Local Service Guide - Articles
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How to Fill Your Restaurant - Part 2 Using E-Mail to Bring in Customers
Welcome to Part Two of the Local Service Guide report on How to Fill Your Restaurant.
In Part One, we had some great tips for filling your restaurant by “Getting Out and About”.
In Part Two you can learn how to “Use E-Mail to Bring in Customers” and increase your profits.
The Idea!
Bring your customers back time and time again. Simply collect their e-mail addresses and using the addresses to provide information and special offers.
But I’m No Computer Geek
And the great news is – you do not need to be a technical expert! E-mail marketing is remarkably powerful and cheap and, to get started, you need do no more than send out a few e-mails. If you have ever sent an e-mail to a friend, you have enough technical know how to use e-mails to take the first steps towards filling your restaurant.
If you make a real success of e-mail marketing over a few months or years, you may then find that you want to get in some outside technical help – but by then you will be happy to pay for it because you will know that e-mails and the internet can work for you.
Winning Steps to Killer E-Mail
Step1 – ask everyone who comes into your restaurant if they can give you their name and e-mail address. An easy way to do this is design a little card which they complete and sign. The card should make it clear that you are going to be sending out information on your restaurant.
Encourage each of your customers to fill in the card by offering something in return such as:
If you have a website, you may also want to include an opportunity for people to sign up to your special offers.
Your will need to register the fact that you are storing information on your customers with the Information Commissioner. It is quick, easy and not expensive. Click here to go to the relevant site www.ico.gov.uk.
Step 2 – think about what you want to say to your customers. Examples could include:
Then write an e-mail which contains your message. Include:
It is absolutely critical that you 100% ensure that you immediately take anyone who unsubscribes off your mailing list.
Step 3 - Having collected your e-mail addresses, make sure that you have them all safely stored on a single list. Send out a test of your e-mail to a few friends to check that it appears as you expect on their screens.
Assuming this works then – go live and send your e-mails.
If you have low numbers of addresses, simply send each one separately – so as not to give away your customers’ e-mail addresses to other people. As they build up you may want to get software to help you to send out bulk e-mails efficiently without them getting blocked by anti-spamming software and to manage your list.
Step 4 - Monitor responses and learn from them. Consider changes to your next campaign to improve it.
We’ve Tried It!
Josh Simons, Events Manager from the Landmarc, Bournemouth, UK has been using e-mails to promote their restaurant and events for several years. “For us”, he said, “e-mail is the most cost-effective marketing tool there is. We keep a database of our customers and the type of events in which they are interested. If, close to the date of an event, we have spaces, we e-mail everyone who could be interested with a special offer. It takes little time, costs nothing and the results are usually excellent - I can think of several events which might have flopped if we hadn’t had e-mail.
The other thing which we do is to send out regular newsletters which include lists of up-coming events and special offers in our restaurant. The day after we send out the newsletter, we always get a batch of advance bookings. Even if someone does not make a direct booking, the newsletter keeps reminding them that we are there.”
That’s all for now. For ideas on “Targeting Your Marketing Campaigns” click through to Part 3 of “How to fill Your Restaurant”
BACK
In Part One, we had some great tips for filling your restaurant by “Getting Out and About”.
In Part Two you can learn how to “Use E-Mail to Bring in Customers” and increase your profits.
The Idea!
Bring your customers back time and time again. Simply collect their e-mail addresses and using the addresses to provide information and special offers.
But I’m No Computer Geek
And the great news is – you do not need to be a technical expert! E-mail marketing is remarkably powerful and cheap and, to get started, you need do no more than send out a few e-mails. If you have ever sent an e-mail to a friend, you have enough technical know how to use e-mails to take the first steps towards filling your restaurant.
If you make a real success of e-mail marketing over a few months or years, you may then find that you want to get in some outside technical help – but by then you will be happy to pay for it because you will know that e-mails and the internet can work for you.
Winning Steps to Killer E-Mail
Step1 – ask everyone who comes into your restaurant if they can give you their name and e-mail address. An easy way to do this is design a little card which they complete and sign. The card should make it clear that you are going to be sending out information on your restaurant.
Encourage each of your customers to fill in the card by offering something in return such as:
- free glass of house wine
- 5% of their next meal
- entry once a month into a prize drawer for a free main course for two
If you have a website, you may also want to include an opportunity for people to sign up to your special offers.
Your will need to register the fact that you are storing information on your customers with the Information Commissioner. It is quick, easy and not expensive. Click here to go to the relevant site www.ico.gov.uk.
Step 2 – think about what you want to say to your customers. Examples could include:
- Book a Christmas party before 31 October and you will receive a 5% discount on our Christmas prices
- We’ve got a new wine merchant who is providing us with a fantastic range of wines. Try our delicious Chardonnay at only £8.99 (usually £12.99)
- Join us for an evening of Jazz on 22 September. Relax to the sounds of Bennie and Sarah and enjoy a three course meal. Outstanding value at £30 per person.
Then write an e-mail which contains your message. Include:
- The benefits which you are offering to your customers
- Some kind of call to action – tell your customer what you want them to do e.g. ring to make a booking
- Any terms and conditions of the offer – all offers should be time limited
- The name, address and contact details for your restaurant
- A clear statement about how your customers can take their name off your e-mail list e.g. reply to this e-mail putting “unsubscribe” in the subject box.
It is absolutely critical that you 100% ensure that you immediately take anyone who unsubscribes off your mailing list.
Step 3 - Having collected your e-mail addresses, make sure that you have them all safely stored on a single list. Send out a test of your e-mail to a few friends to check that it appears as you expect on their screens.
Assuming this works then – go live and send your e-mails.
If you have low numbers of addresses, simply send each one separately – so as not to give away your customers’ e-mail addresses to other people. As they build up you may want to get software to help you to send out bulk e-mails efficiently without them getting blocked by anti-spamming software and to manage your list.
Step 4 - Monitor responses and learn from them. Consider changes to your next campaign to improve it.
We’ve Tried It!
Josh Simons, Events Manager from the Landmarc, Bournemouth, UK has been using e-mails to promote their restaurant and events for several years. “For us”, he said, “e-mail is the most cost-effective marketing tool there is. We keep a database of our customers and the type of events in which they are interested. If, close to the date of an event, we have spaces, we e-mail everyone who could be interested with a special offer. It takes little time, costs nothing and the results are usually excellent - I can think of several events which might have flopped if we hadn’t had e-mail.
The other thing which we do is to send out regular newsletters which include lists of up-coming events and special offers in our restaurant. The day after we send out the newsletter, we always get a batch of advance bookings. Even if someone does not make a direct booking, the newsletter keeps reminding them that we are there.”
That’s all for now. For ideas on “Targeting Your Marketing Campaigns” click through to Part 3 of “How to fill Your Restaurant”