Marketing & Promotions
Getting a new customer through the door is expensive. Getting an existing customer to come back is not -- if you remind them why they love your place. OKeep gives you built-in marketing tools to keep your restaurant visible in your customers' app without needing a social media manager or a graphic designer.
Why In-App Marketing Works
Your customers already have the OKeep app on their phone. When you publish a promo, it appears directly in their feed -- no algorithms, no competing ads, no hoping they scroll past. A coffee shop that posts a "Free Pastry Friday" promo reaches every customer who has ever ordered from them, right on their phone.
This is different from social media. On Instagram, you are competing with every other account for attention. In the OKeep app, your promotions have the customer's full focus because they opened the app to interact with your restaurant.
Key Concepts
Promo Stories
A promo story is a visual piece of promotional content -- an image or a short video -- that appears in the customer app. Think of it like an Instagram story, but exclusively for your restaurant. Customers swipe through your stories when they open the app.
You create stories using a built-in editor right in the CRM. No design software needed -- add text, images, and shapes on a canvas, and publish when you are happy with the result. For video promos, upload a short clip and optionally add interactive hotspots that customers can tap.
Example: A pizzeria creates a story with a photo of their new truffle pizza, bold text saying "NEW -- Truffle Season Is Here", and a hotspot linking directly to the item on the menu.
Promo Groups
A promo group is a container that holds one or more stories and controls when they are shown. Instead of scheduling each story individually, you set the dates and times on the group, and every story inside it follows that schedule.
Example: A brunch restaurant creates a group called "Weekend Brunch Specials" set to run every Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 to 14:00. Inside the group, they add three stories showcasing different brunch dishes. All three appear together during the scheduled window and disappear the rest of the week.
Promo Timeline
The promo timeline is a calendar view that shows all your active and upcoming promotions, challenges, and battle passes in one place. It helps you see the big picture -- where you have gaps with no promotions running, where things overlap too much, and how your marketing is spread across the month.
Example: A cafe owner opens the timeline and notices they have nothing scheduled for the first two weeks of June. They quickly create a "Summer Drinks Launch" promo group to fill that gap.
How It Works
The marketing flow in OKeep follows three steps:
- Create a promo group -- give it a name, set when it should run (specific dates, every weekend, every Monday, etc.), and optionally restrict it to certain hours of the day
- Add stories to the group -- design image stories with the built-in editor or upload short video clips. Each story is one "slide" customers swipe through
- Publish -- stories start in Draft status. When you are ready, publish them and they become visible to customers during the group's scheduled times
You can publish and unpublish individual stories without affecting others in the same group. This makes it easy to rotate content or test what resonates with your customers.
Scheduling Options
| Schedule type | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| One-time | Runs continuously between a start and end date | Seasonal menus, holiday specials, grand opening |
| Weekly | Repeats on selected days every week | "Taco Tuesday", weekend brunch, happy hour |
| Monthly | Repeats each month | Monthly specials, first-of-the-month deals |
| Yearly | Repeats annually | Anniversary promos, annual events |
For any schedule type, you can also restrict the hours -- for example, a lunch deal that only shows between 11:00 and 14:00.
Weekly recurring promos are the most popular option. A bakery might run "Fresh Croissant Monday" every Monday morning, while a bar promotes "Friday Happy Hour" every Friday from 17:00 to 20:00.
Types of Promotions You Can Create
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- New item announcements -- launch a new menu item with a story that links directly to it
- Limited-time discounts -- create urgency with a short-run promo ("This weekend only: 20% off all cold drinks")
- Weekend and holiday specials -- use weekly recurrence to automatically promote your weekend menu every Saturday and Sunday
- Event promotions -- hosting a live music night or a wine tasting? Create a one-time promo group for the event dates
- Seasonal campaigns -- group a set of stories under "Spring Menu 2026" and run them for the whole season
Quick Start
Ready to create your first promotion? Follow this guide:
- Create a Promo Story -- step-by-step walkthrough to set up a promotional story campaign
For detailed reference on all promo features:
- Promo Stories Reference -- full documentation of the promo stories system, story editor, video promos, and scheduling
- Promo Timeline -- learn how to use the calendar view to plan your marketing
Tips and Best Practices
- Change your promos weekly. Customers stop noticing content that stays the same for weeks. Even swapping the image on an existing promo keeps things fresh.
- Use good photos. A well-lit photo of your actual food beats a stock image every time. Take photos in natural light near a window.
- Time your promos to match the meal. A lunch deal story showing at 8:00 AM gets ignored. Set available hours so it appears at 11:00 when people start thinking about lunch.
- Keep text short and bold. Stories are viewed on a phone screen. One headline and a short line of text is plenty. Save the details for the menu item itself.
- Use the timeline to avoid gaps. Check the Promo Timeline at the start of each week. If you see empty days ahead, fill them with a quick promo -- even a simple "Chef's Pick of the Day" story keeps your restaurant visible.
Avoid running too many promotions at once. If a customer opens the app and sees eight stories to swipe through, they will skip most of them. Two to three active promo groups at a time is the sweet spot.
What's Next
- Loyalty Program -- combine promotions with points, vouchers, and challenges for a complete customer retention strategy
- Challenges -- create tasks customers complete for rewards ("Order 5 coffees, get one free")
- Battle Pass -- build seasonal progression tracks that keep customers engaged over weeks