Here are the top 9 email marketing ideas for your restaurant business

The following novel ideas will have crowds flocking to your restaurant. Sounds silly, isn’t it? However, the madness of E-mail does fetch results. Offer your customers a chance to access your E-Mail and reward them for this task.

The following methods will help your sluggish restaurant business grow.

4 Ps and Purposeful E-Mails

Why does most restaurant E-Mail marketing campaign fail? They focus only on promotions.  No doubt, it is a great promotion after all, but like any other advertisement, these too do not come for free. Monotony sets in for guests like the discounts during happy hours, reserving more than two tables,   so on and so forth. Change for the better.

The 4 Ps – Promotional, Perfectly Timed, Preview or Personal can be added with 3 more reasons to the promotional campaign.

• Promotional- As a matter of fact, the E-mail is a great way to promote your products and services, nevertheless if handled with a little creativity; it will go a take your business to the next level.
• Perfectly Timed- Appropriately timed campaigns work well like festival season, weather conditions, time of the day etc.
• Preview- Sneak peeks through E-mails can make the guest feel at home indicating the status of a good restaurant.
• Personal- Utilize the appropriate power of automation tool for E-mail marketing to place your restaurant on the popularity pedestal.

Perfectly Timed Templates For Restaurant E-mail Marketing

Generally, timing is very significant and the essence for restaurant E-mail marketing

• Slow Night Strategy

Sluggish nights at restaurants can be compensated with the following:

Timing: The morning of your slowest night.

Punch Line: Do you plan to skip cooking tonight and have dinner in our restaurant?

Body Line: Present this E-mail copy to your server for a complimentary starter/appetizer

Graphic Image: A clear and high definition picture of your starter/appetizer

Call to Action: Like typical online marketing concept, link the starter/appetizer to the Menu.

• Bad Weather Not Always Bad

Your restaurant E-mail marketing is linked to forecasting, not quite particularly, but you can skillfully tap for your benefit viz., a clear forecast for big sales.

Timing: When weather forecast for a chilly day

Punch Line: Welcome….get hot and tasty food served by us in this chilly environment.

Body Line: Come to partake our special and complimentary items this season.

Graphic Image: Smoke emitting and mouth-watering high-quality images of your sumptuous dishes can be presented.

Call to Action: Make provision to accept online reservation.

• Wild Days of the Year

Take a cue of a crazy and quirky holiday concept.

Timing: Around mid-December.

Punch Line: Come December, you have great reasons to celebrate with us to pamper your taste buds.

Body Line: Follow the aroma of some chicken savories emanating from our kitchen.

Graphic Image: High-resolution images of the best ones in your menu card.

Call to Action: Online reservation can be entertained.

• It is Your Day of the Week

Take command of a day of the week with restaurant E-Mail marketing that goes into popular hashtags viz., Marvelous Mondays, Tasty Tuesdays, Wine and Whiskey Wednesdays, Thrilling Thursdays, Fiery Fridays, Scintillating Saturdays, and Sumptuous Sundays. Present different pictures of the best dishes to woo customers. Use E-Mail and other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook etc. to leave a mark on the customers.

Timing: Every day, throughout the week.

Punch Line: As mentioned above.

Body Line: Nothing special uses trendy words or stroke your brain to compose something cheerful and perky sentences to stir up the customers.

Graphic Image: You may try out any of these apps to overlay quotes on your photos.

Call to Action: Take a look at our Whiskey and Wine List (Link to your List)

• Bash….Revel in Merrymaking Like Your Birthday:

Include your customers’ personal details, in the form that you would present them when they visit your restaurant.  Wish them on their birthdays, which make them endearing.  Make it a standard practice and see the guests thronging to your restaurant to party.

Timing: Nearly a week before the customer’s birthday.

Punch Line: A little bird informed about your birthday….advance Happy Birthday wishes!”

Body Line: It would be our privilege to celebrate your birthday at our restaurant. We shall reserve a table for your family with complimentary drinks. Cheers!

Graphic Image: an Instagram compatible picture with a candle on your popular dessert will make things appealing.

Call to Action: If the online reservation is possible, go ahead.

•  Interest-creation:

Segmented lists are the order of the day for E-Mail marketing for your restaurant. Creating E-Mail Segmentation means categorizing and indexing E-Mail subscriber lists that are based on customer interests. Get the automated tools through ESPs

Timing: Choose an appropriate time during an event, sports or festival

Punch Line: Be part of the event and festivity

BodyLine: Be our guest and catch the on-going event live on the giant screen over a mug of the bear. Also, participate in contests.

Graphic Image: Appropriate and attractive graphics and pictures will work well.

Call to Action: Get online reservation done if there is provision.

It has been found that guests love the preferential treatment and being first to know about any forthcoming events. Preview E-mails are a great way of marketing restaurant E-mail idea.

• All New Entertainment

Launch restaurant E-mail marketing campaigns by focusing on the importance of game and entertainment for the whole family.

Timing: Look for a suitable time when a motley crowd of guests is dining and select themes accordingly.

Punch Line: Fun while dining ….take a glimpse at our digital area.

Body Line: We are back with our popular games-on-demand along with our popular food loved by our patrons. Fill your heart with our all new tasty items from our menu.

Graphic Image: Use some working pictures of your staff trying out the new games

Call to Action: See the Games

• All New Menu Items

Always make your guests feel they are important. By receiving your restaurant E-mail messages – stay in touch with them regularly.

Timing: Just before launching a new menu.

Punch Line: For your eyes only … the all-new menu

Body Line: Come, Winter. Take a fresh taste of the season and taste our all-new menu when it hits tables this Wednesday.

Graphic Image: Exclusive photographs of your new items from your menu.

Call to Action: Post the New Menu online.

• The concept of Latest Amenities, Services Including Bonus & Offer For a Limited Time!

Do you have any plans in the offing about sending out a press release about a new service or amenity? Program your restaurant E-mail marketing to go out during the same period. This big news coming directly from you will make your customers feel special.

Timing: During reorganizing, create a room for big groups, open a patio and begin catering.

Do not let out the nitty-gritty of improvements and changes of your restaurant by E-mail to your guests. The improvement must benefit the customer – otherwise, do not bother to include it in your restaurant E-mail marketing.

Punch Line: We are gratified…we cater to your needs….literally!

Body Line: You demand and we have home delivery facility… even to your office! We take pleasure to inform about our catering service. Our early bird offer for the first 10 catering order booking with us will enjoy a great discount up to 15 – 20%. Come to grab them!

Graphic Image: Include catering events done in the past as a testimony.

Call to Action: Have a look at the Catering Menu

5 Ways to Instantly Build Your Email List

It is considered unethical to send E-mails to anyone; it is illegal too. Reputed restaurants will not adopt such E-mail marketing method as sending E-mails is generally permission-based. Follow these 5 easy ways to grab those email addresses morally.

• Free Wi-Fi: The practice of giving away your free Wi-Fi password is incorrect. Use software that asks for the customer’s E-mail in exchange for their using free Wi-Fi.
• Reward Sign Ups: Consider offering free Wi-Fi as a reward. Make the award meaningful with other rewards such as for joining your restaurant E-mail marketing list.  You could offer a coupon for a free dessert or starter.  In other words, you are seeking permission for getting customers’ E-mail address.
• Incentive To Servers: Offer rewards to your servers for collecting E-mails at the end of the meal. Train them to gently remind the guests about the sign-up reward.
• In-House Promotion: Woo your guests by using eye-catching digital signage to inform about joining your restaurant E-mail marketing list. Gently remind them of the sign-up reward! By using your ESP to create a “triggered E-mail” when someone signs up, you are promoting and ensuring the guest gets a sign-up reward to redeem immediately.
• Online Promotion: Become tech savvy by using your website and Facebook page to get E-mail signups. Facebook makes it easy by allowing you to configure your Facebook page to show a “sign up” button. Link it directly to your email signup page and go to the next level!

E-mails marketing of some elite and niche restaurants start with self-reflection. Prioritize E-mails that merit attention. How often do you wish to hear from businesses? You could apply some of the golden rules to your restaurant E-mail marketing ideas. The inboxes of your guests are important. Treat them like yours. Gradually, you will understand that it is not just about sales, it is about building a lasting bond with customers…the customer relationship is very vital which makes them visit you again and again!