The customer experience at your restaurant also includes communication outside your actual place. The way a customer interacts with your business on social media and emails is of course a part of their experience. Emails are one of the most common modes of communication in the present age and using them as a marketing tool is much more than just sending out emails to your customers. An email creator is used as a channel to connect with your customers and promote your product or service. Hence, if you are not using an email marketing platform already, you are missing out on a chance to join the conversation.
When you use emails to promote your restaurant, you have complete control over how you communicate with your audience. From the feel and designs to the actual message, you are in charge of how your restaurant is viewed. You cannot control who interacts with your posts on social media platforms. However, promoting your restaurant with email marketing is not like that. With the emails being sent to your email list, you target an audience who has already interacted with you and agreed to receive messages from you. This is also your chance to introduce a personality into your brand and inject it into your customers as well.
Email marketing for restaurants is not only an effective way to connect with your past customers, but you can also entice new customers through it to come and see what you are all about. Moreover, this mode of promotion is inexpensive with a high return on investment. Unlike paid advertisements, you do not need to increase your budget to reach your target audience. All you need to do is to compose an email via an email creator and send it. Additionally, the lack of popularity of email marketing in restaurants gives you an easy chance to stand out from the competition.
Thus, take a look at these email marketing strategies and get your restaurant stand up to its competitors.
Before you start sending emails
Email marketing just like any other marketing technique requires you to take some actions before you can actually start implementing the strategy. Before you can start sending out emails to your customers, there are a few steps that need to be taken care of.
To make your life easier, you can create your own, professional emails via the PosterMyWall email creator and customizable email templates. Regardless of the tool you use to create your restaurant email, the rules given below apply.
Build an email list
The first step for email marketing is to build an email list for your restaurant. There are many ways to get the emails for your restaurant’s email marketing list. You can get them through a subscription form on your website or askingit in exchange for your restaurant’s free wifi, etc.
While there are multiple ways to get the emails, keep in mind that you cannot just add anyone to your restaurant’s email list. Make sure to have a clear understanding of anti-spam laws before you build the list, as laws in some countries are strict in such matters.
Segment your list
As you accumulate subscribers for your restaurant email marketing, the next step you should take is to segment your email list. Segmenting your list means taking all the subscribers and dividing them into smaller segments based on specific criteria i.e. locations, memberships, previous orders, etc. The idea is to separate your contacts into different groups according to their distinct interests and behaviors. After you are done with segmenting, send personalized emails rather than sending out one single email catering everyone on the list.
Emails your customers want to read
Email marketing is much more than sending a simply composed email to the subscribers. Regardless of the type of email you send to your readers, the goal is to bestow value to the audience. Treat your email subscribers with differently crafted emails to keep them interested in your restaurant. Hence, some entrenched email marketing options will never lose your customer’s interest in your restaurant.
Welcome emails
A welcome email is the first email you send as part of any email marketing campaign – regardless of whether the receiver subscribes to your emails or not. This email is exactly as it sounds– it is to welcome a new customer to your loyal customer family. Other than the obvious welcome message, let your customers know how often they will hear from your restaurant. More than 70% of people open a welcome email, so this is a chance for you to strengthen your restaurant as a brand and the perception of it.
Not Your Average Joe’s welcome email
A well-known restaurant chain, Not Your Average Joe’s (NYAJ) entices its customers with incredible focaccia and dipping sauces. The significance of a welcome email can be perceived from this email by NYAJ. They are ensuring each and every customer receiving this email that they are a respected guest. The email has a clear call to action inviting the receivers to make a reservation while providing all the necessary information and resources to come in and get a meal.
Celebration emails
The best part about collecting guest data is that you will know the special dates they celebrate. Celebration emails are sent to guests when they have an upcoming birthday, an anniversary, and even to make them remember the first time they were at your restaurant. This email is not sent to everyone on your email list. Instead, guest data is used to identify specific guests you want to target and compose an email just for them.
You can use the same templates from an email creator over and over. However, make sure to change the name each time you send an email to a different customer. Since you must be already aware of what they like to eat or drink at your restaurant, you can offer them a complimentary dessert or a gift card to use when they make their reservation. Show your guests that you are considerate and encourage them to come again.
Lincoln Ristorante’s celebration email
Lincoln Ristorante knows that their customers love a party, and who does not? The strength of this celebratory email lies in its simplicity. Less is sometimes more – especially when the call to action is as clear and brief as sending out a party invitation. Lincoln Ristorante knows exactly that it is their food because of which their customers keep coming back for more, and they use it adequately to market themselves. Combine a bold CTA with a clever design and you can have a memorable celebratory marketing email for your restaurant as well.
Promotional emails
Unlike discounts, promotions do not devalue your restaurant. Promotional emails are sent to offer an incentive for making a reservation and increase consumer expenditure by encouraging add-ons. If you experience slow days at your restaurant, this type of marketing email is a great way to get people to enter your door. The holidays may seem like the prime time to launch a promotional email campaign, but make sure to have a look at your previous reservations before doing so. If you are usually booked during the holidays, save this email campaign for slower months.
Promotional emails are all about selling a product or service. Ensure that the call to action and the offer are clearly mentioned in the email drafted. The email you send out should consist of a promotional offer in the subject line to increase the view rate.
Legal Sea Foods promotional email
Some emails have a more direct purpose than others. This email from Legal Sea Foods is a prompt to get in touch with the restaurant in a new and convenient way. They are offering their customers a new idea – get your favorite legal experience in the comfort of your home, with a discount that they would not commonly see at their brick and mortar outlets. The restaurant is aware that its regular customers might enjoy the experience of dining at their own place. The focus of their emails is now to promote a different side of their business, which is a proficient form of promotion.
Win-back emails
Think of a win-back email and get the guests back at your restaurant. Use the data to identify which one of your customers have not made a reservation in a while. Design a personalized email using an email creator and let them know they are missed.
Such emails are not for new customers. They are specifically for your frequent customers who have not visited your place in a while. If you think this type of email is too obtrusive, wait until it comes to a special date for them, combine a celebration email with a win-back email and send it out.
California Tortilla uses win-back email
Personalization is the greatest not-so-secret weapon of email marketing. Adding a customer’s name and personalizing it is a foolproof way to make them feel like a member of your loyal customer family. California Tortilla takes a step ahead in personalization by not only addressing their customer by name but also including a promotional offer of a free burrito. Any restaurant can send emails to win back their customers, but to infuse their unique personality in that email is the real deal.
Try the PosterMyWall email creator
You are wrong if you think you have to do all of this work on your own. Just like other marketing tools, there are several email marketing software (also known as email service platforms) available for businesses to use. Email service platforms are specifically designed to help businesses build their email lists and send emails to their subscribers. They can also help you grow your email list, design and customize email templates, create targeted campaigns, and much more. Most business email marketing software offer plans based on the number of people on your emailing list.
PosterMyWall offers exceptional email marketing tools that you can use to create and launch an email campaign for your restaurant. It is an email creator that has a variety of email newsletter templates with a separate email template builder as well. Our email creator will provide you with a remarkable experience of email template customization. Add your mailing lists, then publish or schedule your emails for timely delivery.
Additionally, we offer the Content Planner to help you plan and schedule your email campaigns in advance. The Content Planner calendar will help you keep track of campaigns easily.
Conclusion
Implementing any marketing strategy without clear goals is a waste of time, effort, and money. While drafting your email campaign might be a bit technical for you, designing your email is a chance for you to let your creativity shine. Not only is email marketing used to connect with your customers, but it is also a chance for your restaurant to inject its personality and establish itself as a brand.
Of course, marketing your restaurant goes much further than just launching email marketing campaigns. To learn more about email marketing, you can read the blog post “A simple guide to getting started with email marketing” on PosterMyWall.
Nevertheless, to start interacting with new customers and reconnecting with the old ones, start promoting your restaurant with email marketing now and stop missing out on this massive opportunity.
Senior editor at PosterMyWall.
