Email engagement is a staple in restaurant marketing. First, if you want to increase your restaurant email engagement, well done. It’s fantastic that you are taking this step, and the good news is that you’ll see results quickly. All it takes are some key steps to success. Increasing your email engagement is an effective way to build a base of loyal customers. And if you start measuring things like click-through rates, it is simple to track success. Increasing and measuring your email engagement doesn’t need to be complicated.
An email marketing strategy is a perfect match for your wifi marketing strategy. You can utilize all those email addresses collected through your captive portals and target customers with email campaigns.
You’ve already done half of the work! So, let’s look at the second stage of your restaurant marketing journey. This guide will cover everything you need to know to increase restaurant email engagement.
What Is Email Engagement?
First things first, what is email engagement? You can’t increase restaurant email engagement without knowing what it entails. Email engagement is how the recipients of your emails react, respond, and interact with them.
For instance, although you send an email to 150 people on your subscriber list, only 60 people open that email. And of the 60 people that open the email, perhaps only 15 follow your email’s call to action. Therefore, your average email would have just a 10% success rate.
If that email content encourages people to join a loyalty program, you have 15 new loyal customers. Great, right? But what if you could increase restaurant email engagement and make that 45 new loyal customers? That would be much better. Increasing email engagement is increasing customer engagement - it’s that simple.
Email engagement is something that you want to be driving upwards. You’ll find a direct correlation between email and business engagement with a proper email marketing strategy. The more people respond and interact with your emails, the more likely they will become loyal customers. Email marketing is great for building relationships with customers and driving repeat business.
In short, good email engagement is as high as possible. You want people rushing to open your emails. Good emails have intriguing subject lines, engaging calls to action, and gripping email content. And good emails breed fantastic email engagement.
Why Are Emails Important for Restaurant Engagement?
So, what is so essential about emails in restaurant engagement and marketing? How does your goal to increase restaurant email engagement link to overall business success? Emails are vital for restaurant businesses because they give you constant contact with customers.
Picture your email marketing strategy as a lifeline or umbilical cord. Without one, there is a disconnect between you and your customers.
Connected customers are loyal customers, so your goal is to maintain contact with customers when they walk out the door. With an email marketing strategy, you can achieve this connection. Using the email addresses, you collect through a captive wifi portal, create email campaigns to draw customers back in. For example, creating a loyalty program where customers regularly receive rewards.
In your email, selling your loyalty program idea to your customers make it enticing and exciting. With the right subject line and email content, your idea will be an exciting opportunity for customers. After all, who wouldn’t want free rewards? This form of an email campaign is fantastic at creating regular customers out of new ones. An effective email campaign quickly turns remote communication into business and in-person visits.
In short, emails are super effective at creating regular customers for your restaurant. They are an excellent way to reach out, build brand awareness, and develop ongoing relationships. Besides, all the best relationships start with a free coffee or a bite to eat. Why should restaurants and customers be different?
5 Steps To Increase Email Engagement
Now that we’ve looked at what it is and why we should use it, let’s explore how to increase email engagement. This section has five essential steps for you to take.
1. Polish Up Your Subject Lines To Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
It is no secret; subject lines sell. Your subject line is your opening pitch and should scream, “open me now”. Out of all these ways to increase email engagement, subject lines impact the open rate most. That is, whether the recipient decides to open your email.
So what is a good subject line? A good subject line is intriguing and tempting to open. It should appeal to your target customers. For example, if you run a coffee stall, you could mention free coffee, rare coffee beans, or a tasting experience.
The subject line should also be short and sweet, with a definite sense of urgency. Personalized and numerical elements also seem to boost subject line performance. Writing great subject lines is an art, so keep practicing.
2. Measure Engagement To Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
You cannot shoot in the dark and expect to increase restaurant email engagement. One of the best ways to boost engagement is to measure it. There is lots of software out there to measure your email engagement. We recommend choosing one and analyzing the reactions to an average email in your campaign.
What do you notice? Is there a high level of engagement? How many people open your email out of your subscriber list? Measuring engagement will help direct you toward improvements.
For instance, your subject line likely needs work if you have issues with a low opening rate. If you have problems with your call-to-action uptake, your offer and email content are likely not enticing enough.
3. Create Mobile and Desktop Friendly Designs To Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
Sometimes it is hard to know why someone doesn’t receive your email well. But then you open the email on your desktop rather than your mobile, and suddenly it becomes clear. Text is out of alignment, the design scatters images everywhere, and all the font is just…off.
It doesn’t look professional. And if you were the recipient, chances are you wouldn’t interact with it either.
Creating mobile and desktop-friendly email designs is essential to increase engagement with your restaurant emails. Compatible email designs look more trustworthy and authoritative. Customers need to be able to trust your email and company. It is especially true if you want them to follow mysterious links in your call to action.
4. Make the CTA Obvious To Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
Nobody spends longer than a few minutes scanning through an email. In fact, you’ll be lucky if your recipients spend longer than a few seconds reading. Your call-to-action (CTA) needs to be compelling and immediately noticeable.
For example, if you want people to subscribe to a customer loyalty program, you could have a big ‘subscribe’ button. You get bonus points if the button is a bright color or at the top of your email. Successful email marketers are fantastic at quickly drawing attention to the CTA, so master this fast to increase email engagement.
5. Use Audience Segmentation To Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
Audience segmentation is one of the most advanced ways to increase restaurant email engagement. This method utilizes some of the valuable demographic details you collect from captive wifi marketing. Instead of sending out generic emails to your entire subscriber list, you get specific.
An email about a loyalty program would be fantastic if you have 50 regular visitors who visit before work. You email those 50 people specifically about the loyalty opportunity.
If you have 40 visitors who haven’t visited in a year, you need to focus on drawing them back in. What about a specific deal? Or a free event?
Audience behavioral segmentation is an effective way to tailor your email marketing experience a little. And sometimes, the feedback you should be taking from a lack of email engagement is just a lack of interest. Make it interesting by tailoring emails to individuals and just wait for engagement to increase.
Restaurant Email Marketing Examples
Hopefully, you are feeling inspired about increasing restaurant email engagement. The best next steps are to take action with restaurant email marketing examples. You can implement our five steps and watch the results roll in.
Lots of people get stuck on the first hurdle, though. In fact, coming up with email ideas is the most challenging part. For those who are struggling with email ideas, we’ve got some extra inspiration for you.
- A free event, e.g., a BYO alcohol cocktail-making night.
- A customer loyalty program.
- A special ‘thank you’ deal or discount.
- Relevant seasonal events, offers, and information.
- Menu updates (with pictures).
Final Thoughts: Increase Restaurant Email Engagement
A mission to increase restaurant email engagement might seem mammoth, but it is fascinating. Email campaigns are just an extension of what restaurants love most - customer interactions. Use our five steps for engagement success, and you’ll notice an increase in no time.
Excellent email engagement is vital in maintaining customer relationships and creating a loyal customer base. Email marketing allows you to connect with customers even after they leave. You can also reward loyalty with things like free coffee and exclusive discounts. The more people engage and react to your emails, the better customer relationships will be.
Looking for some extra guidance? Here at Beambox, we are happy to help. Outsource your wifi marketing to us, and let us lead your restaurant on a sparkly new marketing campaign.
We are experts in making the most of your internet, so let’s get the ball rolling today. Beambox offers the best all-in-one wifi marketing platform. We leverage a dynamic approach to connect, capture, and keep more customers. Start your Beambox free trial today, and let us help you maximize your wifi marketing potential.
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