Last updated on February 23rd, 2025 at 10:56 pm
I went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants the other day — they serve the best pizza and pasta in Honolulu.
And you know what they didn’t do?
They didn’t ask for my email. In fact, I’ve never received a single email from them even though I’ve been a loyal customer for years.
What do you think?
Should they have? Would they have made more money off of me if they had been regularly emailing me coupons, promos, and pictures of their FANTASTIC carbonara pizza?
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Should Restaurants Use Email Marketing?
If you’re a restaurant owner, then you might think of email marketing as a taboo or obscure way to increase demand and revenue.
Maybe you think of digital marketing methods as being too disjointed from your brick-and-mortar business.
Or maybe you have a high-class, expensive restaurant and you’re worried about cheapening the experience by sending emails to your customers.
Either way, you’re worries are nothing more than worries.
I know that because there are hundreds of thousands of restaurants around the nation — even your very own competitors — who are using email marketing to improve revenue, reduce churn, and create consistent demand.
Those emails might elegant…
Or they might be rustic…
But they nearly always result in more customers and better relationships with existing customers.
Here are some of the main benefits of email marketing… and why you should seriously consider using it for your restaurant.
Create Demand — The bigger your email list, the more demand you can create… on demand. A single email to your list with a special offer could turn a typically light weekday evening into a bustling feeding frenzy.
Build Rapport — Having an email list is like having your own audience who you can reach out to whenever you want. Unlike social media and other platforms, you don’t have to deal with gatekeepers or declining organic reach. You can reach your customers, build authentic relationships, and stay top-of-mind.
Offer Rewards — According to research, it can cost 5 times more to acquire new customers than it does to keep current ones. And loyal customers are worth up to 10x as much as their first purchase. Email marketing gives you a mode for rewarding your most loyal customers… so that they remain loyal.
Here are some more stats on email marketing from HubSpot to consider…
- There are 4 billion daily email users.
- 37% of brands are increasing their email budget.
- A majority of marketers using email leverage mobile-friendly emails as part of their marketing strategy.
- Subscriber segmentation is the most effective email marketing campaign strategy.
- 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month.
- 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months.
- Smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email.
- Almost half of marketers, report changing their email performance measurements as a result of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection changes.
- Testing your emails leads to higher ROI.
The point is, no matter your type of restaurant, your style, or your location, email marketing can help you retain your customers and grow your business.
Let’s talk about how to use it.
Getting Emails & Growing Your List
At the top of the email marketing funnel, is getting people on your email list.
If you don’t have people on your list — both loyal customers and curious bystanders — you can leverage the benefits of email marketing.
But… how do you do that?
I wouldn’t blame you for shying away from saying, “How was the food? By the way, can we get your email address?” at the end of your customer’s meal.
Fortunately, there are more clever and sophisticated ways to get people’s email addresses.
Here are some ideas…
QR Code — Covid forced many restaurants to transition from paper menus to digital ones. In most cases, people simply scan a QR code with their phones to access the menu. Why not do the same with your email list? You could easily put a flyer on each table that says “Drinks are on us today. Just scan this QR code and enter your email address. Then show the proof to your server.”
The Menu — Another idea is simply to have a CTA for your email list somewhere on the digital and/or physical menu. For example, “Want to get special offers and promos? Sign up with your email today.”
POS — This is the most direct way to get email addresses, but it won’t fit the vibe of certain restaurants. During the POS, just offer to give 10% off their meal for people’s email addresses or to join your loyalty program.
Digital Marketing — Collecting emails in your restaurant isn’t the only way to go about it. You can (and should) also collect email addresses on your website. You can do that with simple pop-ups or in-content forms that offer exclusive deals when people give you their email. You might offer 10% off their next meal or maybe just promise future discounts.
Frost, for instance, got 300 subscribers in just two months by adding a simple pop-up to their website…
Promo Campaigns — You can get really creative with how you grow your email list. You could, for instance, partner with a local influencer. You could run a giveaway. You could build a sales funnel with a lead magnet and use Facebook ads to drive traffic. The sky is the limit. Get creative and think about how you could build your email list.
Obviously, you’ll want to choose a method for getting emails that fits the vibe and style of your restaurant. If you run a humble burger joint, then you might even be able to ask for email addresses during the POS for a 10% discount. If you’re a high-end restaurant, then you might decide to only collect emails on your website (in order to preserve the high-class experience).
The choice is yours.
We’ve given you quite a few ideas here to play with.
Now let’s talk about what you should actually do with all those email addresses you’re collecting.
Introducing Your Restaurant & Building Rapport
What’s the first thing you should send someone when they sign up for your email list?
Obviously, you need to send them whatever was promised (if you promised a 10%-off coupon, then deliver that).
But beyond that, think of your first few emails as your first impression in terms of how you’re going to show up in their inbox.
These are very important.
We recommend using a process we call the soap opera sequence to craft and trigger your first five to seven emails.
What is that?
It’s just a series of five to seven daily emails you send to introduce your restaurant, tell your story, build rapport, and give people a good reason to visit.
There’s a system to the madness…
Now you might be thinking, Soap Operas are ridiculous!
But there’s a reason they’re still around today — too many people, they’re only ridiculous in how engaging they are.
Here’s how Russell explains it in DotCom Secrets…
“If you’ve never watched a Soap Opera before, the stories rely on open-ended, high-drama episodes that hook the viewers in and keep them coming back every single day to find out what happens next. The programs are continuous narratives that never conclude. The characters are always either getting into trouble or getting out of trouble, falling in love or breaking up, heading to jail or escaping, dying or magically reappearing. If you relate to the characters, you can’t help but get sucked into the drama and want to know what’s coming next.
We’re going to use the same story structure and elements to create your opening email sequence.”
As you can see in the graphic above, there are basically five phases…
Set The Stage — This is where you introduce yourself, build a bit of rapport, and tell people what they can expect in your upcoming emails. You also want to build some anticipation.
High Drama → Backstory → Wall — This is where you capture them with a high-drama moment, tell them a bit of backstory, and then reveal the wall you came up against.
Epiphany → The One Thing — This is where you reveal your big epiphany, how you came to the realization that changed everything.
Hidden Benefits — This is where you’re going to talk about the benefits of your product that your target market probably isn’t even thinking about… the hidden benefits.
Urgency CTA — This is where you’ll create urgency or scarcity to push your most stubborn readers over the edge.
You could use these emails to tell the story of what made you passionate about food, why you opened your restaurant or the journey you’ve gone on since opening it.
Obviously, you’ll want to modulate the drama based on your restaurant and your style.
If you want more information so you can craft a Soap Opera Sequence of your own, get a free copy of Russell’s DotCom Secrets book by clicking here and watching the video below!
How to Stay in Touch & Create Demand
I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room.
One of the biggest hesitancies people have when starting their email marketing is figuring out how often to send.
You don’t want to scare off your new subscribers by bombarding them with emails… but you also don’t want to contact them so little that there’s virtually no benefit.
The answer?
Well — you might want to sit down for this — we recommend sending emails daily.
The reason is that plain and simple, more emails almost always result in more sales (for every industry). There’s a huge benefit to staying top-of-mind with your audience.
You can use a process we call Seinfeld Emails.
Check out the video below…
They are called “Seinfeld” emails because Seinfeld was famously a show about nothing… and these emails are also sort of about nothing.
Here are some examples from other industries…
And another…
You can do the same thing for your restaurant. These daily emails can literally be about anything. Maybe you send funny stories, inspirational anecdotes, special offers, restaurant updates, upcoming events, or something else.
To give you some inspiration, here are some general examples of emails that restaurants send.
Get a free coffee…
Happy National Wing Day…
Get gift cards…
Those are just a few examples.
You might be nervous about sending daily emails is, but the reality is that your audience cares way less than you think they do. Most people will just open your emails when they catch their attention, completely unbothered by additional emails.
The more you send, the more money you’re going to make. Plain and simple.
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Matching the Style of Your Emails to the Style of Your Restaurant
When you’re crafting your soap opera sequence or your daily Seinfeld emails, it’s important to think about the style and vibe of your restaurant.
That should match the style and vibe of your emails.
If your restaurant is expensive and elegant, then your emails should be expensive and elegant. If your restaurant is a burger joint with a colorful sense of humor, then your emails should also have a colorful sense of humor.
To be successful, you’ll need to think about your brand and how you can remain consistent with your email marketing efforts.
The Email Marketing Metrics That Matter
How do you know if your emails are effective?
Here, we’re going to cover some of the most basic email marketing metrics that are important to pay attention to. Any ESP you choose will track these metrics automatically for you. The healthier these metrics are, the better results you’ll get from your email marketing efforts.
Open Rate
The first metric we’re going to talk about is the open rate. Open rate is important because it gives you an idea of how many people are actually opening and engaging with your emails.
A good open rate is considered typically considered to be around 15% or higher… but every email list is different and it’s far better to set your own benchmarks.
You can improve your open rate by…
- Using a catchy subject line
- Sending your emails at the best time for your audience
- Make sure your from name is recognizable
- Preview text can also influence whether or not someone opens an email, so make sure that’s engaging as well!
Click-Through Rate
The next metric we want to talk about is click-through rate or CTR. This is a metric that tells you how many people are clicking on the links in your email. You can even see which links people are clicking on.
A good CTR is typically considered to be around 2% or higher… but again, set your own benchmarks and try to improve upon them.
You can improve your click-through rate by…
- Making your links more clickable with compelling anchor text
- Creating a sense of urgency or curiosity in your email copy
- Offering something that’s valuable or exclusive in your emails
Unsubscribe Rate
The next metric on our list is the unsubscribe rate.
This one is important because it gives you an idea of how many people are no longer interested in receiving your emails.
A good unsubscribe rate per email is typically 0.5% or lower. Anything above that, and you might want to take a closer look at why people are unsubscribing.
You can lower your unsubscribe rate by…
- Making sure you’re only emailing people who have opted-in to receive your emails
- Keeping your content relevant and engaging
- Asking people why they’re unsubscribing (if they’re willing to tell you)
Your Email Marketing Toolkit
At this point, you might be thinking, “Great… but how am I actually going to collect subscribers, send emails, and create automated sequences?”
Well, it’s the 21st century… so you need software.
Normally, you’d need a landing page builder, an email service provider, and then you’d need to hire a designer…
But with ClickFunnels, we give you everything you need, all in one place. That includes…
- Email list builder
- Visual automation builder
- Sales funnel & website builder
- & tons more!
And you can get a free trial by clicking here.
Final Thoughts on Email Marketing for Restaurants
The answer is yes.
That restaurant I love should have taken my email address the first time I visited. I’m quite certain that my wife and I would have ordered pizza from them much more often just because it was top-of-mind.
The question is, how much money is your restaurant leaving on the table by not using email marketing?
It’s a difficult question to answer… but it’s important to consider.
Now you’ve got everything you need to get started.
All that’s left is action.