Email Marketing Ideas For Restaurants And Bars
In the increasingly saturated food service industry, the need to find a way to quickly and easily promote your restaurant or bar is as important as ever.
Fortunately, email marketing remains one of the most profitable forms of online marketing available to small businesses today. Here are a few easy ideas to leverage the power of email marketing to serve up your establishment to customers.
Promote daily happy hours and specials
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much these email campaigns will set you apart from your local competitors. Keeping a constant presence in the minds of your customers will not only help you boost foot traffic during the slow periods, but build a lasting relationship with your customers that will keep them coming back time and time again. As a bonus, create a sense of urgency in your «happy hour» emails by posting a limit to your incredible offer. Half price drinks for the first 50 people to mention this email.
According to the NPD Group, deals and offers drive more than 1/3 of the decisions about where to dine out when the internet is used in the decision making process.
Spread the word about positive reviews
The secret is out, and reviews matter. From Yelp to Google, customers and potential customers have no shortage of resources for accessing reviews about your establishment that are more or less out of your control. Take some of the power back by leveraging email marketing to not only spread the word about the glowing reviews you’ve received, but solicit new ones on the 3rd party review sites.
According to restaurant.org, 57% of adults use technology to read restaurant reviews on apps or websites.
An occasional email newsletter highlighting some of the great positive experiences guests have had in your restaurant or bar goes a long way towards establishing trust and favorably positioning your brand. In addition, a targeted email campaign to recent customers asking for a review on a website like yelp is a great way to spread the wealth. If the guests enjoyed their time at your place, they’ll be happy to write a quick review. Of course, you can always sweeten the deal a bit by offering a discount or promo of some sort on their next visit in exchange for the favor.
If you wouldn’t serve it, don’t send it
Appearance is important. Just like the cleanliness of your restaurant or the way your food and drinks are served to the customers, the way your email looks is a direct representation of your business. Your recipients are constantly on the go, using their smartphones for email more and more each day. Make sure your email campaigns are responsive, meaning their layout adjusts based on the device the recipient is using. It would be pretty difficult to showcase that brilliant new dish if the user has to pinch and zoom just to try to see what it is! If you need some inspiration, feel free to check out our free email newsletter templates for restaurants and bars.
Collect emails at the table
Sure, these ideas all sound great in theory – but without a solid contact list to work from, they will simply remain theories. Fortunately for you, restaurant and bar patrons are a captive audience! There are countless creative ways to build your email database, but you can start with simply asking! Leave a note on each table with a link for guests to subscribe from their smartphones while they are waiting for their food in exchange for a couple of dollars off their check, or simply because they want to receive your specials and promotions in the future! Take a more customer-service oriented approach by having a member of your staff make the rounds checking on customer satisfaction while holding a tablet with a signup form. I’m glad you enjoyed everything so much. Why don’t you sign up for our email list here to make sure you receive our discounts and promotions for your next visit!?
Email marketing for restaurants and bars has never been easier, thanks to Mailify’s intuitive software, massive email newsletter template library, and free live support. Plus, your first 1,000 emails are free – just create an account to get started.
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