Otter marketing: AI-powered solutions driving restaurant growth

Food delivery is everywhere, from your go-to taco spot to the newest sushi place in town. Experts project the U.S. online food delivery market to hit $429.90 billion in 2025, with platforms like DoorDash (67% market share) and Uber Eats (23%) leading the way. The opportunity to capitalize on food delivery is massive, especially with 28.2% of Americans using these services weekly, but the competition is also fierce.  

Standing out on online ordering platforms, managing delivery app promotions, and keeping up with trends can stretch even the most seasoned teams. That’s where Otter comes in. AI Marketing is the solution built to boost your restaurant’s growth on delivery platforms through automated learnings that the algorithms favor. From automated campaign optimization to smart insights that increase order volume, Otter helps you get discovered by new customers, stay relevant, and sell more orders. In a booming market, you need smart, yet simple, marketing. And with Otter’s all-in-one platform, it’s not just marketing. It’s business growth on autopilot.

The challenge: why restaurants struggle with marketing

Marketing a restaurant or multi-location franchise today is a different game, and the old rules no longer apply. With so many platforms to manage and rising competition on delivery apps, doing everything yourself isn’t just inefficient; it’s unsustainable. Without automation, staying on top of performance insights, reaching the right customers, or getting the most out of your marketing budget is nearly impossible.

Here are some of the biggest challenges restaurant owners face:

• Managing multiple apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, or DoorDash
• High costs of running ads with no guarantee of a strong return
• Limited ability to track customer engagement and optimize marketing efforts
• Lack of in-house expertise or time to run effective campaigns

Automation changes the game by taking the pressure off your team and putting AI to work. It helps you launch smarter campaigns, spend less, and get better results.

How Otter’s AI-driven marketing boosts restaurant success

Your team’s already juggling menus, orders, and operations. Marketing shouldn’t be another manual task on the list. Otter’s AI-powered suite automates growth across every channel—so you can focus on the bigger picture. To stay competitive, you need innovative, automated solutions that work around the clock—and that’s what Otter delivers. Otter’s AI-powered marketing suite helps you run effective campaigns, connect with the right customers, and increase revenue across every major channel or delivery app.

AI-powered ad campaigns

Smarter ads start with a more innovative strategy. Otter’s AI-powered ad engine takes the complexity out of digital marketing by running data-driven campaigns that optimize themselves for continued top performance. Instead of manually setting up and monitoring ads, Otter does the heavy lifting for you.

Here’s how it works:

• Analyze—Otter’s model reviews your store’s most recent performance and trends across delivery platforms (DSPs)
• Strategize—It considers dozens of factors, like customer behavior and regional performance, to choose the ideal promotion for each store
• Execute—With built-in guardrails, Otter deploys your campaign across platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and many more
• Review—Campaigns are analyzed to see what’s working and what needs tweaking
• Recalibrate—The AI adjusts strategy and promotions automatically to improve performance over time

Additionally, you retain control with features that enable you to:

• Target specific stores and delivery apps
• Schedule campaigns, like national rollouts or co-funded promotions, based on your goals and requirements
• Adjust Intensity to control how conservative or aggressive your campaigns are, based on your weekly revenue
• Set a budget and trust Otter Marketing to stick to it while maximizing your return on ad spend

The result? Always-optimized, high-impact ads that boost your visibility and revenue.

Customer retargeting & loyalty programs

Otter’s AI-powered tools take customer retention to the next level by combining smart retargeting with personalized loyalty programs. Instead of hoping guests come back, Otter helps make it happen. Here’s how our loyalty program works:

• Tracks customer behavior, order history, and preferences across platforms, and brings those insights to the surface so operators can easily analyze unified data
• Increases repeat orders with digital loyalty programs, like point-based rewards or punch cards tailored to your brand
• Integrates CRM tools to collect and segment guest data, enabling more customized and effective marketing
• Lets AI do the heavy lifting by adjusting offers in real-time based on performance and customer engagement

You can skip the complexity with Otter’s 24/7 support team and seamless onboarding to quickly start using these valuable features. Driving loyalty increases revenue, in fact, guests are 80% more likely to return to restaurants with loyalty programs and can spend up to 10x more over time.

Multi-channel marketing integration

Today's restaurants must appear strong across every channel. But managing campaigns on all those platforms? That’s a full-time job. With Otter’s multi-channel integration, your promotions stay synced, and your branding stays consistent, no matter where your customers find you. Otter makes multi-channel marketing feel like single-click simplicity. This is also ideal for multi-location restaurants, as consistency is key to building customer trust.

Growth monitoring 

Reports and dashboards can take up more time than actually running the ads themselves. Otter’s unified data approach consolidates your promos and spend from all channels, saving you the headache of manual tracking.

Otter’s AI Marketing constantly analyzes how your campaigns perform, so you always know which promotions work well, which platforms drive the most results, and where to shift your budget for maximum impact. It’s like having a marketing analyst built right into your dashboard.

AI-driven customer insights & data analytics

Otter’s AI-powered analytics give restaurant owners and operators the tools to do just that. By tracking customer behavior, sales trends, and engagement levels across platforms, Otter turns complex data into actionable insights that help increase revenue, reduce food waste, and boost customer retention.

From promoted sales and ROI to discount performance, store rankings, and average order volume, Otter gives you a clear view of what’s working and what’s not. You can even tailor your strategy with Otter’s range of spend based on your previous week’s revenue:

• 1-3% range: Test third-party marketing with a conservative budget for a minor sales lift
• 3-7% range: Balances between growth and return on investment for an ideal steady-state strategy
• 7-12% range: Use to temporarily Boost your presence to beat the competition for visibility and growth

Whether you want to aggressively drive new orders, maintain a substantial profit margin, or customize your campaigns from the ground up, it’s all about helping you make smarter decisions faster.

Check out how Otter Analytics can transform your marketing strategy or book time with our sales team below for a demo.

Why AI is the future of restaurant marketing

The way restaurants connect with customers is changing fast—and AI is leading the charge. No longer a luxury, AI-powered marketing tools are becoming essential for restaurants looking to stay ahead, drive engagement, and future-proof their business. From personalized guest experiences to streamlined operations, here’s how AI is transforming restaurant marketing into a smarter, more powerful engine for success:

Elevating Customer Experiences with AI Chatbots

In an always-on world, guests expect quick answers. AI chatbots are stepping up to deliver 24/7 support for common requests like:

• Answering menu questions
• Taking reservations
• Assisting with order tracking

Brands like Domino’s use chatbot technology to simplify ordering and free up staff, leading to improved customer satisfaction and smoother operations.

Effortless influencer collaborations

Finding the right influencers doesn’t have to be a guessing game. With AI, restaurants can:

• Analyze engagement rates and audience demographics
• Identify influencers who genuinely align with your brand
• Streamline collaborations that bring real value

Boosting visibility with voice search optimization

As voice assistants grow in popularity, so does the importance of voice search. AI helps restaurants:

• Optimize for “near me” searches
• Improve local SEO rankings
• Capture spontaneous dining decisions

With 55% of consumers using voice search to find restaurants, this optimization is a must-have for staying competitive.

Smarter, personalized loyalty programs

Forget cookie-cutter coupons. AI-driven loyalty programs use guest data to:

• Create hyper-personalized rewards
• Send tailored offers via email or app notifications
• Encourage repeat visits and build long-term loyalty

Ready to see what AI can do for your restaurant? From automated ad campaigns to smart loyalty programs, Otter’s AI Marketing tools are designed to help you grow faster, work smarter, and deliver the kind of experience that today’s guests expect.

Learn how Otter’s AI Marketing can transform (or create from scratch) your marketing strategy and start increasing your customer base and profits today.