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How to Utilize Email Marketing As a Small Restaurant Owner
- By Michael Bryksa
- Published 12/29/2011
- Unrated
Michael Bryksa
In need of restaurant marketing tips from a true expert? Visit our website at Restaurant Marketing for more information on modern and up-to-date restaurant marketing strategies and techniques.
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There's a lot of social media involved nowadays when it comes to restaurant marketing. Everyone wants a piece of Twitter, a slice of Facebook, a sip of LinkedIn. Restaurant owners seem to think as if the only legit way to market their restaurant is to get involved in social media.
But here is the thing, social media is just one aspect of online restaurant marketing. There's another, equally effective way of marketing your restaurant, and it goes by the name of email marketing. When used right email marketing could be just as beneficial to your restaurant business as an ad on Google. So restaurant owners ask, how do you use email marketing right?
Here are some tips on how to make email marketing work for your restaurant business.
1. Ask customers to sign up
What's the point of an email marketing campaign if you don't have anyone to send anything? At the same time, you need people who like to eat at your restaurant; those emails are worth nothing if customers have no plans to come back a second time. Use promos such as a 10% discount on their next visit if they fill up a survey form that asks for their email address.
2. Avoid spam emails
There are requested emails and there are unrequested emails. Unrequested emails are also know as—you guessed it—spam email, and we all know spam email is the last thing we want to see when we open our personal inbox
in the morning. Make sure to tell your customers you're receiving their email addresses and that they can expect to hear about the latest promos and events at your restaurant through their email.
3. Make your emails useful to your customers
The first thing that pops in the customer's mind once they see your email in their inbox is the question, "What's in it for me?" Too many restaurant owners seem to think it's okay to send out emails every week talking about themselves or their restaurant business. But then, what's in it for your customers? Why should they care to open your email and invest two minutes of their morning reading it? In the words of Don Corleone, give them an offer they can't refuse with every email you send out.
4. When sending out emails, stick to a set schedule
Sending out too many emails could result to fewer customers. That's a fact. Spam isn't just about emails with no offers. It's also about opening your personal inbox and finding an unread and unrequested email from a restaurant you visited last week two out of three times. A good rule of the thumb is to send out emails twice a month, or once a week at most. Now observe this schedule and stick to it.
Email marketing is a double-edged sword – it could either make or break your business depending on how you plan to swing it into action. Follow the above tips and you should be reaping the benefits in no time. Or else, do your restaurant business a favor and don't bother with email marketing at all.
But here is the thing, social media is just one aspect of online restaurant marketing. There's another, equally effective way of marketing your restaurant, and it goes by the name of email marketing. When used right email marketing could be just as beneficial to your restaurant business as an ad on Google. So restaurant owners ask, how do you use email marketing right?
Here are some tips on how to make email marketing work for your restaurant business.
1. Ask customers to sign up
What's the point of an email marketing campaign if you don't have anyone to send anything? At the same time, you need people who like to eat at your restaurant; those emails are worth nothing if customers have no plans to come back a second time. Use promos such as a 10% discount on their next visit if they fill up a survey form that asks for their email address.
2. Avoid spam emails
There are requested emails and there are unrequested emails. Unrequested emails are also know as—you guessed it—spam email, and we all know spam email is the last thing we want to see when we open our personal inbox
3. Make your emails useful to your customers
The first thing that pops in the customer's mind once they see your email in their inbox is the question, "What's in it for me?" Too many restaurant owners seem to think it's okay to send out emails every week talking about themselves or their restaurant business. But then, what's in it for your customers? Why should they care to open your email and invest two minutes of their morning reading it? In the words of Don Corleone, give them an offer they can't refuse with every email you send out.
4. When sending out emails, stick to a set schedule
Sending out too many emails could result to fewer customers. That's a fact. Spam isn't just about emails with no offers. It's also about opening your personal inbox and finding an unread and unrequested email from a restaurant you visited last week two out of three times. A good rule of the thumb is to send out emails twice a month, or once a week at most. Now observe this schedule and stick to it.
Email marketing is a double-edged sword – it could either make or break your business depending on how you plan to swing it into action. Follow the above tips and you should be reaping the benefits in no time. Or else, do your restaurant business a favor and don't bother with email marketing at all.
