By Owen Baker, Contributor
Delicious food is a great way to keep your customers, but you need to do more. The industry is competitive, so you must step up your marketing campaigns. Restaurant email marketing through newsletters is one of the best ways to market your business.
However, a newsletter can only rake in business if it's well-crafted and resonates with your readers. That means you need to understand your audience and create information that's sensible to them.
If you need help creating compelling restaurant newsletters, here are several tips to guide you.
Start Strong with a Catchy Subject Line
The subject line on your email newsletter is the first thing your email subscribers see when they receive your emails. Your wording on the subject line determines whether your reader will open the email or not. That has a direct impact on your email marketing campaign.
Use something captivating depending on what your readers would love based on their profiles. You can mention a discount, special offers, or a themed-meal you have at the restaurant. Try to personalize the emails by mentioning your recipient's first name on the email subject line.
Here’s are some subject headlines to use in your restaurant newsletters to improve open rates.
Last Chance to Taste Our Exclusive Steakhouse Burger!
Late Night Cravings? We Now Deliver 24/7!
The Oscars are Tonight at Pronto Restaurant. Come Join Us!
[First Name], Would You Do Us a Favor?
Happy Birthday, [First Name]! The Champagne is On Us!
Quick – Two for One Pizza Offer Ending Soon!
Unwarp Our Christmas Gift for You! Offer Ending at Midnight.
Bored? Play Our Game to Win a Gift Card.
Get Priority Access to Our Newest Menu Item. Claim it Now!
Hey, We Miss You. Here’s 30% Off Your Next Order.
According to Campaign Monitor, your email subject line should have between 41 and 70 characters. Most people use either an iPhone or Gmail to read their emails. An iPhone user can only see 41 characters on an email subject line, while a Gmail user can only see 70 characters.
Remember to maintain your unique brand style with your subject lines leading to relevant content in your emails. Your email subscribers are already used to your brand style, and it's part of why they look forward to receiving your newsletters. Also, do a grammar check on your email content before sending it.
Using emojis in your subject line is also a great way to get eyes on your email, but you should limit how many use to avoid spam filters and a loss of message.
Add Customer Testimonials
Restaurant customer testimonials help your email subscribers to trust you more and accept the content you sell them in your email newsletters. Testimonials show that other people have eaten your food and loved it. It's easier to trust something another consumer has tried and approved of.
Researchers have noted that customers use testimonials and reviews to determine the credibility of a restaurant. The testimonials help reduce risks and buyer remorse for your clients. They also help your clients save time looking for restaurants.
Reach out to your regular customers and ask them to leave testimonials on your website, blog post comments, and social media channels. Take snippets of these testimonials and use them to win your email subscribers and widen your customer base.
You can also take screenshots of comments and feedback on your social media channels and use them in your email newsletters. Encourage creative social campaigns and contests, then highlight them in your restaurant newsletters.
Has your business been featured on a cooking show, blog, or expert review? You can use this information as testimonials in your newsletters. Awards and industry recognition help market your restaurant business and build credibility for your services.
Promote Offers & Discounts
What better way to spice up your email newsletters than with promotions and discounts? People generally love businesses that offer an appreciation gesture. Extending discounts and offers is one easy way to do that. You can also mention exciting restaurant events in your newsletter to intrigue your readers.
Stay in touch with current trends and upcoming events, then create promotions around them. For instance, you can give special offers during festivals like Easter, Valentine's, Christmas, or sports events like Super Bowl discounts and offers, among others. You can even offer discounts on table reservations and give special gifts during upcoming events.
Moreover, you can include coupons and gift cards in your newsletters to lace them with value for your customers. The coupons and gift cards are also great for measuring your conversion rate. You can measure the engagement rate by the number of promo codes and gift cards redeemed every season. These promos will turn your newsletters into an effective marketing tool.
Here’s an example of the Pizza Express restaurant newsletter. Note how the newsletter has embedded links to promote a discount. That encourages readers to book a table.
The restaurant industry is very competitive, and you need to use powerful tools to stay afloat. How about including price reductions and access to upcoming events in your newsletters?
You could even give your readers access to tickets and reservations through clickable buttons and links. Ensure you verify emails before sending out these offers for better email deliverability.
Showcase Your Staff
As a business owner, you need to appreciate the team's efforts behind the signature dishes and amazing service and atmosphere you give your customers. Your staff plays a vital role in the success of your business, and you should appreciate them in your newsletters.
Furthermore, such acts of recognition will add a human touch to the message you send to your email subscribers.
Here’s an example from Momofuku, highlighting their founder and top chef in their newsletters.
Highlight your staff's wins in your newsletters. If they make the news with their expertise, include links to the articles. Celebrate your staff in your newsletters whenever they win awards or industry recognition.
You can also have a leaderboard where you recognize employee efforts. Showcase the best employee every month in your newsletter. You can even encourage them to make statements and include these snippets in the newsletter. Post their achievements on social channels and applaud them for the excellent work they do in your business.
Leave links to videos of your staff taking part in a special occasion or promoting a restaurant cause such as healthy eating.
Once you make a habit of including your staffing in the restaurant newsletters, your audience will always look forward to learning more about your team. They’ll find another reason to open your restaurant newsletters.
Send Newsletters at the Right Time
Timing is everything in implementing email marketing strategies. Imagine receiving a promotional code or invite to an upcoming event days after the end of the discount or after the event has already happened. That would be annoying, wouldn't it?
Understand your reader's habits and only send the newsletters at their most convenient time. According to Tidio, weekdays are the best days to make your email marketing efforts. However, this could be different for your business. Therefore, you may have to experiment with different times of the day to identify the perfect time to send your restaurant newsletters.
Content relevancy is also vital in your newsletters. Send them when they are most relevant, depending on the current trends, and make perfect timing your forte. That means you need to stay updated with current trends.
You can introduce limited-time menu items in your newsletters to increase conversion rates. Here’s an example from Yo Sushi sending a timely email newsletter to celebrate their customer’s birthdays.
Don’t bombard your email subscribers with too much information. Observe your readers' trends and decide whether weekly, monthly or seasonal newsletters work for you.
You also need to work with a reliable email marketing platform to make sure your messages hit the readers' inboxes in good time. Email compliance will also help you reach your audience faster.
Have an email list and schedule your emails depending on the impact they make.
End with a Strong CTA
A call to action is the best way to get your readers to click and do business with you from your email newsletter. You need to reel in the customers after feeding them relevant and valuable information. That’s where call-to-action buttons come in.
To the left is an example from Chipotle’s email newsletters. Check out how straightforward and unmissable the CTA is.
You need a compelling CTA to increase your click-through rate. Use actionable and exciting words that will make the readers want to see click-through. But don’t stop there. Ensure the link leads to an effective landing page where the readers will convert into customers.
You can use a clickable button to encourage your reader to make a reservation or RSVP to a special event. You can also leave a link to a delicious recipe at the end of the newsletter to reel in your readers.
If you're running a promotion, leave promo and coupon codes at the end of your newsletter.
Wrapping Up
An email newsletter is one of the best tools for restaurant email marketing. However, to create a winning marketing strategy, your newsletters must be valuable.
Creating content is good, but it won't get you the engagement and conversion rates you need by itself. You’ll need catchy subject lines, customer testimonials, and offers and discounts for your newsletters to convert well.
You can also showcase your staff and their achievements in your newsletters and ensure that the newsletters hit your readers' inboxes at the right time. Most importantly, leave a compelling CTA at the end of your newsletter. That will optimize the conversion rates of your email newsletters.
If you follow all these tips, your email marketing efforts will definitely yield the best results.
About the Author
Owen Baker is a content marketer for Voila Norbert, an online email verification tool. He has spent most of the last decade working online for a range of marketing companies. When he’s not busy writing, you can find him in the kitchen mastering new dishes.
