Dave’s Hot Chicken Drives a 2X ROAS and 7.8% Sales Lift

Read how Dave's Hot Chicken used GroundTruth's location-based and audience-based targeting strategies in order to drive return on ad spend (ROAS) and increase sales lift.

Dave’s Hot Chicken has topped many lists as one of America’s fastest growing restaurant chains.

They met their match when they teamed up with GroundTruth to help support, sustain, and accelerate results for the brand with targeted media and measurable results.

Since teaming up, Dave’s Hot Chicken has leveraged GroundTruth’s targeted media products across mobile and social channels to support various initiatives, campaigns, and drive results at multiple locations.

Let's explore Dave's Hot Chicken's initial campaign with GroundTruth which focused on driving a consistent influx of foot traffic from both new and returning customers to specific locations in key markets.

Real-World Behaviors

The targeting approach utilized a mix of real-time location and audience-based targeting strategies.
Some of the real-time targeting strategies included connecting with audiences within the retail block of a Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurant (Retail Block Targeting) and devices within a five-mile radius to the target locations via Proximity Targeting.
They also tapped into GroundTruth’s Neighborhoods Targeting solution, which focuses on audiences within specific geographical zones that show a higher affinity to the target location.
Due to Dave’s Hot Chicken’s emphasis on attracting new and returning customers, the audience targeting tactic was highly strategic. Their focus was on engaging both loyal patrons of their restaurants and visitors to their major competitors, aiming to entice “switchers” to give Dave’s Hot Chicken a try. They also reached proprietary GroundTruth Behavioral Audiences and layered in third-party audiences as well.

Real Business Results

Within a month-long campaign, Dave’s Hot Chicken was able to drive almost 1,400 diners to their locations within three key metropolitan cities.
Of the visits driven, 75% came from new or infrequent visitors with the remaining 25% coming from a mix of moderate to high-frequency visitors.
The campaign yielded a 2X return on ad spend and a 7.8% average increase in sales for the client. This success was attributed to hyper-local and precise targeting, reducing ad waste and enhancing their engagement with relevant audiences.
By the Numbers
0 X

return on ad spend

0 %

average sales lift in markets
supported by GroundTruth media

The buzz and rapid growth that Dave’s Hot Chicken has had since day one has been an incredible benefit for the brand, but we still have the opportunity to reach more potential guests that may not have heard about us yet or for whom we just aren’t top of mind yet. So, our goal has been to do just that by building a strong, foundational media infrastructure.

GroundTruth has been a great partner for us in that effort. They helped us get in front of the most relevant audiences on multiple screens while providing transparency into the true impact of our media on things that matter like in-person visits, sales, and return on ad spend, all of which allow us to make more efficient and strategic marketing decisions.

Brad Haley
CMO, Dave’s Hot Chicken

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