So you’ve decided to commit to email marketing for your restaurant. 

Excellent idea. 

Email marketing still has one of the best returns on investment of any marketing channel—somewhere between $36 and $40 for every dollar spent. It’s a warm audience that you know is interested in what you offer—because they’ve actively opted in to hearing from you. (Right? You didn’t buy your email list…right???)

But what will you put in those restaurant emails? That blinking cursor isn’t going to give you any ideas. So start here instead for a list of email topics to fire up your creativity. 

Roll out the welcome mat (with a welcome sequence)

Before you get into the weekly, biweekly, or monthly content, you want to nurture your brand new baby subscriber with a welcome sequence. 

This is a group of emails, usually between three and seven, that send out to new subscribers automatically, on a pre-set schedule. This gets the subscriber accustomed to seeing your name in their inbox and gently coaches them to open your emails. Think of it as training wheels for your list.

If you offer any sort of incentive for people to sign up, like 15% off their next order or a free cup of coffee, the first email usually delivers that coupon or code. Then they’ll get the rest of the welcome emails dripped out over the next few days.

Here’s a sample 3-email welcome sequence: 

Email #1: Delivered immediately after they sign up

Deliver the freebie (if you’re offering one), thank them for signing up, and let them know what to expect from your emails. (Like how often they’ll hear from you and the type of content you send out.)

Email #2: Delivered the next day

Share a little backstory. Think of it as an abbreviated version of your About page. A highlight reel, if you will. Focus on what sets you apart from other restaurants. Strut your stuff! 

Email #3: Delivered the third day

Ask for a sale. What exactly this is will depend on your brand and your goals. You could direct people to your online ordering platform if to-go is your jam, or send them to a reservations link for in-store dining. 

Once your email subscribers have gone through your welcome sequence, they’ll funnel into your primary email list. Your regularly scheduled programming.

The key here is “regular.” You don’t have to email daily, or even weekly. But you do want to be consistent. If you let weeks or months go by with no word, people will forget that they signed up for your emails at all. Then when you do send them a message, you could get mass unsubscribes. Or worse—spam complaints. And too many spam complaints are the kiss of death for an email list. 

So what can your restaurant email your list about? I’m so glad you asked. 

Share Menu Updates or Special Event Promotions

You’re probably used to sharing menu updates and event promotions on social media. But those messages can easily get lost in the gaping maw of the algorithm. With email, however, those messages will go straight to the inbox. 

You can share: 

• New menu items
• Rotating seasonal menus or weekly specials
• New cocktails or a seasonal cocktail menu
• Special menus for big dining-out days like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and New Year’s Eve. Link directly to your reservations page. 
• Promotions/special offers. People love a deal, especially if it’s exclusive to email subscribers.
• Special events like live music, anniversary parties, etc.
• Details about visiting chefs or collaborations
• Promote renting the space for buyouts or large parties, especially during the holidays and/or wedding season

Treat Email Like an Online Bulletin Board

Not all emails must be sales focused. People don’t like to be sold to 100% of the time. So it can benefit the health of your email marketing strategy to mix in some non-sales emails, like restaurant updates. 

You could share news like: 

• Changes to hours
• Upcoming closures for special events, cleaning days, or remodeling
• The status of a remodel, construction project, or new decor
• The start of patio/rooftop season
• Details for giveaways or contests
• Recaps of successful events or parties

Send Personalized Emails

Now, your ability to share personalized emails depends on how much information you’re collecting about your customers. This can be a challenge in a restaurant, since so many of your orders are in-person instead of online, and collecting data in-person is a different beast.

But if you use certain tech in-house, then you can collect this kind of data. Toast, for example, collects customer data like order history, some demographic info, and email addresses. And you can use this information to send super personalized emails like these: 

• A special coupon on the guest’s birthday
• Messages to loyalty members based on orders placed, number of visits, type of order (dine-in vs. takeout)
• Re-engagement emails to invite customers back who haven’t visited in a while
• Personalized special event invites to people who have attended similar events in the past
• Special deals for your most loyal customers (ie. “Thanks for joining the double-digits club! That’s right—you’ve ordered from us 10 times. Make it 11 and get 15% off your next order, just as a thank you.”
• Review requests. These can be set up to go out automatically after a guest orders online or dines in, with the right tech tools.
• Surveys. These can help you learn more about who your customers are. 

Go Behind-the-Scenes

People like to buy from people they like. It holds true across every industry and every audience. So sharing some bonus content can help build that connection and boost your brand’s likability.

You could sprinkle in: 

• Favorite recipes that people clamor for. Don’t worry about hurting your business…people come to your restaurant for a lot more than your signature lasagna. And chances are slim they’ll be able to recreate it as well as your chef does anyway.
• How you source certain special ingredients
• Social proof emails. These can be positive reviews, or photos/videos from social media.
• Personal stories from the chef, owner, or other staff members. Humanize your team and make people feel like they know you better.
• Your restaurant in the news. Got an Eater mention, local news shoutout, or national attention? Don’t be quiet about it. 
• Share any community or volunteer work that you do
• Spotlight a local maker or artisan that you work with
• Education. A sushi restaurant could explain the meaning of omakase, or where sushi originated. (Not in Japan.) A BBQ joint could go into the science behind the stall, or what makes that tantalizing smoke ring. Or you could be more specific—sharing the meaning behind your restaurant name, or the history of your location. (These can also be great topics to tackle in your welcome sequence.)

Am I missing anything? Let’s join our collective brainpower. Let me know in the comments if there are any restaurant emails you think I should add to this list!

Or get in touch—I can help you come up with the right email strategy for your own restaurant.