Restaurants – You Need Email Marketing! (Part One)
Let’s make this personal – restaurateur to restaurateur. If you haven’t embarked on a email marketing plan, do it now. Of all the hundreds of things that I have used in the last 15 years, this is the best long term restaurant marketing tool that has all the marketing elements a restaurant needs. The benefits include;
- Customer retention and feedback.
- Results tracking.
- Immediate, timely communication.
- Inexpensive and far more productive than newspaper or direct mail advertising.
Don’t be fooled by the hype, email marketing is not an easy fix to short term problems. It will take you six months to develop a viable email list, but the results will be dramatic as your list grows. It will seem like a waste of time at first as the email addresses are collected a few at a time. They add up. After a little more than six months, one of my operations has over 700 valid emails. That number may seem small to you, but what other tool do you have to know you are communicating directly with 700 guests?
Here are just a few of the ways you can develop new business, retain loyal customers and improve the bottom line;
- Emails can focus on your weaknesses. For instance, if your restaurant sits only half full between 4 and 6 PM, you can build business by offering food and beverage specials offered only during those times.
- Not doing well with desserts and appetizers? Send an email that features new emphasis on a revitalized appetizer and/or dessert menu.
- Want to use coupons? Email marketing is the way to get them in the hands of people who will respond to them. (Author’s Note: I am not a big fan of coupons. However, I recognize the value they serve for certain types of restaurants.)
- Brand reminders. Where are your customers getting their information about restaurants? Are they dining somewhere else tonight, just because they didn’t think about you?
- Restaurant emails allow you to focus on high margin menu items and new products.
- Want to draw a crowd quickly? Ask a wine distributor to set up a wine tasting next week. You can fill the restaurant with the offer of free wine information and samples – all at no cost to you. Can you put this together with any other restaurant advertising method for under 10 bucks?
The year 2008 may go down in restaurant history as the most challenging year in decades for the food service business. Rising food costs, unprecedented gasoline prices and a possible recession have seen the big chains and independents suffer lower sales, meager profits and many closed doors. My operations have seen double digit increases in sales and traffic counts. I attribute that mostly to the email marketing we developed a little over six months ago.
If you start now, by the end of the year, you may be able recoup and loss of business you have seen in the first part of the year. Don’t expect magic and it won’t happen without a plan and the desire to follow through.
In Part 2 of this post, you will get a “how-to” plan to implement your restaurant email marketing. Look for it in the next day or two. You can also find more complete details in The Restaurant Ebook along with over a hundred other business building ideas.
Larry Edger, Author
The Restaurant Ebook
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[...] Email – Perhaps the most cost effective and best tool available today is the use of email to keep in touch with your customers. As long as you keep the communication valuable to the recipient, it will drive more business to your restaurant than any other single tool. If you need more information how to implement this marketing program read more here. [...]