The Hampton Social Owns Organic Traffic with Popmenu

Client Spotlight:
The Hampton Social

The Hampton Social averages over 250k in monthly website visitors

It’s no secret that consumers have high expectations when it comes to online experiences. Guests turn to Google first to find, well, anything. They want websites that are easy to navigate, the ability to order items online, high-quality images of what they’re buying…the list goes on. What’s more? These expectations extend across all industries; in fact, 38 percent of restaurant guests will move on to another restaurant if they encounter a poor online ordering experience.

With a lessening tolerance for bad online experiences, restaurants are increasingly tasked with creating more seamless hospitality in a digital space—but, how? We’re glad you asked.

The Hampton Social is a playful, modern coastal-inspired dining experience with multiple locations across Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida. The restaurant is known for its hospitality excellence, hand-crafted cocktails, mouthwatering menus, live music and can’t miss events.

A client with Popmenu since April 2021, the Hampton Social saw the impact of Popmenu early on as the two companies worked together on a website revamp that focused on strengthening the flow of organic traffic, creating an online guest experience that matched on-premise service standards, and executing a digital strategy informed by data.

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Considering how limited marketing budgets are, the team relies heavily on organic efforts–such as SEO–to attract guests. That made Popmenu the logical choice for the team. In just three months with Popmenu, the Hampton Social grew average monthly sessions from 175k to 311k  and nearly doubled the amount of time spent on their website. A year into the partnership, the brand has become a search engine powerhouse, averaging nearly 250k in monthly website sessions (direct and organic traffic) and ranking in the top 10 results for nearly 500 keywords (more than 300 are in the top 3 position).*

The Hampton Social has also continued to deepen relationships with guests through an integrated marketing approach that leans on technology to help automate, personalize, and stay top-of-mind while reinforcing a commitment to hospitality excellence.

Like so many marketers, The Hampton Social wants to give guests a personal, human touch while also enjoying the convenience of technology. Popmenu allows them to achieve both: They can track and execute on a variety of marketing tasks (i.e., emails, SMS, review management, social, events, and website views) all within the platform.The Hampton Social’s efforts around marketing prove to be successful, with over 557,000 restaurant followers (and growing!) and an email open rate and a click rate nearly 3x and 2x times the industry standard.**

While the restaurant industry is certainly hard to predict, one thing is certain: restaurants—like The Hampton Social—that invest in technology will see long-term success in the form of greater brand visibility and guest volume, increased efficiencies, cost reduction, and more opportunities for revenue generation.

*Data was gathered from Ahrefs.com, a third-party website tool that is unaffiliated with Popmenu.

**Industry average open and click rates: 19.7% and 1.3%.

Fast Stats

Before Popmenu
Year 1 with Popmenu
Avg. monthly website sessions
175,008
264,849
Keywords in 1-3 position*
106
300
Keywords in top 10 results*
331
497
Time spent on site in minutes
1:20
2:47
Traffic value of organic keywords*
$225,613
$309,403
Before statistics were provided by The Hampton Social for their last quarter before launching with Popmenu. After stats are for the May 2021 - March 2022 timeframe. ‘*’Notes a statistic that was gathered from Ahrefs.com, a third-party website tool that is unaffiliated with Popmenu.

How Popmenu’s dynamic menu supports Hampton Social’s marketing strategy

Menu interactions drive SEO
With Popmenu’s dynamic menu technology, every dish on the menu acts as its own URL and is seen as such by Google—expanding the brand’s digital presence. What’s more? Every new interaction like a new review or an item “pop” (like) boosts the brands visibility within search.
Increased efficiencies and better guest experience
The photos and reviews that live on each dish not only encourage guests to go to the restaurant or to order online, they also help set guest expectations around portion, plating and pricing.
Captures guest data to drive repeat business
Each menu interaction creates an opportunity to capture guest information like name, email, phone, and birthday, and can be used to stay connected and entice guests back again and again.

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Nevada brewery saves time, grows direct online ordering, and unifies multi-location operations with Popmenu and Genius.

Founded in 1993, Great Basin Brewing Company is Nevada’s oldest and most award-winning brewery, touted for its craft beer and its creative, ale-infused food unique closed-loop system (utilizing spent grain from the brewing process to feed local cattle that produce beef used back at its restaurants). When owner and director of operations Nick Meyer took over the business--and the brewery grew to four locations--he wanted to maintain consistent marketing across all locations without sacrificing their high standards. He searched for technology that would save time, increase revenue, keep up with evolving menus, and grow their online presence. He found Popmenu.

Popmenu + Genius: one menu, one ordering flow, fewer manual updates

What initially drew Nick, along with marketing director Brennan Best, to Popmenu was its seamless integration with Great Basin’s POS system Genius. Prior to Popmenu, any menu or website changes were manual and time-consuming: menus changing two to four times a year and updates across locations via various technologies, all online orders were routed through third parties, cutting into the restaurants’ profits. After choosing Popmenu, the team has saved significant time: instantaneous website changes across all channels, online orders go directly from the Popmenu platform into the Genius POS, and guests’ orders are fulfilled with less room for error.
Laptop screen shows Google search results for 'best lobster roll in Nashville' with top places listed including The Hampton Social, Krustaceans Seafood, and The Optimist, and a popup highlighting lobster roll recommendations.
In the months following the launch, Great Basin has seen an average month-over-month 11% increase in online ordering gross payment value (GPV), which is the total amount processed during transactions. During that period, they’ve also gained more than 1,000 new guest contacts (a 9% increase)—and those new followers have driven almost 75% of their orders. With Popmenu, Great Basin is capturing guest information so they can stay top of mind and continue to build a loyal customer base.

“The ability [as a result of the Popmenu integration] for our customers to order directly from our website, and for that to be less expensive for them without the additional markups for third-party delivery, has been a gamechanger for us and has really improved the experience for our guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

Stronger communications or better SEOhappier guests

For Great Basin, technology isn’t just about efficiency–it’s about staying connected with their guests and their community. So when they had to navigate between several scattered and disparate communications tools, they weren’t able to get their message across in the meaningful, consistent way that aligns with their values.

The Popmenu platform has enabled Great Basin to unify their messaging, while still allowing each location to have its own unique voice. Within the platform, they’ve been able to customize the look and feel of each location’s landing page to convey the fact that each restaurant has a different personality.

“It's always been important for us to listen to our community, while also conveying our brand’s narrative to our community as well. The Popmenu platform has been super helpful because not only does it allow us to receive feedback from our guests, but it also enables us to respond directly to those guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

The brewery’s SEO has also improved since integrating with Popmenu, as their website’s event inquiry page for guests looking to host onsite parties has seen a surge in traffic. Soon after Great Basin made the switch to Popmenu, location managers were trying to understand why they were seeing unprecedented levels of interest in events. As a result, they are currently booked with private parties through mid-2026.

“Popmenu’s built-in marketing tools have replaced several standalone systems, saving costs and creating consistent messaging. We were able to cut a few hundred dollars a month by consolidating tools, and now our messaging – emails, events, promotions – all run through one seamless system.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

Smooth and supported implementation

As any restaurant team can attest to, rolling out new technology across multiple locations can be daunting and challenging. But Nick, Brennan, and the entire Great Basin staff credit both Popmenu’s onboarding process and its client service reps for a smooth transition. Even launching the integration during one of Great Basin’s busiest seasons didn’t slow things down.

“We had everything running in about a week across four locations – it was one of the easiest integrations we’ve done. We even went live right before summer events, and it didn’t faze the team at all. Once everything was set, we were off and running.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

Want a closer look at how automation can bring in more orders while saving you time and money? Book a 20-minute, no-pressure demo with Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

Want a closer look at how automation can bring in more orders while saving you time and money? Book a 20-minute, no-pressure demo with Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.