Inside the Box Marketing, a marketing agency for food franchises and independent restaurants, has launched a new birthday postcard program. The company has a history of creating premium laminated postcards with detachable gift cards. The program is the result of a conversation with a customer who asked if they did any marketing specifically for birthdays.

At the time, they didn’t. After developing a program and testing it in select markets, they made it available nationally. Early adopters have seen success for both franchises and smaller mom-and-pop shops. “Their birthday mail program is bringing in a steady flow of customers every month,” said Mike Bernal of MBP Pizza, Inc. (Domino’s). “We’re standing out from our competition, seeing anywhere from 15-25% redemption rates, and we couldn’t be happier with the results!”

Wayne Wilson, President of Sales at Inside the Box Marketing, credits the success of the program to their approach which targets everyone in your market celebrating a birthday, not just the small percentage of your market already in your existing loyalty or rewards program. Since new business is critical, this program fills that void. “The nice thing about the birthday program is we don’t need you to provide a list of names or addresses, unless you need certain customers excluded. We provide the list as well. We map out your defined market area and get you into mailboxes of consumers celebrating a birthday each month,” said Wilson.

The postcards feature an enticing offer, such as a $5 - $10 gift card or free entree, and conveniently pop out to fit in your purse or wallet. Since diners rarely go out to eat alone on their birthdays, the cost is made back right away with room for a healthy profit.

Although the program is growing quickly, Wilson stressed that it must stay exclusive to remain effective. If two competing restaurants in the same market want to use the program, they’d have to turn the second one away unless the current client is okay with it. “The program works because customers see the postcards and gift cards as high quality. If we start getting into too many mailboxes, it would devalue the program, so we need to protect that,” said Wilson.

Restaurants can learn more about Inside the Box Marketing’s birthday marketing program for restaurants by visiting their website, insidetheboxmarketinginc.com.