Restaurants – You Need Email Marketing! (Part Two)
In part one of this post we explored what an email marketing plan can do for your restaurant. Now the hard part; implementing and building your restaurant email marketing strategy.
First, let’s answer some questions you probably have;
How do I start my restaurant’s email marketing?
Before you do anything else, start collecting email addresses. This is the most difficult and valuable step of your plan. Here are a few ideas to begin your collection;
- Keep every business card. Suppliers and sales people can be customers too!
- Have a printer print up business card size paper forms announcing your news and information emails to begin soon. Give one of these small slips with each check and place in a prominent place. The customer fills out their email address and gives to your server.
- Watch every email you received for a return email address and addresses of other people that may be copied on the original.
- Scan local publications and advertisements for email addresses of people within your marketing area. People who publish their email addresses cannot claim they are being spammed when they invite communications.
How do I manage and send my emails?
If you are a computer nerd and have a good grasp on emailing, lists and graphics, then by all means do it yourself. For the rest of us, explore the many online services that do all of the major work for you. These services provide email list management tools, templates that are designed for the restaurant industry and easily customized. They offer a broad range of options and reports that is important to your planning. A couple of links to check out are Constant Contact, iContact and aweber Communications. Each of these are reputable companies and have all the support and help you need. They cost from $15 to $30 per month, depending on the size of your email list and other features you use. One other option is to buy a software package that can be installed on your computer to do the same thing as the services, at least to a point. These are inexpensive, but must be reviewed carefully.
What about spamming?
No one likes spam. The services mentioned above do not allow spam. All are “opt-in” emails which means that the email addresses must be from someone who has requested communications. Each email will have an “opt-out” choice or unsubscribe link. You cannot buy an email list and use it to spam the Internet community.
After getting organized with the steps above, you need to plan your strategy for the individual communications. The more valuable your email is, the more attention your customers will pay to your communication. Most online services have a lot of detail on creating good email content, but here are a few ideas;
- Create a monthly newsletter that has regular features like a recipe, customer interviews, pictures, events calendars, promotions and trends in food or beverages.
- Always keep you main article fresh and to the point.
- Offer links to other sites that may support your material.
Many of your suppliers can offer product details and food trend data that can be helpful. Let them know about your email marketing and ask them to send information that may be included in your communication. Get their email addresses!
Finally, setup a schedule for regular email contact. Don’t be afraid to send intermittent emails highlighting something new, different or timely. Don’t spam with junk.
You cannot use email marketing as a quick-fix for major marketing problems, but as a long term growth strategy, restaurants will find email marketing is the answer.
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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Friday I was searching for Blogs related to email topics but more specifically to email marketing example. I found your blog and find it intersting.