We hear it regularly from restaurant owners. They are doing more and more online marketing, their website looks tiptop and they are also well represented on social media. But that potential goldmine of guest e-mail addresses, little is done with it. Even though e-mail marketing is one of the most converting marketing tools! Provided you use it well. Want to know how? Then read on!
No one is waiting for spam
A common objection from restaurant owners is that 'nobody is waiting for that spam'. Or that the monthly newsletter sent out generates so little that they see it mainly as a waste of time. True in both cases, if you don't take into account what your reader is waiting for. The keys to success for successful e-mail marketing are therefore: segmentation and personalisation.
Why email marketing is a potential goldmine
Before we delve further into this, we would like to mention a few reasons why email marketing is a potential goldmine.
Low cost
First, email marketing is a relatively inexpensive tool. You may pay a fee for the programme from which you send emails, but otherwise it costs you no more than time. And if you get your automation right, this too is not even that bad.
High turnover
Yet, email marketing can bring you high sales. In fact, as we mentioned, email marketing is one of the most converting marketing tools. Potential guests are more likely to book from an email than from social media, and also turn out to spend 138% more!
You reach warm audiences
This is firstly because you reach a 'warm' audience. Those who have subscribed to your email list are already somewhat interested, making them much more receptive to your message than someone you reach for the first time through an (online) advertisement, for example.
With emails you build a bond
In doing so, it is good to keep in mind that very few guests book immediately after the first contact moment. The bulk only book 3 months after they hear about you. They want to get to know your business better first. They have to become fans first.
This is done through social media, among others. But e-mail marketing also plays an important role in this. After all, you can get in touch again and again and thus build a bond. Think of it as slowly building a friendship.
Email marketing is in your own hands
Isn't social media alone enough? Surely you build a connection with that too? True, but there are two important differences:
- Email addresses you own. Your Instagram can bring you so many bookings, if your target audience suddenly switches to another social medium, you lose your carefully built-up followers. Just like when Instagram suddenly changes its algorithm, which still happens sometimes.
- Social media is aimed at a wide audience. Your posts are for all your followers. E-mail marketing, on the other hand, can be very targeted. And that's where the magic happens.
It's all about personalisation, segmentation and automation
This brings us to the targeted use of email marketing, which involves segmentation and personalisation, not to mention automation.
Do not recommend veal tongue to a vegetarian
As you may have noticed: sending a newsletter to all the guests in your mailing list sometimes results in more unsubscribes than reservations. Not surprisingly, imagine recommending your veal tongue or leg of lamb to a vegetarian. That won't build a good relationship. Had you sent your vegetarian dishes plus a video about your sustainable local vegetable grower, it would undoubtedly be a different story. It's actually like sitting at a table in your restaurant. That's not where you praise a couple eating out for two, either. 😉
Be as personal as inside the doors of your restaurant
So make your emails as personal as you would inside the doors of your restaurant! Don't send spam, but something that really benefits your guest. Valuable content, in other words. Don't just think about offers and your latest dishes, but for example:
- A closer look;
- Introducing the chef;
- A note on different wines;
- Recipes to recreate at home.
Divide your readers into segments
So how do you know who to send what to? For that, you need to segment. In other words, divide your mail subscriptions into certain segments, based on personal characteristics. Think of:
- Or someone belongs to a family with young children;
- Whether someone is a beer or wine lover;
- What someone likes to eat;
- Whether someone especially comes to dinner with business associates;
- Or especially reserve the husband or wife (who is again sensitive to a different offer and tone).
By linking all this information to a person, you can send very relevant emails based on these segments.
So how do you get this information?
But, how do you get this information? There are several methods for that too. One is to simply ask guests. Not directly at their registration, which should be as simple as possible. Then, however, you can send a nice e-mail saying you would like to know more about your guest. Do this with a 'choice game', for example. Wine or beer? Meat or fish? Eating with a group or just the two of you? The tastiest dish you've ever eaten with us? Etc. Many people just enjoy sharing their preferences in such a way.
Multiple locations on your site to register
A second method is to look critically at where on your site you allow people to sign up. Do you put a sign-up link under a page about wine? If so, people who register here will immediately enter the 'wine lover' segment. If they do so from the page about facilities for children, they will enter the 'family with young children' segment. Slightly less watertight, but good to get a start.
Let your ministry create a guest profile
Thirdly, there is a method that only applies to returning guests, but which you really shouldn't ignore as a restaurant. After all, you have the great advantage of actually seeing and talking to your guests! During a restaurant visit, you find out a lot about your guests' preferences, have your serving staff create a guest profile. Simple as that!
Time to automate your emails
Now that you have divided your guests into certain segments, email programmes allow you to send your emails to the right people at the right time in an automated way. To do this, you use triggers, or events.
A trigger could be:
- subscribing to your newsletter;
- a reservation;
- the fact that someone's last restaurant visit was two months ago;
- a guest's birthday is coming up;
- your guest's annual booking date is coming up;
- you have a new menu.
Invite guests for their birthdays
For example, someone with the trigger 'birthday in a month' and the segment 'wine lover' and 'fish lover' will receive an email inviting them to celebrate their birthday at your restaurant. The email will feature your most delicious fish dishes and offer a glass of wine or dessert on the house in honour of his or her birthday.
Show families with children your kids' corner
Someone in the 'family with young children' segment may receive an e-mail before the start of the summer holidays (trigger) containing a video of the revamped children's corner (valuable content), possibly accompanied by pictures of dishes that match this guest's taste preferences (segments).
Also take into account reservations already made
But triggers also include whether or not someone has already booked for a certain period. So that you don't keep guests who already have a reservation on file spamming with offers to book for the same period.
Also don't forget to upsell
By the way, this does not mean that you should stop as soon as someone has made a reservation. Precisely the run-up after a restaurant visit is an interesting moment to generate more sales. For example, you can offer an exclusive bottle of wine immediately after booking that is not normally available in the restaurant. If a guest books it directly at reservation, it will be specially ordered for the guest and prepared at room temperature.
You can also offer a 'welcome package' a few days before the restaurant visit, so that welcome drinks are ready and a pre-chosen starter is served as soon as the guest steps inside. That way, you already have turnover in before taking an order.
Make use of your gold mine
The possibilities in this are endless and again, the more personal the better. So forget that monthly newsletter, but start using your goldmine effectively as soon as possible! Can we help you with this? You know The Fully Bookers find 🙂
