Best Email Marketing Hacks For Restaurants

Restaurant email marketing hacks are a great savior for restaurant business owners.

By applying some of the simplest restaurant email marketing hacks, restaurant owners can improve brand value, engage customers, and improve their ROI.

This article discusses the best restaurant email marketing hacks that are tried and tested. Let’s begin!

Why Restaurant Email Marketing is Necessary?

Just because you run a brick and mortar business doesn’t mean you should only rely on word of mouth.

And even if you are thinking digitally, you think you need a huge fancy Instagram account with lots of followers, that’s awesome too but there’s a better way.

And nope, you don’t have to plaster Facebook ads all over the internet.

And your Facebook account is not the only platform that can make you win online.

There’s a highly cost-effective way that will give you lots of ROI as long as you have a great strategy: Email Marketing!

Yes, email marketing is great for other businesses, but how about those who run restaurants, how can they possibly gain from sending emails or building an email list?

Restaurant email marketing is necessary because:

• It lets your restaurant business stand distinct amongst your competitors.
• You attract easily new customers to your restaurant both online and offline.
• It helps you to retain your existing customers.
• You can understand the likes of your customers and it lets you serve your customers better.

Advantages of Restaurant Email Marketing

There’s absolutely no reason for you not to start an email marketing campaign for your restaurants.

Below are the numerous benefits of email marketing for your restaurants:

• Unlike other platforms, this is your personal customer data and independent of any third-party platforms. Therefore your personal property.

• So, if Instagram decides to vanish tomorrow, you still have a way to connect with your customers.

• It has a high rate of ROI: Email marketing produces $44 for every $1 spent. Therefore It costs almost nothing in comparison to the ROI.

• It gives you the opportunity and capability to engage with your customers. You can update them about changes in your restaurant and track their preferences. There are several free email autoresponders that let you send emails according to user actions. For example, if someone checks in to see the online menu, you can send an email offering them a 20% discount on their first order.

• It helps you build a long term relationship with your customers: When you send personalized and relevant emails to your customers, you deepen your relationship. You can also get feedback from your customers with email marketing.

• It is a more personalized approach: When you have your customer’s email, they often consent to receive them. Unlike social media that’s generic, emails are personal.

• It can help improve your brand image: When your email marketing strategy is a bomb, the way your brand is perceived changes. Because you cater to your customers in a creative and personalized way, they begin to recommend you.

• You get to be on your customer’s radar: Since you now appear on their inboxes, you don’t become history, your name begins to etch on their minds and be reminded of you whenever they need your restaurant services. Provided you made a good impression.

• You give your customers a reason to keep coming back, when you follow up and update them with a variety of offers and restaurant specials, they will be motivated to keep visiting your restaurant or order from your website.

• By tracking the opening rates of your emails and the responses you get from these emails, you get to know who your customers are.

• You get to drive traffic to your website and even your social media profiles

• If part of your restaurant services is taking orders, through your regular updates they will be promoted to make orders and view other offers on your website.

• Customers feel prioritized: Your email marketing campaign can give customers a sense of exclusivity. And when you send emails focused on how you can serve them, they will be happy you went the extra mile to serve them.

• If you have got a loyalty program or intend to set up one, you can integrate it with your email marketing.

So, as you can see, email marketing is really beneficial for your restaurant business

But the real question is, how can you make sure your email marketing campaign is bringing results and remains effective.

Restaurant Email Marketing Hacks To Increase Email Signups

Here are the top 25 restaurant email marketing hacks you can apply to your campaign. These hacks are segmented to a particular category. Let’s dive in:

Hack#1- Entice Sign-ups on your Website

Through the use of your chosen EMS, create an opt-in form that will pop up when someone visits your website or a strong CTA under the site content.

Remember to attach an incentive to encourage sign-ups, create a lead magnet that you will offer in exchange for their email addresses, your incentive should be something they can access immediately, not a futuristic promise.

Here’s an example from RubyTuesday:

Tell them to sign up in exchange for special discounts, exclusive deals, a free meal or even an ebook that is food-related.

Or give them a sense of exclusivity, tell them to sign up to be part of something special like a VIP club or an insider in comparison to a generic newsletter, that’s too common and it’s so cliche. 

You are trying to outshine the pack right? Don’t leave any stone unturned, pay attention to each detail of the restaurant email marketing. 

Hack#2- Encourage Sign-ups on your Social Media Profiles

If you have a healthy amount of growth on social media, then get your followers to sign up to your email list, because email subscribers are more valuable to your business than followers.

Promote your incentive, whether it’s the lead magnet, special offers, exclusive deals, coupon codes whatever it is that will prompt them to exchange their email addresses. 

Remember people are more likely to take action if there’s something in it for them, so don’t just tell them to sign up with zero push from you.

If it’s on Instagram, insert the link in your bio, create a post for it, share it on your stories, and embed them on the highlights.

Hack#3- Have a Landing Page to Capture Emails

You need a landing page to capture these email addresses. 

Your landing page also contributes largely to the number of signups you get, for example, if your landing page is distracting with different navigation bars or has zero appeal to your customers, then you will lose potential subscribers.

Here’s an example from Clubhouse:

Best practices for landing pages

• Keep your landing page layout simple and make it focused on the offer: You have one aim: get their emails, don’t get over ambitious and promote other stuff.

• Have a thank you page: This leaves an impression on your subscribers and makes them look forward to your emails.

• Have testimonials or reviews on your landing page: Encourage your loyal customers to write a short review about your restaurant, from the services to the food, and if you have existing email subscribers, then tell them to send you feedback on your emails.

Hack#4- Select an Email Automation Software

To simplify, automate, track and boost your email marketing efforts, it’s highly important to invest in an EMS.

If you don’t have a budget then you can start with a free email software.

Most EMS packages come with an array of features to make this process as effortless and rewarding as possible.

They grant you tracking and analytics features, email templates, mobile responsive; which is very important because the majority of people open their emails on their smartphones.

Ensure compliance with GDPR and lower your risk of ending up in the spam box.

Set up systems and let the machines do the robotic process for you, you have got better things to do. Your EMS can automate your welcome emails, it can pop up your opt-in and many more.

You can also run tests before going live, like A/B split testing for better results and launch.

There are several email marketing platforms you can select from, however here are a few to consider.

Hack#5- Finally, Automate! Automate! Automate

Marketing Automation Users Experience a 451% Increase in Qualified Leads.

So, do as much automation as you can as possible, the last thing you want is to micromanage every process and be counterproductive in this.

Automated or triggered emails have a 70.5% higher open rate and a 152% higher click-through rate than generic email newsletters. 

Related: Email Automation: Complete Guide

Restaurant Email Marketing Hacks For Email Content Ideas

Hack#6- Exclusive Deals

People love any opportunity to save or gain more on a little amount of money.

Sending exclusive offers, special discounts, coupon codes will not only make your customers happy but entice them to make frequent trips to your restaurants. 

Here’s an example from Burger King, you will have to be part of their email list to claim this offer:

85% of consumers say a deal or discount influences where they choose to eat outside of their homes, and 81% say a deal would make them likely to switch restaurants they planned to dine at.

Send emails of any flash sales, LTOs and digital coupons to your subscribers.

A study revealed that 9 in 10 restaurant-goers have used an online restaurant coupon.

Hack#7- Take Advantage of Special Occasions

One of the major ways special occasions are celebrated is through food, during the holiday seasons or religious celebrations, offer special packages for those occasions. 

Take advantage of these days and celebrate with your customers, New Year, Eid celebrations, Christmas, Engagement parties, birthday bashes, memorial days

Hack#8- Leverage Special Food Days

Just like the special occasions for celebrating people, there are days designated to celebrate food. 

And if you don’t participate or take advantage of these days to serve your customers, then you are losing out on the potential to solidify your customer relationship.

Keep a schedule of these days for references so that you can prepare ahead for them, provide discounts, specials and irresistible offers to entice your customers to celebrate with you.

And even remind them of these days because they are more likely to forget. 

With tons of food days you can fill your content calendar with content ideas, but be careful of crowding your subscriber’s inboxes, remember to keep it at a medium.

Hack#9- Send Birthday Anniversaries

Nothing will make a customer feel super cared for like a business remembering their special days. 

In your email sign up form, you can have people entering those details, here’s an example from Burger King:

and then configuring it with your EMS to send special birthday messages with a treat, this is even a business opportunity for you. 

You can encourage them to throw a birthday bash with half discounted treats or a free cake, whatever exclusive deal you can afford to offer.

Sending birthday anniversary emails are really powerful for your marketing strategy.

Hack#10-  Share Exclusive Recipes

Share mouth-watering recipes that your subscribers will love, you can even have a day for it, for example, you can call it “Thursday Recipes”. 

You might think that would discourage them from paying attention to your meals, quite the opposite, the more value you are willing to share, the better for your relationship.

Because your customers will feel you have their best interest at heart and when your customer cares for you back that’s gold for your business.

They will recommend your restaurant to their families and friends, if they happen to want to celebrate something special, they will contact you. 

They might even encourage others to sign-up to your email list, earning you more subscribers and customers.

Hack#11- Send Event Announcements

Promote your events, such as food and wine tastings, give them an early exclusive announcement to book their reservations. 

Make your subscribers feel more special by sending them an event discount. 

When you have anything special going on in your restaurant, you can increase awareness and promote it through your email list, for example, you might be hosting a special live performance that day, this will prompt your customers to take a trip to your restaurant.

Hack#12- Share BTS Content 

Take your customers behind the scenes of your restaurant.

Share funny images from daily events, your chef escapades, how you stock foods, your cooking process, send emails that feature BTS highlights of your employees at work. 

You can also show how you source ingredients, your chef’s favorite cooking techniques.

Hack#13- Share Interesting Stories

The power of storytelling is undebatable, share amazing stories that your subscribers will find interesting. 

Stories like the restaurant’s back story, your food experiment disaster, funny stuff that happened in the office, an interesting customer story, food allergy stories and more.

Use that story to highlight some beneficial lessons and services your restaurant offers.

Related: Use Copywriting to Increase Customer Engagement

You will also give context as to how you deal with everyday issues. 

This is a form of entertaining content for your subscribers.

Hack#14- Send CTAs and Reward Actions 

Send your subscribers emails about updating their info, completing their profiles, encouraging further sign-ups from their families and friends.

Incentivize them to execute any of these actions by rewarding them with a freebie, give them something on the house on their next visit or discounts.

Hack#15- Share News and Updates

Extended your restaurant location? Hired a new chef? Made changes to the Menu? Entered a new partnership or collaboration? 

Feed them all of it, this makes your customers feel like family, they are able to grow and follow along your journey. 

This will entice them to come to your restaurant or take online orders to taste these specials.

This creates more meaningful and deep relationships as they are aware of all the things cooking up in your restaurant, they begin to grow a sense of attachment to you.

Restaurant Email Marketing Hacks to Optimize Opening Rates

Hack#16- Write Expert Email Headlines

If your emails won’t be opened then all your email efforts will be fruitless, because most of your customers will open your email based solely on the subject line.

Your headlines play a huge role in the opening rates of your emails, so ask yourself which headline will most likely get your subscribers to open their emails.

Learn to use emojis on your subject headlines to make your subscribers anticipate the content of your email.

Use emojis that perfectly describe your content. Email subject lines having emoji increased open rates by 56%, as compared to text-only subject lines.

It should carry a bit of suspense, it can be an interesting sentence in your email that you don’t finish, subscribers should find it valuable for them.

Don’t write clickbait headlines, only deliver what your headlines embody, it should strike a balance between casual and professional.

No extremes, you don’t want to sound too laid back to be taken seriously or too professional to sound soo businessy and boring.

Just strike a middle.

Experiment with different subject headlines and track what works best for you.

Question-like headlines have also proved to work.

Here are headline stats to help you fine-tune your emails.

• The words “free”, “help”, “percent off”, and “reminder” in a subject line have been found to negatively impact open rates.
• Including a recipient’s name in your email subject line increases open rates by up to 18.30%.
• 82% of marketers send emails with no more than 60 characters in the subject line.

Hack#17- Send Welcome Emails

The average open rate for a welcome email is 82%, now that’s a high rate you don’t want to miss out on.

This email should be sent within 24 hrs of a new subscriber joining your email list. You should take your time to write these emails because this is your first impression and as the old saying goes: it freaking matters.

Introduce yourself, what makes your restaurant special or even how you came about opening it and let your brand personality shine. 

Let them know what they would be expecting and how happy you are to have them on board and inform them of the many exciting content and offers to come their way.

Highlight all the perks that come with being a part of your email list, that means you should have some in place. 

Sound friendly and personal as possible, It is even better if it’s from the tone of the owner than a corporate-ish email. You can take it one step further by asking them a question at the end of the email telling them to hit reply.

For example, you can ask about one food fun fact about them, this will establish a relationship with your customers.

People love to feel connected and personally communicated to, so implement that.

Hack#18- Segment your Email List

Not all your subscribers are the same, so sending exact emails to all your subscribers is very much ineffective.

Especially for restaurants with different chains, the demographics of your customers is not a one size fits all issue, they vary.

You can segment your email list by optimizing your sign up forms to get specific information of your subscribers, location, meal and delivery preferences, occupation, etc

So that they can get a more personalized email experience

You can also ask your existing subscribers to update their info, remember to Incentivize them for bigger motivation in executing the actions.

Segmenting your emails will allow you to send relevant and converting emails to your subscribers and prevent you from getting unsubscribed from their inboxes because your emails have no use for them.

Your EMS can help you gather this relevant data and ensure they are in compliance with the CAN-SPAM ACT and GDPR regulations.

Hack#19- Personalize your Emails

Although the average open rate for emails is 20.81%, with personalized subject lines, it generates 50% higher open rates.

If your emails feel generic and random, it will be off-putting for your subscribers. You can personalize your emails by addressing your subscribers by their first names, ensuring these details are required on the signup forms.

Hack#20- Make your Emails Compliant to GDPR and CAN ACT Regulations

Ensure you meet the requirements of GDPR and CAN ACT rules to avoid getting fined and ending up in the spam box.

Here are the 7 CAN ACT rules to religiously abide by:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information.

2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.

3. Identify the message as an ad.

4. Tell recipients where you are located.

5. Tell recipients how to opt-out of receiving emails from you.

6. Honor opt-out requests promptly.

7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf.

Follow these rules to avoid being blacklisted from a customer’s inbox, else your emails will simply end up in unwanted boxes unread and having zero results.

Hack#21- Set A Cadence for your Emails 

You can testify to downright getting annoyed at brands that just seem to do nothing else than send you emails at every second they get, sigh! 

You don’t want to be one of those.

You also don’t want to be that brand that sends emails once in a blue moon, if you do this your customers are most likely to forget about you.

Especially if the only time you send emails is if you want to promote something, it shows you only care about yourself more than your customers.

Strike a balance, try sending 3-6 emails every month, this way you won’t be annoying and you won’t lose your awareness.

Also, set a cadence, have a specific time or days you usually send out emails, even better give it a name, like Tuesday, Treats or Monday Meals, this way it makes your emails special and something your subscribers can look forward to. 

For example, emails about discounts, special offers, coupons, etc can be called Friday deals.

Best time to send emails

• The best day of the week to send a marketing email is Tuesday. 

• Thursday is the second-best day to send an email.

• 49% of consumers said that they would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands on a weekly basis

Restaurant Email Marketing For Hacks For Customer Engagement

Hack#22- Get Inspiration from Fellow Competitors 

Sign up to the emails of other restaurants to get ideas of the kind of content they dish out to their subscribers. Also, borrow their email signature examples. 

See what they are doing right, their approach, cadence, offers, promotional content, check all this out and see how you can apply it to your email marketing strategy.

Ensure you are only getting inspiration for what works best for your business model, not just any type of strategy because you run two different business models.

What might work for them might be a disaster for you, so be cautious.

Hack#23: Write Customer-Centric Copies

It’s and will always be about how you can serve your customers.

Your emails shouldn’t be about how great your restaurant is or the milestones you have achieved, instead of how great your restaurant is for them.

It should begin and end with your customers, that way you can demonstrate how your services are of value to them.

So, always make your emails a remedy for your customer’s problems.

Hack#24- Blend Promotional and Relational Content

Like I keep mentioning, strike a balance, make your promotional emails relational, you can do this by answering their pain points, mention what it is that typically frustrates them and propose your products and services as the answer to those problems.

Hack#25- Don’t Assume! Let Them Tell You

Your customers have preferences, likes, and expectations. 

To create engaging content, why don’t you conduct a survey to get your customer’s buyer persona, the data of this feedback will make you strategize your content to be relevant.

You should ask them questions about the type of emails they love to receive and which emails they abhor. 

The frequency of emails, a segment they wish you to add to their emails, emails they are likely to read, what they find off-putting about restaurants and more.

Like the saying goes: hear it from the horse’s mouth.

You want to ensure you are sending appropriate emails that interest your subscribers.

This survey can also be used not just in relation to your email content but your restaurant services in general. 

Conclusion

Email marketing is indeed a massive part of your overall marketing strategy. If implemented well you will gain a huge ROI. 

These hacks are going to boost your email marketing efforts and provide you with faster and more effective results. Simply ensure that you genuinely care about your customers, you will experience a massive spike in your business growth.

Strive to be creative with your Email contents and brand offers.

Take action with these hacks and get skyrocketing results for your restaurant email marketing.