Leading Restaurant Franchises Appoint SOCi as Global Platform of Record for Localized Marketing

SOCi, the leading all-in-one platform for next-level multi-location marketers, announced that it has been named the localized marketing platform of record for several restaurant brands. Bar Louie – The Original Gastrobar, Cinnaholic, Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Shari’s, and Veggie Grill will now leverage SOCi to unify their presence across hundreds and thousands of local search, social and ratings and reviews pages across the United States.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, businesses of all shapes and sizes continue to face uncertainty and new challenges. The restaurant industry has been hit especially hard as many remain closed, or open with restrictions in place,” said Afif Khoury, CEO and Founder of SOCi. “Communicating with customers across many locations has never been more important, and we are honored to be working with these national brands to help strengthen their ability to reach customers, and thrive, at the individual location level.”

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, US restaurants have lost more than $185 billion, according to the National Restaurant Association as state and local governments have imposed restrictions around capacity, hours, and indoor dining to prevent the spread of the virus. With so many changes, it’s critical for restaurants to leverage localized platforms like Facebook, Google My Business, and Yelp to communicate updates to their community and keep customers engaged. In fact, according to recent research from Forrester and SOCi, an optimized localized marketing strategy is associated with greater brand alignment, increased foot traffic, improved marketing efficiencies at the local level, and better brand trust on a local level.

“During the pandemic, our hours of operation have been frequently changing as we continue to figure out how to navigate this new reality,” said Heather Stennis, Director of Marketing at Cinnaholic. “Our partnership with SOCi has made managing our online presence much simpler and gives us one less thing to worry about. SOCi helps us work toward building brand awareness and increasing sales at our franchised locations with simple solutions to seamlessly make updates to our online presence and schedule our social content across multiple sites in a single platform.”

SOCi offers multi-location marketers a comprehensive solution to manage their brand’s online presence, which is proven to be an important and effective strategy to engage with consumers. 71% of marketers who have adopted a single solution have experienced positive results, and are able to improve customer experience, the use of data in decision making, differentiate from competitors, and meet top organizational priorities.

“Having one individual platform to manage our reputation and engagement with our guests is crucial, and SOCi is the ideal fit for Mountain Mike’s,” said Carol DeNembo, Vice President, Marketing at Mountain Mike’s Pizza. “We love that SOCi is a franchise-friendly, easy-to-use platform and it gives us the ability to be more efficient and productive with our guest recovery efforts and overall brand reputation.”

“Bar Louie, at its core, is a brand that was built on local store marketing and we recognize that each of our local communities have different preferences, behaviors, and needs,” said Kayla Dillon, Bar Louie’s Director of Marketing. “SOCi offers a singular source of truth for our overall online presence and empowers our team with the insights needed to effectively engage with customers on the local level.”

SOCi works with more than 370 companies to effectively manage local search, social, reviews, and ad campaigns for over 65,000 individual business locations and is well equipped to help marketers navigate unprecedented challenges as they continue to adapt to changing local regulations and safety measures. They were recently named a 2020 Top Franchise Supplier by Entrepreneur Magazine, and won “Best Marketing Resource Management Platform” at the 2020 Martech Breakthrough Awards. To learn more about how SOCi can optimize your multi-location business’s digital presence in a single platform, please visit https://www.meetsoci.com/.

ABOUT SOCI

SOCi is an award-winning platform built specifically for "next-level" multi-location marketers. Our customers include top brands and influencers like Ace Hardware, Sport Clips, and Anytime Fitness who have the impossible challenge of managing their digital presence across hundreds and thousands of locations. As central command for multi-location marketers, SOCi makes the impossible possible by enabling top brands and their locations to strengthen and scale their digital presence across limitless local search and social pages while protecting what matters most, their reputation. For more information on how SOCi can help fuel your localized marketing success - visit us at www.meetsoci.com or message us at [email protected].

ABOUT BAR LOUIE

Founded in downtown Chicago in 1990 and headquartered in Addison, Texas, Bar Louie is an award-winning collection of neighborhood bars with a lively, social atmosphere. With more than 70 locations across the United States, Bar Louie is known for its signature handcrafted martinis and cocktails, Gastrobar grub menu of appetizers, burgers, and sandwiches served every day until close. For more information on Bar Louie, visit www.barlouie.com. To learn about franchising opportunities with Bar Louie, go to www.barlouie.com/franchise.

ABOUT CINNAHOLIC

Cinnaholic is a locally owned and operated bakery specializing in custom gourmet cinnamon rolls and homemade cookie dough, brownies and cookies. We offer a unique experience with over 40 different frostings and toppings, so the cinnamon roll flavor possibilities are endless! We cater any size event with customizable catering options. All of our products are made with the highest quality ingredients and are 100% vegan, dairy & lactose-free, egg-free and cholesterol-free.

ABOUT MOUNTAIN MIKE’S

Since 1978, Mountain Mike’s Pizza has been serving “Pizza the Way it Oughta Be!®” up and down the West Coast. Known for its legendary pepperoni pizza covered from edge to edge with mini crispy, curly pepperonis and its 20-inch Mountain-sized pizzas, Mountain Mike’s has been a popular choice for families for over 40 years. Each of the brand’s more than 200 locations across California, Oregon and Utah feature a welcoming yet modern family-friendly atmosphere complete with big screen TVs throughout and a kids’ activity area with arcade games, making it the ideal location for sports teams, family gatherings, group fundraisers and private parties. With a menu of signature pizzas, bone-in wings, garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, and a selection of beer and wine, there’s something for everyone. Whether dine-in, carry-out or contactless delivery, guests can always count on Mountain Mike’s to deliver on safety, freshness, quality and value. For a complete list of locations and the full menu, visit www.mountainmikespizza.com or follow Mountain Mike’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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