Utilise newsletters to attract and retain customers at your restaurant

There is a marketing tool that allows you to consistently attract and retain customers. Chances are, you are already using it as it has been common in the industry for years.

This tool is the restaurant newsletter, often sent as an email to customers at certain intervals to communicate different messages from the restaurant and achieve marketing goals. It’s an effective format that allows you to keep customers engaged with the restaurant. 

To truly stand out and achieve meaningful results, it’s vital to have a strategy behind each message and a methodology that you can accomplish over time.

We’ve compiled the following tips to help you write your best restaurant newsletter yet, and achieve a "high conversion rate" that brings in as many reservations as possible. 

Have a database

The first thing you need to begin sending restaurant email newsletters is a database containing your customers' e-mail addresses. Start building this by requesting emails when creating reservations, adding a link on social media accounts, and by directly requesting it when diners eat at your establishment.

At TheFork, we offer you the option to register all of your customers' information, including name, gender, telephone number, e-mail, birthday, and other preferences, so that you can build a digital database for future marketing campaigns. Whenever a user wishes to make a reservation from our platform, they complete the information fields which are then stored in the database. To start building your digital database, and to discover many more helpful data management and restaurant marketing tools, check out TheFork Manager, our industry-leading platform for restaurateurs. 

It is also possible to record information from phone reservations and walk-in customers directly into the system. In addition, other customer data, such as visit frequency, recurring schedules, no-shows, etc., can be valuable when tailoring the messages you send.

Define clear objectives for your restaurant newsletters

Think carefully about your objectives when building your restaurant newsletter. Generally, there are two main objectives within the industry:

• Attract direct reservations. In this instance, the newsletter should offer irresistible promotions and discounts (2-for-1 desserts, specific dishes for a limited time, free drinks during special hours, etc.). This should improve direct reservations among repeat customers. 

• Retain customers and keep them connected to the restaurant. In this case, send information about restaurant news and events such as special brunches, live music, festivals, extended business hours, and new locations. Additionally, include birthday greetings so that your brand is consistently on users' minds, leading to strong loyalty and identification with your brand.

Segment the database based on objectives

Next, classify your customer database by groups so that communications are truly targeted. This will create basic segmentations. For instance:

• New customers
• Customers who have visited more than two times
• Regular customers
• Families
• Groups of friends
• Executives and companies
• Couples
• Single diners

By classifying your data, you can direct content to customers most interested. For example, if your objective is to increase sales of a weekly menu card with discounts, you would send the message to new and/or occasional customers, whereas regulars would already have this card. Likewise, if your objective is to attract reservations on Valentine's Day, you can create a message mainly addressed to couples or people who regularly make bookings in pairs. 
 

Be mindful of all the details in your restaurant newsletter

When designing your marketing materials, utilise restaurant newsletter templates and samples to find what works for your image and branding. Once decided, choose a consistent format and use the same language in all your communications.

Personalise your content

Highlight how personalisation can increase engagement. Suggest segmenting the mailing list based on customer demographics and preferences. Suggest including recipient names and specific content for customer groups (e.g. vegetarians, families, etc.).

Like with any marketing tool, high personalisation drives engagement. As well as segmenting the mailing list into targetable demographics, why not include personal details to make the recipients feel like individuals? Include customers’ names in your communications, and consider adding signposted content for particular customer groups, like vegetarians or families. 

Optimise your subject lines and preheaders

Explain the importance of having catchy subject lines and useful preheaders to increase the email open rate. Give examples of effective subject lines and tips on how to keep them short and relevant.

Email marketing is no new thing - it is a strategy employed by every brand. So, how can you stand out? Firstly, you must make the most of the materials in front of you to get past the initial barrier of email open rate. Include clickable subject lines like ‘Students! 10% off this Wednesday’, or ‘Fresh Specials Just for You’ to grab interest and pique curiosity. Supplement these subject lines with relevant preheaders to provide additional context, such as ‘Exclusive Menu Items You Won’t Want to Miss’. Remember to keep subject lines short to ensure they display well on mobile devices.  

Use high-quality visuals

Suggest using high quality images that represent the restaurant's dishes and create a visual impact. Suggest optimising images for different devices, especially for mobile viewing.

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Use high-quality photo stock in your restaurant newsletter to create a visual impact. This should already be a main priority of successful marketing efforts, and it is especially important over email, where competition for attention is fierce. Make sure to optimise images for different devices, especially for mobile viewing.  

As well as your photos, the visuals more broadly within your newsletters can also be optimised even further: 

• Use an eye-catching font in an appropriate size for headings to foreground your message objectives and encourage users to read beyond the first line. 
• Place "calls to action" or phrases with clickable links in the message body. Ensure these links stand out and lead to the correct landing pages where customers intuitively know what to do.
• Include icons with links to social media, the web, contact information, and reservation sites such as TheFork at the foot of the message.

Once your restaurant newsletter is launched, publish regular editions to build up brand loyalty. 

Analyse and optimise your results

With a newsletter going out regularly, you can start to monitor its performance. Data from KPIs like open rate, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rate can help to optimise your email efforts over time. Analysing these metrics will help you learn different things about your strengths and weaknesses:

• Open Rate: How compelling your subject lines and preheaders are.
• Click-Through Rate: How engaging your overall content is. 
• Conversion Rate: How well your emails drive desired actions. 

These metrics can help to improve your restaurant newsletters, help you identify what works for your business, and build your brand around what people respond best to.

Think it’s too complicated to run a newsletter by yourself? 

Click here to join our community and contact our advisers to learn about how our platform can send newsletters on your behalf. It's worth it!