Go-to-market strategy for QRlink

QRlink is a QR code menu provider for restaurants and the hospitality industry; Although the product was 70% ready, the founder made no attempts to reach potential clients, so my role was to research the Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy and execute campaigns to speak with early clients;

A brief competitive audit revealed that the market was oversaturated with dozens of solutions. Our solution was somewhat simpler compared to competitors, who offered CRM and invoicing services along with QR code menus. To differentiate ourselves, we decided to target resort regions with a higher density of smaller cafes and beach restaurants. As a result, we chose to focus our efforts on countries such as UAE, Costa Rica, Mexico, Goa (India), Bali (Indonesia), Thailand, and similar locations.

My client had zero social accounts for this venture, so I created and warmed up several social accounts from scratch: Facebook profile and page, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter profiles, and also WhatsApp for B2B outreach. Of course, there were a few bumps along the way—some accounts got banned, but that's just part of the game. The most successful part was a Facebook profile with over 700 followers that looked really professional. I also enriched the profiles with articles, memes, and job postings, and ran campaigns in social groups to simulate high activity for the startup.

GIven that all restaurants place their venues in Facebook and Instagram, I first contacted them via Facebook pages, Instagram direct messaging and whatsapp cold mailing. I took over 130 restaurants into funnel in seven countries trying to message them directly or via comments. The result was poor while we received mostly negative replies and companies ignored us. The successful path was cold calling which allowed to get feedback from 15 restaurants on the first week, mostly in the UAE.

I found out that the best marketing channel for restaurants was cold calling. Managers of restaurants and bars in the UAE spoke good English and were open to talking with strangers.

The social media and messenger strategy was wrong because restaurant owners rarely managed the social media accounts of the company, and on-site managers were not motivated to discuss anything outside of table orders.

The sales cycle appeared to be long, as we were catching decision-makers, and in most cases, they were not motivated to make quick decisions on this topic. Most restaurants received QR code menus via IT vendors that provided all sorts of software and automations.

The client gained an understanding of the best-performing marketing and sales channels.

We received real feedback from 16 restaurants, provided details about our software to several restaurants, and determined if they had a QR code menu at present.

The client received social media infrastructure to further represent the product in social media and outreach profiles.

751 Facebook follower;

120 Facebook friends;

4597 views: social article reach (via paid ads);

Over 8000 Instagram profile reach (via paid ads);