Testimonials



UC Davis Alumni and Visitor Center Endorsement


Davis Letter

Ice Cream Store Business Grows Even in the Winter!


Who: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

Type: Ice Cream Shop

What: Located near San Jose State University, Ben & Jerry’s is a hot spot for students, residents and area workers. Ben & Jerry’s joined the OptTown network at the start of a very cold Winter season. Using OptTown as their mobile app platform for communicating with their customers, manager Chris Voegele was able to significantly boost sales during poor weather. “OptTown delivers impressive bottom-line results,” said Chris.

Results: In just the first three months of using OptTown, Ben & Jerry’s achieved over 373 followers and 47 customers on their mobile app. Chris attributes their significantly higher winter sales numbers to their use of OptTown. Ben & Jerry’s continues to grow averaging 24 new followers/week with over 30% accessing their OptTown messages every 7 days. The hot fudge special and bring-a-friend promotions have delivered over 10,000 views each!

Fun, easy, and efficient way to meaningful results! - “My staff and I love creating new content on our app! OptTown allows us to communicate with our customers in a way that shows our store’s personality and creativity,” said Chris, “Plus OptTown helps to boost our sales especially when we really need it… like during rainy days.”


Easy Solution to Get New Clients!


Who: Chalateco

Type: Latin American Restaurant

What: Chalateco is a Latin American restaurant that brings the hospitality and specialty cuisine of Mexico to the Santa Clara University area. Chalateco was one of the first businesses to join the OptTown network. Owner Alex Pedroza utilizes the power of having Chalateco’s own mobile app for communicating with all of his customers.

Results: Using OptTown, Alex communicates directly to customers, from ages 17-70 years old –all conveniently on their smartphones! He has been able to easily provide hundreds of customers with real-time updates on Chalateco’s deals, news and events, including the recent reconstruction and new menu items! Alex attributes his business growth to the OptTown solution – the OptTown app and the OptTown team.

Bring New Clients into My Business - “Since the first time the CEO of OptTown, Tom Arthur walked into my business, I knew OptTown would be a wonderful application for businesses. OptTown has brought me a variety of new clientele to my small business,” said Alex Pedroza, Chalateco owner. “The OptTown team members are very friendly, attentive, and responsive to my business needs. Our Account Manager Carol Tsai has worked with me to create and execute new ideas that have grown my business. I would like to thank the OptTown team in helping me to bring new clients into my business. I would love to keep this business relationship for years to come.”


Finally a Marketing Tool that Really Works for a Small Business!


Who: ciocolat

Type: Restaurant specializing in desserts

What: Founded nine years ago by chef/owner, Kate Hutchinson, ciocolat is one of the first businesses on OptTown in Davis, CA. ciocolat offers home-style cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a variety of delectable desserts and exquisite wedding and special occasion cakes made from scratch in their kitchen.

Results: cicolat, after using the OptTown platform for approximately seven months, during which they experienced a steady growth in followers and redeems, averaged 150 new followers and 33 new customers a month via OptTown, and are currently reaching more than 1,200 Davis users. (A customer is a follower that redeemed at least one deal or loyalty point.)

Finally a fun, easy and stress-free marketing tool that really works for a small business: “I love the simplicity of OptTown. I can create messages in minutes, send them out and reach my 1,200 plus followers on their smartphones in seconds,” said Kate Hutchinson, owner of ciocolat. “Best of all, OptTown is not just a private deal network like Groupon. I can send deals, news and event notifications all I want and make adjustments any time. There’s no extensive planning involved or worry about upsetting current customers. And, unlike Facebook, I’m reaching my target market during their time-of-decision. For instance, when they’re out and about and considering what to do before or after a movie or show at the Mondavi Center. It’s continuous mobile communication that keeps our customer’s and potential customer’s connected to us.”


OptTown works for all types of businesses!


Who: Normandy House Lounge and San Jose Skate

Type: Lounge and Bar
Type:
Indoor Skating Rink

What: The Normandy House Lounge, a neighborhood lounge and bar in Santa Clara owned by Michael is known for its exciting karaoke nights, penny pool Thursdays, and friendly bartenders! People come to Normandy House Lounge for a safe, fun, and relaxing place to play darts, pool, air hockey and more! San Jose Skate is one of the most popular skating rinks in the San Francisco Bay Area and is home to the Silicon Valley Roller Girls team.

Results: Since launching their mobile app presence on the OptTown platform, Normandy House Lounge has more than 250 followers receiving their deals, news and events and managing loyalty points and awards. In less than five months, these customers have made 177 loyalty purchases and redeemed 69 deals. Michael liked the results produced by OptTown so much that he brought his second business, San Jose Skate onto the OptTown network two months later. San Jose Skate, with close to 250 followers and 40 deals redeems has also experienced appreciable business growth due to the OptTown solution.


chart


Very different businesses – both experiencing solid growth! With OptTown, Michael is able to stay in close contact with customers from both of his businesses. “I am able to effectively and easily communicate with hundreds of customers at both Normandy House Lounge and San Jose Skate through the OptTown app,” said Michael, owner of Normandy House Lounge and San Jose Skate. “Having a mobile app for both of my businesses has been the best way for me to get the word out about news, deals, and events going on at both of my businesses!”


Immediate Results with OptTown!


Who: Togo's

Type: Sandwich Shop

What: Sarah Maxey, the manager of Togo's Santa Clara, signed up with OptTown on May 6th. Since OptTown surveys the community for popular local businesses, Togo's started with over 100 users who already granted their permission to receive deals, news and events from Togo's on OptTown.

Results: In less than three weeks, OptTown delivered over 200 Togo's followers, 6,000 views, 437 clicks and 80 sandwich sales using Togo's new OptTown loyalty program.

OptTown paid for itself in no time - “Not only have the OptTown results exceeded every expectation, but for the first time we have a customer contact database and our own mobile app. OptTown allows us to continue building stronger relationships with our customers,” said Maxey. “In its first month, OptTown more than paid for itself and proved to be one of the most effective marketing tools for our franchise.”


College Town Booms in the Off Season!


Who: Thai Canteen, Davis CA

Type: Restaurant

What: Thai Canteen serves the real flavors of Bangkok food and is one of the first businesses to join OptTown in Davis. Davis is a typical college town with a population of 66,000 and a college population of 25,000. The community has two distinct seasons: one when students return for fall quarter and one during the summer break. Thai Canteen joined OptTown in July.

Results: In just 6 weeks during the quiet summer period, Thai Canteen achieved:
   232 Followers
   116 deals redeemed
   7449 views
   633 clicks

Building GREAT Customer Relationships Is Easy: For a small business owner, using OptTown is a mindset. “Having our very own mobile app to communicate with the student body and the rest of the Davis community made it a no-brainer decision for us to join OptTown. What we didn’t expect was getting the most effective marketing solution bar none. The summertime results were amazing!” said Deo Suwan, owner. “We think of OptTown as our mobile app just like we think of our lease as our store. It’s our way to communicate with our customers on their time. We’ve always made sure our employees are well trained knowing how to be courteous and helpful with every customer. We instructed employees to ask each customer to download our app to receive deals, news and events from us including a birthday surprise. OptTown is fun, easy and effective!"

Big Event with Big Results FAST and EASY!


Who: Jasmine Fine Thai

Type: Restaurant

What: On Saturday, June 9th, Jasmine Fine Thai celebrated its 16th Anniversary. Using OptTown on Thursday June 7th, they sent an Anniversary Special offer to their followers on OptTown to honor the event, to say thank you to their customers and to test the effectiveness of OptTown in getting customers in the door.

Results: The message went out on Thursday afternoon to Jasmine Fine Thai's 206 followers on OptTown. On Saturday 30 people redeemed the offer! An amazing 15% of audience not only reading the message but bringing friends and buying with less than two days' notice!

OptTown paid for itself in no time - “We signed up with OptTown in April but really hadn't done much with it. There are too many new apps, social media sites, Internet couponing gimmicks that I just can't keep track nor do I have the time!” said Jantana Hendricks, owner of Jasmine Fine Thai. “When our OptTown Content Manager Melissa came by sincerely wanting to help us with our business I decided to challenge OptTown's service with a last minute anniversary offer: ‘Buy one get one free Pad Thai!’ With only two days' notice, I didn't really think much would happen. Creating the message took minutes and the results speak for themselves. I'm sold on OptTown!”


Only pay for what's working – Building a loyal customer following!


Who: Blondie's Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream

Type: Yogurt and Ice Cream Shop

What: Kelley Lund, the owner of Blondie's Frozen Yogurt, joined OptTown in March 2012 along with 20 other businesses for OptTown's Santa Clara University launch. Kelley created a “buy 10 get one free” loyalty program, a “buy one get one free” first time OptTown special, a birthday special and a fun message or two each month, including a “50% Off - Rainy Day Special” for every day it rained.

Results: In the first 4 months, ~400 local consumers added Blondie's to their towns. With virtually no effort on Kelley's part, she knew her best customers, received permission to communicate directly with them, easily posted flavors-of-the-day, created Facebook activity, and automatically tracked loyalty purchases and redeemable deals.

Only pay for what's working - “With OptTown, unlike any other marketing expenditure, I only pay for what is working” said Kelley Lund. “I only pay for customers that choose to add me to their towns. I simply go to my customer list on OptTown and see EXACTLY who receives each message, who participates in my loyalty program and how effective every message performs. Building a loyal customer following has never been so easy, cost effective and efficient.”