Are You Investing Enough Effort Into Email Marketing?

Like many restaurant owners, you probably send a few emails a year and call it good. Or, maybe you don’t send any at all. Perhaps you think email marketing isn’t viable anymore. Or, maybe you are just too busy to create and send them on a regular basis.

We’re here to find out if you’re investing enough effort into email marketing.

If you’re not actively sending out emails and using them as a marketing tool, you are missing a valuable target market. Much research has been conducted about the validity and strength of email marketing.

It is in fact, very effective, especially when compared with other marketing channels such as social media. Consider these statistics from research firm, Marketing Sherpa:

• 91% of people say they like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with.
• 86% say they’d like to receive emails at least monthly.
• 61% say they’d like to receive emails at least weekly.
• Seven in 10 adults have made a purchase as a direct result of a company’s email.
• Half of Americans who left an item in an online shopping cart and received a reminder email are glad they did.

Now, for one of the most impressive statistics from the Direct Marketing Association: Email marketing returns a nearly $43 ROI (return on investment).

Email marketing gives you an incredibly broad reach. That being said, it’s time to ask, “Are you investing enough effort into email marketing for your restaurant?”

In this article, we’re going to tell you why you need to invest time and money into your email marketing efforts.

Email is Evolving

You’ve probably heard that email is dying. We can absolutely say that is not true. With the advent of mobile, emails have only grown in popularity.

With mobile and tablet usage on the rise, your restaurant emails are more likely to get into consumer’s hands at all times of the day. It’s part of the “always-on” phenomena sweeping through the digital age.

You actually can’t afford not to be sending email marketing. You can bet your competitors are, so it’s time you give email marketing your nod of acceptance and create an email marketing plan.

Email Has a Large Reach

There are 3x more email accounts than Twitter and Facebook accounts combined. It’s expected that by the year 2017, there will be nearly 5 billion email accounts worldwide.

Let’s compare those numbers to the 1 billion people on Facebook and the over 300 million monthly Twitter users. You see right away that the email numbers are astounding.

Why is that? Quite frankly it’s because everywhere you go online and on the ground, you are handing over your email address. Email addresses are traded for something every day. This is probably even true at your restaurant.

When diners fill out your comment card, they may leave an email. If you have a drawing at your restaurant, it requires an email. If you have an online ordering system, you ask for an email. Emails are like currency.

So, when it comes to communicating with your current and potential customers, email has the widest reach.

Emails Get Your Message Across

According to Forrester Research, if you have a choice between adding someone to your email list or getting a new Facebook fan or Twitter follower, you should reach for the email subscriber every time.

Why? Because nearly all emails get delivered right into your recipient’s inbox – their inner sanctum if you will, while only 2% of your Facebook fans see your posts in their News Feed.

The other thing to remember here is that your email subscribers willingly give you their email address because they want to hear from you. They’d appreciate coupons, loyalty information, event news, recipes, tips and much more.

Emails Increase Your Sales

We’ve already established that your email marketing efforts reach your intended recipients more often than other marketing channels. And, studies show that email recipients are spending money as a result of receiving your emails.

A study from Marketing Charts shows that nearly 80% of consumers buy products or services from marketing emails at least once a month or more.

Email Converts

These days the buzz word is conversion,  and email converts. Whether it’s a link to a landing page on your website or a printable coupon, restaurant owners want to be able to track the conversion. With email, you can.

Email is a powerful conversion tool. It is infinitely more trackable than social media posts.

Plus, you can view a multitude of reports in the backend of your email marketing software. You can see what emails bounced, how many people opened your emails (and who), how many click-thrus, forwards and social shares.

Email are Cost Effective

Email marketing software comes in a wide range of prices from free to $100 per month depending on your subscriber numbers. Other than this cost, and perhaps the cost of an email designer, email marketing is relatively inexpensive.

To Conclude

Effective email marketing can drive sales at your brick and mortar restaurant and through your online ordering system.

If, after reading this article, you find that you aren’t investing enough effort into email marketing, it’s time to take a step forward. Create an email marketing plan. Layout several months’ worth of emails. Get them written, designed and set-up. You can even set up automation through your website and send visitors a welcome email when they sign up for your list.

Lastly, here are a few more things to remember about email marketing:

• You can send emails to your customers easily, from anywhere, and at any time of day.
• Your emails can wait on your customer in their inbox. Unlike social media advertising, your customers can let your email sit for a day or two until they have time to read it.
• For it to be effective, you have to create a list of subscribers. Encourage sign-ups on your website, on your social media platforms, and in your restaurant. Offer something in return to encourage more sign-ups.

Take your first step today into the world of email marketing. Don’t set it on the back burner. Start now!

Do you invest enough effort into email marketing? If the answer is yes, please share what worked for your restaurant. We’d love to hear your thoughts and learn about your email marketing success stories.

Images: twitter.com/mattwi1s0n and Dennis Skley