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Founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1999, City Barbeque is a fast-casual BBQ joint that’s built a reputation for its authentic, scratch-made food and warm hospitality. Today, the brand has over 75 locations in 10 states, where its on-site smokehouses operate round-the-clock.
We recently spoke with Annica Conrad, Chief Brand Officer at City Barbeque, who oversees marketing, culinary, off-premise, loyalty, and digital strategy. Her team’s data-driven approach to loyalty and personalization offers a powerful playbook for restaurant brands looking to drive traffic and frequency without relying on discounts.
The broader consumer landscape has grown more challenging for restaurants in recent years. Traffic is down across much of the industry, and even loyal guests are dining out less often. When they do, they expect better food, better experience, and more value for their money—even as inflation has driven up the cost of ingredients and labor for restaurants.
To attract today’s price-sensitive consumers, many brands have resorted to discounts, or shrunk portions to mitigate rising input costs. City Barbeque tried this approach, testing curated value meals and price-point promotions earlier this year. But their guests didn’t bite. “We tried playing in the value space,” said Annica. “But guests didn’t respond. What they want from us is quality.”
Instead, City Barbeque has doubled down on its best-in-class loyalty program, which relies on perks like rewards points or free gifts to drive traffic and frequency. This enables them to compete in today’s market while staying true to their ethos of big portions, handcrafted foods, and no cut corners.
“Our guests still want what they want. They want to indulge,” said Annica. “But they also want to maximize the dollar.”
For a brand of their size, City Barbeque’s industry-leading loyalty program punches far above its weight. Participation rates per location exceed those of Starbucks or Chipotle, and the ROI is clear: Bikky data revealed that its loyalty members spend 134% more annually than non-members.
That stat helped Annica secure internal buy-in from operations colleagues to go all-in on loyalty. Team members at every store are trained on the brand’s mantra of “every guest, every time,” which means asking each guest if they’re a loyalty member at checkout and encouraging them to join if they aren’t. This drives new sign-ups and ensures all orders from existing loyalty members are accurately captured as such.
City Barbeque also recently launched a pilot initiative to turn more first-time visitors into regular customers. When a new guest is identified at the POS, they’re given a scratch-off card with a reward to use on their next visit if they join the loyalty program. Their order is also flagged so a team member can greet them personally and offer free samples. If the guest returns a third time, they’ll also receive a free bottle of City Barbeque’s signature sauce.
The program showcases City Barbeque’s approach to hospitality while also boosting guest engagement and retention—another example of how the brand uses loyalty to reinforce their value proposition, rather than dilute it. As the pilot progresses, the team will use Bikky to measure its impact on return rate, loyalty sign-up rate, and third-visit conversion.
City Barbeque is also using guest data to optimize its marketing campaigns. Instead of batch-and-blast messages, Annica’s team segments audiences based on order history to increase relevance and ROI. Guests who ordered a pastrami LTO last year get notified when it returns; those who pre-ordered Easter meals get an early reminder when preorders open.
The timely, relevant, and personalized messages have proven highly effective. One segmented Easter campaign drove more than $2 in revenue per SMS—over 7x the brand’s average. By implementing simple personalizations like these into marketing campaigns, City Barbeque has generated strong results without relying on discounts.
This approach also supports a culture of experimentation. The team uses Bikky to track what works, iterate quickly, and continually refine their campaigns. “For every 7x ROI campaign, there’s one that flops, and that’s okay,” Annica added. “That's why ‘test and learn’ is our mantra.”
In the second half of 2025, City Barbeque plans to further refine their segmentation strategy, with an eye towards growing catering and take-home sales. They’re targeting guests who buy meat by the pound, sandwiches, or samplers with messaging that fits their habits. They're also tailoring visuals and copy by daypart, showcasing sandwiches at lunch and platters at dinner.
Annica’s advice for other operators looking to strengthen their loyalty and marketing efforts: start with what you already have.
“Even something as simple as past-order segmentation can result in 7x ROI,” she said. “The sooner you start, the sooner you see results.”
The customer data platform built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants.