).

What about Nancy Hands?

Nancy Hands has a Trip Advisor, Yelp and MenuPages profile that are all in critical
need of updating. Although Nancy Hands currently has a star rating of 4.5 (out of 5) on Trip
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Advisor, there have been several small bad reviews over the past couple of months that were
never dealt with. A combined 67% of survey respondents reported using either Yelp, Trip
Advisor or MenuPages predominantly when researching restaurants online, so the lack of
response to reviews may be perceived as a lack of caring by customer.

Conclusion

Although only three main contributing technologies have been discussed above, it
must not be forgotten that many others also play huge roles in transforming how restaurants
interact with their customers today. One such technology, which has significant benefits for
restaurant owners in particular, is the emergence of the Content Management System
(Ditman, 2013). For restaurant owners, this means they can now update their website as they
please without having any special knowledge in HTML or ‘web language’. This has huge
implications for restaurateurs all over the world, as sites can now be regularly updated with
specials, events, and news, creating a ‘buzz’ and helping their websites appear higher
organically in search results. Consumers, as a result, are seeing information that is fresh, and
relevant to their needs.

In final conclusion for this section, it must be noted that the recurring theme
throughout all of the aforementioned technologies is the importance of content. It doesn’t
matter what channel you are marketing through- email, social, web- every business-customer
interaction is an opportunity to customize the message to the individual, because technology
nowadays allows you to do so.

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Digital Technologies and their Impact on the Restaurant Industry Locally
and Globally

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
* Web Analytics provides actionable *The ‘Digital Disconnect’ is putting
insights for restaurateurs
restaurant owners under increased
* Social Media facilitates better
pressure to understand & keep up
customer service both in-house & online *Advances in email & website systems
* Social Media facilitates online mean new roles have to be created for
engagement with customers existing personnel, or new staff must be
*Cloud Based Software for email allows hired
for customer segmentation & tailored *Negative Online Reviews may lead to the
offers & promotions ‘falsification’ of good reviews for many
*Websites built on CMS systems allow restaurants, leading to misconceptions
site owners to quickly access & add within the industry
changes to the site in real-time *Restaurants with little budget for paid
*Good reviews online can lead to more advertising online are losing out to the
bookings & better consumer bigger brands
perceptions of a restaurant *The implementation & training of new
*Web analytics allows for more software and technologies can be very
time consuming
personalised content

OPPORTUNITIES *THREATS

* Advances in social media, email, *Increasing local competition between

websites, & AdWords, allow restaurants restaurants
to reach new markets *Lack of experience with digital

* Remarketing allows restaurateurs to technologies may lead to inefficient

retain customers more effectively segmentation or targeting, resulting in

*Increased Air access facilitates annoyed customers

increased tourism, which brings more *Privacy Issues with email and analytics,

customers, e.g. Air Canada customers may feel they are being
*Opportunity to increase bookings & invaded
revenue with a well-managed website, *Bad Reviews or Spam Emails lead to
online presence & online booking
systems bad customer perceptions of restaurants

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The ‘Digital Disconnect’

With the ever increasing development of digital technologies, inevitably comes many
issues that restaurant owners must overcome- both locally and globally. Many small business
owners-especially those of long-established firms- are daunted by their lack of familiarity and
understanding of technology. According to a New York City survey of small businesses,
nearly half of all respondents reported that this was the number one challenge they faced in
adopting technology into their business (Foggin, 2012). From research gathered via the
owners of Nancy Hands, this certainly resonates with them also. These findings are in line
with what is happening all around Ireland today. According to top Irish business consultant
(Andrews, 2014) there had been an almost 50% increase, in the past year alone, in small
businesses and restaurants turning to Fáilte Ireland for help or guidance with their digital
activities. Foggin (2012) states that it in order to facilitate the practice of ‘going digital’
locally and globally, greater education is key along with direct access to support networks.
Andrews (2014) backs this notion up stating that Fáilte Ireland are now providing half and
full day digital support free to these owners. There are also a range of digital support
webinars, pdf’s, videos and tutorials covering all aspects of marketing your business online
which are of great value to restaurant owners, including market research statistics and trends
(Fáilte Ireland, 2014). In the near future, with increased access to support and education,
Ireland’s restaurant owners, along with those all over the world, should be able to overcome
their ‘digital disconnect’ and reap the rewards that technology can bring such as increased
customer engagement, customer retention, and in turn, increased revenue.

Providing Actionable Insights

The evolution of web analytics has huge implications for the restaurant industry, in
Ireland, and around the world. Web Analytics is “the collection, measurement and analysis
of marketing campaigns and website data” (Casey, 2014), which in turn informs businesses
about who their customers are, where they’re coming from, what their interests are, and which
marketing tactics to employ to target or retain them. Many tools can be used by restauranteurs
which can now allow a restaurant owner to focus and prioritize their resources in-house and
increase accountability of their marketing campaigns. According to an industry study by Moz
(2014) on marketers tools preferences; Google Webmaster tools, Open site Explorer and Moz
were the top three tools used for SEO; Facebook Insights, Hootsuite and Klout for social; and

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Google trends, alerts and insights for content. The insights that these technologies provide
play an instrumental role in helping restaurants around the world become more efficient in
their targeting strategies, however we are now also seeing a trend in the implementation of
in-house ‘wifi analytics’ for social marketing in particular (Wheeldon, 2014).

Case Study illustrating positive effects of digital: The Brazen Head Dublin

They developed an Irish ‘storytelling’ evening based on their customer research, targeted at
Northern Americans visiting Dublin on holidays. They employ clever remarketing tricks,
such as mailing guests after the evening asking them to ‘Review them’ on Trip Advisor and
they will receive a free list of Irish stories. This has taken off, with the Brazen Head
receiving the best reviews in Dublin for their evening of ‘Food, Foclóir & Fairies’.

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Future Trends that will impact the Restaurant Industry Audience
Apps

The increasing use of apps will impact restaurants and consumers in two different ways;
Firstly, according to a Nielsen study (as cited in Possector, 2014), 44% of all
consumers are now searching for places to eat through apps, with Hieggelke (2015) stating
that apps are now accounting for 86% of all time spent using mobile devices.

For the consumer, apps are becoming the ‘go-to’ place for information on restaurants, rather
than browser search, with restaurant directories such as MenuPages, LocalEats and
OpenTable providing quick and easy access to menu and price comparisons (The Puree,
2014). For the restaurant however, this means making sure they are aware of which
directories they are appearing in, and that their details are up-to-date with good quality
images.

Secondly, there is an increasing trend towards restaurants developing their own apps.
According to Revilla (2013) the loyalty effects of an app on the user can be compared to that
of a club card, especially if it includes the possibility to obtain discounts or other incentives
through the accumulation of loyalty points. This could be significantly relevant for retaining
our value conscious local office worker ‘Sarah’, along with the significance it holds for all
other restaurants trying to retain their customers in the future. A study by Connect 2014 (as
cited in Meijers, 2014) states that 50% of all limited-service restaurants plan to invest more
resources in customer-facing technologies, like tablets and smartphone apps in the near
future.

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Location Based Technology

Another key trend which is likely to have huge impact on diners in the near future, is
the emergence of location-based technology. This can be defined in its simplest form as the
“integration of geographical location into the sales and marketing activities of local
businesses” (Timony, 2014). In essence, they are technologies that are installed within your
business in order to facilitate the transmission of information to the consumer via their
smartphone or an app. Two such technologies that are currently available are Nearing
Beacons and Near Field Communication (NFC), however NFC is restrictive in that it requires
the consumer to physically tap on it in order to receive information (Baldwin, 2013). The
apple iBeacon is the latest development and provides insurmountable opportunities for
restaurants and diners alike. The iBeacon requires no tapping whatsoever and can transmit
information from the restaurant to the diner, or potential diner, for up to 50 metres (Baldwin,
2013). This means diners could potentially receive location-specific information, such as a
highly targeted and relevant discounts on a menu or drink, based on the exact area of the
restaurant that they are standing in. Beacons could also be installed at a restaurant’s front
windows or entrance, allowing it to transmit information about special offers or promotions
to passers-by who have the app enabled (Shellaker, 2014). For the consumer, this technology
brings a huge amount of benefits in the form of offers or discounts. However Blackmore
(2014), warns that delivering too many, irrelevant or badly thought out communications may
have a damaging effect on the consumer leading them to switch off the function in apps, or
even on the smartphone itself. The director of ‘Open-wifi’, a leading wifi expert in Ireland,
also reported that beacons were going to be the next biggest thing for restaurants and bars all
across Ireland (Delaney, 2014).

‘The Internet of Things’

The internet of things or ‘web’ of things is, simply put, the concept of connecting any
device with an on and off switch to the internet (Morgan, 2014). This is likely to impact on
restaurants in the near future as we see items such as the mobile wallet and mobile menu
become commonplace amongst diners (Campbell, 2014).

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26 | P a g e
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marketing [Date Accessed: 06/01/15]

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SUMMARY OF ORGANISATION

Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant is located on Parkgate Street, Dublin 8, close to the
infamous Phoenix Park and Guinness Storehouse, just on the outskirts of Dublin’s city
centre. It is a large bar and restaurant which has been in business for the past 18 years,
and was recently purchased by its two general managers, who still maintain these roles
along with their new ownership role.

It is a beautiful, authentically Irish, venue which is known for its many ‘Old Ireland’
features such as the hundreds of Guinness advertisements which decorate its walls and its
enormous wooden staircase which came from Trinity College back in the day.

It is based over two floors, and can currently seat 130 people upstairs and 150 people
downstairs. There are four bars and two smoking areas also. It has a daily lunch menu for
nearby workers, An a La Carte Piano restaurant, barfood and early bird menus, and live
music at the weekends.

28 | P a g e
APPENDIX 1

Directors Meeting

The main objectives of these meetings was to discover;

 What were Nancy Hands’ overall business objectives?

 What products and services did Nancy Hands offer?
 Who were Nancy Hands’ current customer base?
 Which customer groups provided the greatest revenue stream for them currently?
 How were Nancy Hands currently engaging with their customers online?
 Who was responsible for the marketing in Nancy Hands?
 How did the owners feel about digital in general and what was their level of
knowledge on the various different technologies & digital marketing channels
available to them?

On-site Survey

The main aim of the survey was:

 To further define Nancy Hands’ current customer audiences

 To ascertain what digital channels those audiences are currently using
 To gauge their level of interaction online with Nancy Hands

Meeting with Irish Tourism Business Consultant

. This meeting played a key role in;

 Discovering the current trends in Ireland’s marketplace relative to the hospitality

industry. E.g. changes in visitor numbers to Dublin, where they were coming
from, and what their spending patterns were
 Identifying the importance Fáilte Ireland placed on digital marketing for the
hospitality industry in Ireland
 Establishing which initiatives were currently in place for supporting businesses
‘go digital’ and what other services Fáilte Ireland offered in the area of marketing
for hospitality

29 | P a g e
  Obtaining information on members of Fáilte Ireland’s ITOA (Irish Tour Operator
Association) including key influencers within the association

Meeting with the director of ‘Open Wifi’

The main purpose of this investigation was to identify;

 Whether wifi analytics was becoming a key component in the marketing mix for
the hospitality industry in Ireland
 Any key trends in technology within the analytics industry

30 | P a g e
APPENDIX 2

NANCY HANDS CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR & SENTIMENT

SURVEY

1. Are you male or female?

Male

Female

2. What is your age?

17 or younger

18-20

21-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60 or older

3. Which category best represents you in relation to Nancy Hands? (Please choose one)

Professional working locally

Person living locally

Irish tourist visiting nearby attractions

Overseas tourist

Other (please specify)

4. If you are a Tourist, Irish or otherwise, how did you FIRST find out about Nancy Hands? (Please choose one)

I am not a tourist

General Google search

Recommended by a friend or family member

Found it in an online directory such as Yelp, MenuPages or Trip Advisor

Recommended by my accommodation Provider

Other (please specify)

31 | P a g e
Which of the following digital technologies do you use at least once a day? (You may choose several
options)

Smartphone

Tablet Device

Email

Smart TV

Other (please specify)

6. Which of the following social channels do you currently engage with online at least once a day?
(You may choose several options)

I don't engage with any social channels

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

YouTube

LinkedIn

Google+

Food or Travel Blogs in General

Other (please specify)

7. When researching restaurants or places to eat, which of the following online review sites would
you predominantly use? (Please choose one)
I don't engage with online review sites

Trip Advisor

MenuPages

Yelp

Other (please specify)

32 | P a g e
8. Are you friends with, or a fan of, Nancy Hands' Facebook page?

Yes

No

No- I don't have a Facebook account

No- I didn't know Nancy Hands had a Facebook account

9. Have you ever visited Nancy Hands' Website? (Please choose one)
Yes

No- but I know Nancy Hands have a website

No- I didn't know Nancy Hands had a website

10. How would you rate the following aspects of Nancy Hands? (Please tick)

Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor

Menu Variety

Quality of Food

Value for Money

Fast & Efficient Service

Staff presentation &

friendliness

Atmosphere

Decor

Please leave your name & email address below in order to be in with a chance to WIN €50 food/drinks
credit & subscribe to our mailing list (don't worry we won't harass you, just keep you updated once
in a while along with notifying you who the lucky winner is!)

Name:

Email:
All Finished- Thank You!
Additional Comments:
33 | P a g e
APPENDIX 3

Lunch Trade Source Seasonal/Business Digital Channel Motivated by

Factors current
engagement

Mon-Fri Local Criminal April/May/June/July/Sept- Website -Proximity to

Courts (CCJ) Busy Court
(12-3pm) Twitter
August/Dec/Jan- Closed -Speed of service
Email
-Menu variety

Mon-Fri Local Businesses -Year Round Trade Website -Proximity to office

(12-3pm) -Recession had impacted Twitter -Speed of service

Email -Menu Variety

Facebook -Value

-Loyalty

All Week Domestic Tourists -Mainly Summer Months Website -Convenience

-Families Visiting Nearby Twitter -Family Friendly

Attractions e.g. Zoo
Facebook -Good Service

Trip Advisor -Value

MenuPages

Irish Blogs

All Week Overseas Tourists on -Year Round Trade Website -Convenience

personal trips
-Big Increase in past year Twitter -Traditional Irish
Food & Drinks
-Couples or families Facebook
visiting nearby attractions -History & Culture
e.g. Guinness Storehouse, Trip Advisor
National Museum -Good Service
Yelp

Menu pages

Travel Blogs

Tourist Info sites

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Tour Groups Source Seasonal/ Business Digital Channel Motivated By
Factors current
Engagement

Group Lunches Tour Operators -Year Round Trade Website -Reliability

& Evening (DMC’S)
Meals -Mainly Email -Good Product
Apr/May/June &
September LinkedIn -Good Service

-Provide big revenue E-zines -Price

source
-Locality

Evening Trade Source Seasonal/ Business Digital Channel Motivated By

Factors current
Engagement

Mon-Fri Local -Year Round Trade Website -Convenience

Accommodation
(Barfood & Providers -Increase in past year Twitter -Traditional Irish
Early Bird) Food & Drinks
-Mainly Couples or Facebook
families Staying in -History &
Nearby Ashling Hotel Trip Advisor Culture

On personal or tour Yelp -Entertainment

trips
Menu pages

Travel Blogs

Tourist Info sites

YouTube

Instagram

Mainly Fridays Local Office -Has dramatically Website -Convenience

Workers decreased in recent
(Drinks) years Facebook -Atmosphere

Email -Value

Twitter -Loyalty

35 | P a g e
Fri- Sat Local -Walk up business Website -Convenience
accommodation
(A La Carte providers, online & Very Hard to Twitter -Deals
Restaurant) deal sites predict
Facebook
-Has mainly survived
through selling Trip Advisor
voucher deals with
online deal sites such Yelp
as Groupon
Menu pages

Travel Blogs

Tourist Info sites

YouTube

Instagram

Potential Source Seasonal/ Business Digital Channel Motivated By

Target Factors current
Audiences Engagement

Group Lunches Coach Tour -Year Round Trade Website -Reliability

& Evening Operators &
Meals Cruise Ship -Mainly Email -Good Product
Agents Apr/May/June &
September LinkedIn -Good Service

E-zines -Price

Twitter -Locality

Facebook -Parking for

coaches

Corporate Source Seasonal/ Business Digital Channel Motivated By

Events/ Factors current
Conference Engagement
Attendees

Group Lunches Conference Very Hard to access Website -Privacy

& Evening attendees this segment
Meals Facebook -Quality
Don’t like being in
big groups Trip Advisor

36 | P a g e
APPENDIX 4

Primary Persona 1

‘Peter’ the Busy Local Professional

Background

Peter has been working as a sales manager for AOL in Heuston Quarter, Dublin, for the
past five years. Peter works long hours and can often only spare a half hour in his day to
quickly grab some lunch. Even when out for lunch, he responds to emails, checks his
LinkedIn profile and deals with any immediate urgencies. He is extremely proficient in
excel, salesforce and has email alerts set up on his phone and MacBook. He has been
switching between the same three places for lunch for the last five years and is becoming
bored eating the same dishes day-in, day-out. Peter’s salary is good, but he is working
towards a promotion at the end of the year. Peter is looking for somewhere to eat that has
fast and efficient service, lots of choice and; speedy, uninterrupted wifi access.

Demographics

Male

30-39

Has a degree from DIT in business and management

Recently married and expecting his first child in June

Just purchased his first house in Clontarf, a 3 bedroomed detached.

37 | P a g e
Identifiers

Hardworking, Motivated & Ambitious

Never seen without his iPhone 6 or MacBook pro

Goals

To have the choice of a varied and high quality lunch menu every day

Fast & efficient service

Wifi access

Challenges

Local lunch places not advertising their specials each day on their website or Facebook

Not having the time to ring places in advance to find out what’s on the menu and if it’s
worth leaving the office

Finding somewhere with suitable wifi access

How we can help

Daily changing lunch menu

Post pictures of specials every day on Facebook

Send email reminders to Peter a half hour before lunchtime reminding him what’s on
offer

Make it easy and provide a ‘call to action’ phone number in the mail where he can ring
in his order for collection if he wishes

Provide fast, reliable, & secure wifi access in Nancy Hands

38 | P a g e
Secondary Persona 1

‘Sarah’ The Health Conscious Local Office Worker

Background

Sarah has been working for the HSE, in Parkgate Hall, for one year now as an office
administrator. She loves reading food blogs online about healthy eating and learning new
gluten-free recipes. She is currently participating in Ireland’s ‘Operation Transformation
and is hoping to lose half a stone so she can fit into her dream dress for an upcoming
work party. Sarah is an avid Twitter user, she has a Facebook profile but mainly uses it
to spy on hot guys and keep updated with what her old friends from school are currently
up to. Most of her ‘friends’ statuses on Facebook irritate her, but she can never seem to
deleted them in case she misses any gossip. She is really sociable and is constantly on
WhatsApp and Snapchat to her friends in Australia, she feels this is more private and her
nosy aunty from Limerick won’t be able to see what she’s up to. Sarah is constantly broke
as she spends half her wages on her gym membership and buying healthy option food to
cook for dinner every evening, she eats out for lunch with her office colleagues only when
she can afford it, otherwise she brings in her rice cakes and tuna. She would love to eat
out more often so she and her work friends can complain about how annoying the office
manager is and chat about her latest dating conquests on Tinder. Constantly uses email
for work.

39 | P a g e
Demographics

Female

21-29

Got 420 points in her leaving cert but no university education

Single- ‘men are just for fun’

Renting a 2 bedroom apartment in Drumcondra with her best friend Emma

Identifiers

Young, Single & energetic

Meeting friends & gossiping are her favourite things to do

Has several ‘groups’ on WhatsApp, her most used being ‘the girlos’

The only Facebook status you will see from Sarah is the odd ‘Thank God it’s Friday- Roll
on the weekend! ’

Looks at the packaging on food to calculate calories, and in restaurants will ask for ‘no
chips, sauce on side….. I’m trying to be good’

Goals

To have lunch in a relaxed environment where she can chat to her friends

To feel she is getting value for money- deals interest her enormously

Not bothered about service time- she is in no rush to get back to work!

To have a selection of healthy options to choose from at lunch

40 | P a g e
Challenges

Finding a local lunch place that does a varied and healthy menu

Finding somewhere that does lunch deals at great prices

Doesn’t like to feel she is being ‘sold’ something online- all those ads on Facebook annoy
her!

How we can help

Loyalty schemes for returning customers- buy 5 lunches, get your 6th one free! Email
newsletters for the ‘deal of the month’

Advertise the ‘Salad of the day’ on Facebook using mouth-watering pictures and captions
such as ‘Mmmm Delicious’- no ‘salesy’ type text

At the end of each week, blog about the different healthy options that were made during
the week and give their recipes on Nancy Hands’ Website or alternatively make the
operation transformation lunch options available at Nancy Hands and use the #OT to
engage interest on Twitter

41 | P a g e
Primary Persona 2

‘Sam’ The Culture Loving Holiday-Maker

Background

Sam is a culturally curious holiday maker, living in North America, who plans his
holidays to Ireland with his wife months in advance. He is independent and likes to visit
restaurants in Dublin due to their authenticity and local traditions, he loves learning
everything about a place before he visits and will immerse himself in the Irish culture
once there. Sam’s great grandmother is Irish, and this is something he is very proud of.
Sam likes to connect with as many Irish people as possible, visit all the local cultural
attractions and try as many Irish beers and whiskeys as possible. Sam hates the idea of a
‘package’ holiday and likes to do things at his own pace and organise all their holiday
activities himself. Sam researches restaurants well in advance of arriving in Dublin, often
booking places online via the restaurants website. Sam spends hours on online review
sites including Trip Advisor, but he definitely trusts Yelp the most. Sam doesn’t
understand the likes of WhatsApp or Twitter, but loves how Facebook can keep him
connected to places and people after the holiday is over. He doesn’t normally write
statuses but will happily like and share things he sees online. Sam’s ideal restaurant is
one where the barman will engage with him and make him and his wife feel part of the
Irish culture. Sam can’t wait until he retires from his boring job as a bank manager so he
can plan more fun trips with his retirement money.

42 | P a g e
Demographics

Male

40-59

Married with 3 children who have all moved out

Living in Suburban Connecticut in a 4 bedroomed detached house in a nice, quiet estate

Has been working in the same bank since finishing school, and is now the manager

Identifiers

Highly organised

Enjoys travel, meeting new people and doing new things

Engages with review sites and social media regularly

Not an avid email user, associates it with spam but continues to use it for work purposes

Goals

To have the perfect, planned trip to Ireland

To experience all the local cuisine

To participate in as many cultural activities as possible

To pull the perfect pint of Guinness and learn some Irish dancing

To eat locally produced dishes

43 | P a g e
Challenges

When researching restaurants to try in Dublin, he can never seem to find all the menus
that are available at the restaurant-he also can never find out where the food is actually
produced

Doesn’t know which online reviews to trust- some are good, some are bad, did that one
place really give someone food poisoning? He doesn’t think he will risk it.

He would like to contact a restaurant to make a booking, however there is no online

booking system and he doesn’t want to spend a fortune ringing from America.

How we can help

Have an up-to-date website with lots of engaging and interesting content, use pictures
and descriptions for all dishes explaining where they are from

Add an online booking system to the website to make life easier for Sam

Keep Facebook updated with local news from around the area to help Sam feel connected

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Secondary Persona 2

‘Emma’ The British Social Energizer

Background

Emma works and lives in London and is a keen traveller as well as blogger. She has her
own website and likes to keep up-to date will all the different technology. When visiting
Dublin with her friends, she likes to go to off the beaten track places and not just your
typical nightclub or pub in Temple Bar. She likes places that have a good ‘vibe’ off them,
and are a little bit quirky and different from the norm. Emma blogs about all the unique
places she visits, and explains what makes them that little bit ‘cooler’ than the rest. She
loves music and has installed Spotify on her phone, she listens to this wherever she goes
through her new headphones which were bought for her as a birthday present. Emma
loves review sites, food and travel blogs and has signed up for nearly all of their
newsletters so that she doesn’t miss out on any of the latest trends. Emma is an avid user
of Facebook, Twitter and especially Instagram. She constantly uploads pictures of the
latest places she visited or the restaurants she has tried. Emma has 15,000 likes for her
blog, and she hopes to increase this to 20,000 in the coming year. Emma works as a
freelance marketer, helping small businesses with their social media activities.

Demographics

Female

25-35

Living in an apartment in London for the last 2 years with her boyfriend Paul

Has been working as a freelance marketer since finishing her degree in marketing

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Identifiers

Energetic & enjoys meeting new people

Constantly engaging in social media, updating statuses and blogging

Is an avid listener to digital word of mouth, trusts this more than ads

Goals

Finding restaurants that are unique in some way and have interesting features

Feeling like she has experienced one of Dublin’s ‘hidden gems’

Challenges

Finding interesting articles online about various Dublin restaurants

Finding relevant content for her blog

Establishing whether there are any cool activities close to the restaurant that the can visit
before or after her meal

How we can help

Emma loves unique features; if we provide content that pulls out the quirky and unusual
things about Nancy Hands she can use it in her blog

Short punchy articles play a role in helping Emma make her decision

Strong visual content such as photography & illustrated maps of the area help Emma to
make a connection with the restaurant and its surroundings

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