A food delivery app does not have one marketing channel. It has a sequence: install, first order, second order, habit. Most launch plans spend everything on installs and nothing on the second order, then wonder why the dashboard looks busy and the bank account does not.
This 90-day plan assumes one city, one dense launch zone and a limited budget. Adjust the numbers to your market; the structure is the point.
Days 1–30: launch the zone
Goal: 300–500 first orders in one zone, with a repeat rate you can measure.
- Build a zone-specific landing page and app deep link.
- Co-market with 10–15 restaurants: table cards, stories, WhatsApp, bag inserts.
- Run hyperlocal paid social within the zone, with a first-order offer.
- Recruit two campus or apartment ambassadors.
- Seed 10 local creators with a meal and a clear disclosure.
- Set up analytics for install → first order → second order.
Do not expand the zone in the first month. Density is the product.
Days 31–60: fix the leaky bucket
Goal: improve first-to-second order rate and reduce support contacts.
- Send a day-3 and day-10 reorder nudge to first-time customers.
- Launch a simple referral offer with a first-delivered-order condition.
- Ask for a rating after delivery; route unhappy customers to support.
- Publish two zone SEO pages and optimise the Google Business Profile.
- Cut the worst-performing ad creative and double the best.
If the second-order rate is below 20%, fix operations before buying more installs. A late delivery or a missing item will undo a month of acquisition spend.
Days 61–90: scale what works
Goal: profitable repeat orders and a second zone.
- Expand to an adjacent zone only if the first zone is stable.
- Launch a points or prepaid loyalty plan.
- Test a corporate lunch pilot in one office building.
- Build a WhatsApp list and send a weekly menu.
- Run a win-back campaign for customers who have not ordered in 21 days.
| Channel | Share of budget | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlocal paid social | 35–45% | Cost per first order |
| Restaurant co-marketing | 10–15% | Orders per restaurant |
| Local creators | 10–15% | Code redemptions |
| Referrals | 10% | Referred first orders |
| CRM / WhatsApp | 10% | Repeat order rate |
| SEO / content | 10–15% | Organic orders (lagging) |
ASO is not optional
Your app-store listing is a landing page. Use a clear title, screenshots that show food and offers, a short description with local keywords and a review prompt after a successful delivery. Respond to reviews, especially negative ones. A 3.8-star app with unanswered complaints loses installs before the ad is clicked.
The KPIs that matter
- Cost per first order (not install).
- First-to-second order rate within 30 days.
- Orders per active customer per month.
- Contribution per order after discount and delivery.
- Customer acquisition cost payback in months.
- Organic share of new orders.
What to stop doing
Stop broad city-wide awareness campaigns before density. Stop discounting every order; it trains customers to wait for the next promo. Stop measuring installs without activation. And stop scaling a channel before the operations can handle the volume.
See the 12 marketing tactics, the local SEO guide, or the software page.
Marketing mistakes
- Buying installs before the first zone has enough restaurants and riders.
- Measuring cost per install instead of cost per first order.
- Scaling ads while the second-order rate is below 20%.
Fix activation and repeat rate first. A larger top of funnel poured into a leaking bucket is just a bigger loss.