Retention & CRM

Stop Counting Likes: How to Turn "Followers" into "Regulars" with CRM

It is a math problem that keeps restaurant owners awake at night: Restaurant A has 50,000 Instagram followers. They post every day. They get 1,000 likes per photo. Restaurant B has 2,000 email subscribers. They send one email a month.

Which restaurant makes more money?

In 2026, the answer is almost always Restaurant B.

Why? Because "Likes" are a vanity metric. You cannot pay your rent with a "Like." You cannot deposit a "Comment" into the bank. The only metric that matters is Revenue, and revenue comes from Retention.

Most F&B businesses and F&B digital marketing are obsessed with "Hunting"—finding new customers every day. They burn thousands of dollars on ads to get a customer through the door once, and then they let them leave, never to return.

As a Digital Marketing Strategist specializing in Growth Systems (like HubSpot), I teach my clients to stop Hunting and start "Farming." You don't need more customers. You need to get the customers you already have to come back one more time.

In this guide, I will show you how to build a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) engine that turns strangers into regulars, and regulars into evangelists.

Concept 1: The "Leaky Bucket" Economy

Imagine your restaurant is a bucket. You pour water (customers) into the top using ads and influencers. But the bucket has holes in the bottom. The water flows out as fast as you pour it in.

The Cost of Churn It costs 7x more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. If you spend 500 THB in ads to get a guest to visit, and they only spend 400 THB on dinner and never return, you have lost money.

The LTV Fix The goal of CRM is to plug the holes. If that same guest returns 3 times a year for 5 years, their Lifetime Value (LTV) jumps from 400 THB to 6,000 THB. The ad cost didn't change. The food cost didn't change. But your profit exploded.

The Strategy: Stop celebrating "New Customers." Start celebrating "Returning Customers." Your POS system should tell you exactly what % of tonight's dining room has been here before. If it's under 30%, your bucket is leaking.

Concept 2: Renting vs. Owning (The Data Crisis)

I have said this in Digital Marketing Trends 2026, but it bears repeating: Instagram is not your friend.

Instagram is a landlord. You are a tenant. The algorithm is the rent.

At any moment, Zuckerberg can change the algorithm, and your reach drops to zero. Or worse, your account gets hacked. If your entire business relies on social media, you are building on quicksand.

First-Party Data You need to move your audience from "Rented Land" (Social Media) to "Owned Land" (Your Database).

• Rented: A follower. (You can't contact them directly).

• Owned: An email address or phone number. (You can message them anytime, for free).

The Exchange: Customers won't just give you their data. You must "buy" it.

• Bad Offer: "Sign up for our newsletter." (Boring).

• Good Offer: "Scan for a free dessert on your next visit." (Value).

Concept 3: The "Win-Back" Automations

You cannot personally email 5,000 people. You need a robot. This is where tools like HubSpot or restaurant-specific CRMs come in. We build "Workflows" that run while you sleep.

The "We Miss You" Trigger If a customer hasn't visited in 90 days (tracked via their reservation or loyalty scan), the system automatically sends an email.

• Subject: "It’s been a while, John..."

• Offer: "Come back this week and the first round is on us."

• Result: These emails typically have a 20-30% conversion rate. That is free revenue from people who had forgotten about you.

The Birthday Bot The easiest win in marketing.

• Trigger: 7 days before their birth date.

• Offer: "Happy Birthday! Your table is waiting."

• Psychology: People dine in large groups on their birthday. You give one free meal, but they bring 10 paying friends.

Data beats intuition. A database is an asset. A follower count is vanity. Don't spam. Serve.

Concept 4: Segmentation (Not All Guests Are Equal)

Do not send the same email to everyone. A vegan should not get an email about "Steak Night." A wine lover should not get an email about "Beer Pong."

The Tagging Strategy In your CRM, tag every customer based on behavior:

1. The Whales: Spend > 5,000 THB per visit. (Treat them like royalty).

2. The Lunch Crowd: Only visit weekdays 12-2 PM. (Target them with express lunch deals).

3. The Weekend Warriors: Only visit Friday nights. (Target them with events).

Personalization at Scale When you send an email about your new Wagyu Special only to the "Whales" and "Meat Lovers" tag, your Open Rate skyrockets because the content is relevant.

The 3 Steps to Launching Your CRM Today:

1. The Collection Point: Put a QR code on every table tent and bill folder. "Join the VIP list."

2. The Incentive: Instant gratification. "Get 10% off THIS bill if you sign up now."

3. The Welcome Series: An automated email that goes out immediately saying, "Welcome to the family. Here is our Chef's favorite dish."

Concept 5: The "Surprise & Delight" Protocol

CRM isn't just about digital spam. It's about enhancing the Physical Experience.

The "Magic" Moment Imagine a guest walks in. The hostess checks them in on the iPad. The CRM flashes a notification: "It's John's 3rd visit. He likes Pinot Noir." The hostess whispers to the waiter. The waiter approaches the table: "Welcome back, Khun John. We have a lovely Pinot Noir by the glass today I think you'll love."

John is floored. He feels seen. He feels important. That interaction didn't happen by magic. It happened because of Data. That is how you build loyalty that no competitor can steal.

Concept 6: Gamification (The Starbucks Effect)

Humans love progress bars. We are wired to complete things.

The Digital Stamp Card Paper cards get lost. Digital cards (in Apple Wallet or LINE OA) get used.

• The Strategy: Give them the first "stamp" for free.

• The Psychology: The "Endowed Progress Effect" states that people are 2x more likely to finish a goal if they start with progress already made.

Tiered Status Create status levels: "Member," "Gold," "Black Card." People will spend irrational amounts of money just to reach "Black Card" status if the perceived social status is high enough.

According this data: increasing profits by 25% to 95%

Tools I Recommend for F&B CRM:

• HubSpot: Best for powerful automation and email marketing (my specialty).

• SevenRooms: Excellent for reservation data and guest profiling.

• LINE OA (Official Account): Essential for the Thai market; high open rates but lower automation capabilities than email.

"We treat 'Retention' like a metric, but it’s actually an emotion. It’s the feeling of walking into a room and being recognized. CRM is just the digital memory that makes that feeling scalable." — Ni Htoo Kyaw, F&B Digital Marketing Strategist.

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From Marketer to Architect

If you have followed this entire blog series, you have gone on a journey.

1. We predicted the future (Trends).

2. We mastered the menu (Psychology).

3. We dominated the map (SEO).

4. We produced the content (Production).

5. And now, we have built the engine to keep it all running (CRM).

This is the difference between a "Social Media Manager" and a "Digital Growth Analyst" in F&B digital marketing industry. One chases likes; the other builds an ecosystem.

You now have the blueprint. The tools are ready. The market is waiting. The only question left is: Are you ready to build?