Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen in Alexandria, Virginia, offers authentic Jamaican cuisine that tastes homemade…because it is. Bridgett Richardson, owner of Ruby’s, takes pride in making meals from scratch that honor the legacy of her mother, the restaurant’s namesake.
“Our food is as authentic Jamaican as you’re going to get it. If I’m running low on something, and I need to re-cook it, it does not happen in 15 minutes,” says Bridgett.
That dedication to authenticity means Bridgett works 18-hour days, which leaves her no time to plan marketing strategies and create content. Enter Popmenu AI Marketing.
Brigette’s husband Anthony, who often assists with marketing, urged her to give Popmenu’s new AI tool a try to see if it could accomplish some of the marketing tasks they were too busy to take on themselves. She signed up for it and didn’t think about it again--but fortunately, Anthony did.
Popmenu AI Marketing uses artificial intelligence to automatically create a full month of timely and unique content. The emails, texts, and social posts are based on the restaurant’s menu, reviews, events, and more. All the owner has to do is approve (or edit) and hit the schedule button. Anthony did just that, unbeknownst to Bridgett.
“I got hit so bad for my lunch rush. Not only that: the brown stew that was featured was one of my slowest items. It was sold out in two hours, and I wondered what was going on. Even the employees were saying, ‘Nobody eats brown stew like this,’” said Bridgett.
When Anthony told her a text went out promoting brown stew, she was shocked at the effectiveness and keeps it on her radar now.
“Now, even though I don’t pay attention to all of the marketing, I try to stay aware of when a text or an email goes out. I know I will get hit with a rush of orders. Whatever is featured on that day is what people are coming in and asking for—and that’s how I know it works. Marketing actually does work,” said Bridgett.
For Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen, AI Marketing addressed a persistent challenge many businesses face: getting in front of customers. Bridgett points out that everyone is looking at their phones all day, so sending an email or text message allows her to meet customers where they are.
“The marketing emails and texts are right in front of them saying, ‘You know these people. You know the kind of service you’re going to get. You know the kind of food that you’re going to get. How about having lunch with them?’ That takes the burden of promotion off me,” says Bridgett.
Originally, Bridgett used automated emails—a feature available to all Popmenu customers—to consistently market to Ruby’s customers. These customizable emails, which are sent based on guest behavior, helped to bring in nearly $2,400 in marketing-driven online sales a month. However, once she added AI Marketing’s mass email and text message campaigns, Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen grew online sales to over $6,300 within one month and then doubled it the following month.
When they were both too busy to approve content in June, the marketing-related revenue dipped, but still reached nearly $5,000 because they had been consistently marketing during the months prior. When they approved content in July, that number jumped back up to $13,000...and continues to grow.
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