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Improve Email Marketing with Content Planning [Hack #066]

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So what's the plan again?

Email remains one of the most (if not the most) effective ways to communicate with your guests. The problem most operators find most daunting is what to include, how to format, and how often to send. Today’s hack focuses on how planning will improve the content you include and by extension your email marketing results.

We so often forget the wonderful place we hold in the eyes of our guests. They perceive us to be experts on all things food and beverage. You are a trusted source and can therefore use that as a way to engage your guests. A proven way to make your expert position valuable is to share information with your guests which they perceive to be within your expertise. Maybe it’s a short blog on fresh produce in the late summer or a discussion about how to make the perfect whipped cream for a coffee drink. In less than 250 words, you can describe a product, share a recipe or assert an opinion that your guests will find interesting and valuable.

So, how do you do it? Start by getting your content organized in advance. You can literally create an entire month’s worth of posts in an afternoon. Pick a day each month (say, the first Tuesday) and brainstorm, search, steal and create any relevant content you think will be interesting to your guests. Share a recipe, explain the wonderful timing of the Jersey Tomato, offer an opinion on a specific spirit or wine. Any of these bits of content are worthy of sharing and much easier when you discipline yourself to spend a couple of hours a month preparing them. 

Then you can schedule them along with info on your special events, new menu offerings or events at your place. With a small investment in planning, you will greatly improve your content and consequently raise your guests’ engagement. This top of mind producing content may be the point of differentiation that gets them to visit you when next they are going out for a meal or a drink.

Got a cool restaurant hack of your own? Let us know!

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