How to Start an Email Newsletter for Your Restaurant or Cafe
Don’t be at the mercy of Facebook or social media for what your customers can see, or when they hear from you. A simple monthly newsletter only needs three parts: a menu item, an event or announcement, and a fun fact or ‘behind the scenes’ about the business or a team member. Every time you send an issue with an inquiry link, bookings and orders will follow – it’s a promise! Social media is a ‘rented space’ with many restrictions – restaurant email marketing results belongs exclusively to you.
Starting a regular email marketing newsletter can seem like a big challenge, but beginning with a simple, friendly email can make the process much less intimidating. You might just start with an email to 20 customers, using the BCC function and plain text – just like you send to a supplier. Getting #1 newsletter out the door is the main priority – don’t let ‘perfection get in the way of progress’ – think of it as a friendly message to friends.
Email outperforms social media for customer engagement
Why? Because it’s direct communication that lands in the customer’s inbox, unlike social media that can get lost in a crowded feed – email also stays in the inbox until deleted, unlike social media posts that quickly disappear.
Email open rates can range from 20-30%, compared to social media visibility rates of less than 5% – the mystery of ‘social media algorithms’ is a continuing challenge! As you develop your email marketing skills, you can target segments of your audience – e.g. send a discount cooking school promotion to everyone who’s attended before but send a full-price option to the rest of your list.
Essential elements of restaurant Email Marketing
A successful newsletter should include the following:
Engaging subject line: Tempts recipients to open and read the email
Clear branding: Reflect your restaurant’s personality and style (colours, fonts, images)
Appealing visuals: Quality images of food, staff, events or the venue
Easy to read: Short paragraphs, simple wording and bullet points
Call-to-action (CTA): Encourage bookings, visits, or other desired actions eg ‘click the link’, ‘book now’ or ‘find out more’
Mobile responsiveness: Make sure the newsletter looks good on all devices
Social media links: Connect your email and social media accounts
Unsubscribe option: Legally required and builds trust with your audience
Manage your email campaigns
Set a consistent schedule: Weekly, fortnightly or monthly newsletters are sufficient, but less often than monthly shows you’re not so serious (eg the once-a-year email promoting Valentine’s Day!).
Create a content calendar: Plan themes and topics in advance. Use ChatGPT or an AI tool to draw up a plan and write a first draft of each post.
Use templates: Save time by reusing layouts and adapting content – your email service will make this easy.
Batch content creation: Write several newsletters at once when you have time.
Delegate tasks: Involve staff in content creation or photography eg someone in the kitchen finds information and takes photos for the monthly menu post.
Automate where possible: Use scheduling tools to send emails at the best times for a good open rate.
Repurpose content: Adapt material from your website or social media for newsletters.
Getting Started: tools and resources for DIY email marketing
Email service providers: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or ImpactData offer user-friendly interfaces and restaurant-specific templates – start with a simple plan and build as you gain confidence. Their templates make it easy to look good and cover the essentials like tracking open rates and offering an ‘unsubscribe’ feature.
Design tools: Canva or Adobe Express for creating visuals and layouts
Your own photo library: keep building your collection with images of food, drinks, staff at work and happy customers.
Stock photo sites: Unsplash or Pexels for high-quality, free images, especially for inanimate images like coffee being poured or a flaming wok. Avoid stock images that include people – it’s obvious they are not from your venue.
Learning resources: YouTube tutorials, online courses, or local business workshops for skill development
Analytics tools: Built-in provider analytics or Google Analytics to track performance
By focusing on these areas, restaurant owners can create effective email marketing campaigns that engage customers and drive business growth while keeping the process simple to manage. Once you have the system set up, it’s easy to pass this task on to someone working offsite who can bring the elements together each time and write content under your supervision.
Examples of simple and friendly newsletter content
For an Italian restaurant
Menu Specials: Come in from the cold and indulge in our hearty Osso Buco, a traditional Milanese dish. Savour tender, slow-cooked veal shanks in a rich tomato and vegetable sauce, served with creamy polenta. It’s the perfect warming dish for a chilly winter’s evening! Book now to reserve a table [link]
Events: It’s Christmas in July! Celebrate with us as we transform our restaurant into a winter wonderland. Enjoy a traditional Italian Christmas dinner with a twist, surrounded by twinkling lights and festive cheer.
Fun Facts: The secret to our delicious pasta? Our authentic Italian pasta machine is imported directly from Italy! It can churn out over 100 servings of fresh, homemade pasta every hour. So, every mouthful of spaghetti, fettuccine, and ravioli you enjoy here is fresh from this hard-working machine!
For a Bistro Grill:
Menu Special: Our October special is the Chargrill Platter. It’s a mouth-watering mix of grilled meats from local farms, served with a choice of special sauces and seasonal vegetables, and email subscribers receive a bonus service of deep fried onions (mention this email when you order). Book now to reserve a table [link]
Event: Get ready for a spooktacular Halloween! Join us for a night of delicious food and fun. Remember to wear your costume and be ready for the dark, dark chocolate mousse!
Fun Fact: Did you know the grill marks on your steak aren’t just for show? They actually add flavour by caramelising the surface of the meat, enhancing its natural taste. It’s one of the many reasons why grilled food is so delicious.
For a specialty cafe:
Menu Special: Our April special is the Honeycomb Spice Latte. It’s a sweet treat made with freshly brewed coffee, creamy milk, and a drizzle of rich honeycomb and cinnamon syrup. It’s sure to have you buzzing with delight.
Events: We’re celebrating Easter with a special bottomless brunch! Join us for a feast of delicious food, our unique coffee brews, and bottomless cocktail coolers, beer and wine. It’s a day for fun, feasting and community. Book now to reserve a table [link]
Fun Fact: Coffee is actually a fruit! The beans we roast and grind are the seeds of a cherry-like fruit. So, having a cup of coffee is like enjoying a very special kind of fruit juice!
Promote job opportunities:
Don’t make it the leading article, but it’s always useful to include a link to your website’s Careers & Employment Page – you never know who reads the email and sends it to a chef or keen barista who needs work!
The importance of the Welcome Email
When someone joins your list, they should automatically receive a friendly and informative welcome message. It’s surprising how often this is not done, even though this email has the highest open rate of any that are sent!
Here’s an example of the first email a restaurant could send out to get started with its email marketing:
Subject: Welcome to [Restaurant Name]’s Family!
Dear [First Name],
We’re delighted to welcome you to our [Restaurant Name] family! Thank you for signing up for our newsletter. We promise to keep things short, sweet, and delicious.
Here’s what’s cooking at [Restaurant Name]:
1. Weekend Special: Enjoy our delicious [Dish Name] for just [Price] this Saturday and Sunday. It’s the perfect excuse to treat yourself!
2. Meet the Team: Our head chef, [Name], has been with us for [X] years. Make sure to say hello – they’d love to hear your favourite dish!
3. Did You Know? Our [Signature Dish] recipe has been in the family for three generations. Some secrets are too good not to share!
We’d love to see you soon. Book a table this week and mention “NEWSLETTER” for a free [appetiser or dessert] with your meal.
Until next time, happy eating!
[Your Name] [Restaurant Name]
P.S. Follow us on [Social Media Platform] for daily food inspiration and behind-the-scenes snaps!
[Include social media buttons/links] [Include a clear ‘Book Now’ button]
What can restaurants learn from the high-frequency emails of fashion brands?
We can learn a lot from their messaging, and we have one key advantage – a physical store and presence (many fashion brands are digital only). But being ‘bricks and mortar’ doesn’t mean we avoid email or just do it occasionally – the principal lesson to learn from fashion is to be interesting and up the frequency!
1. Segmentation and Personalisation: Fashion brands often segment their audience based on preferences, purchase history, and engagement levels. Restaurants can do the same by categorising customers by dining preferences (e.g., vegetarian, wine enthusiast, jazz lover), tailoring offers based on visit frequency or average spend, and sending personalised recommendations based on past orders.
2. Visual Storytelling: Fashion emails are typically very visual, using high-quality images to showcase products. Restaurants can invest in high-quality food photography to showcase the atmosphere and dining experience.
3. Urgency and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Fashion brands often create a sense of urgency with limited-time offers. Restaurants can promote time-limited seasonal menus, offer subscribers exclusive ‘first access’ to new dishes, and even use countdown timers for special event bookings.
4. User-Generated Content: Fashion brands often feature customer photos in their emails. Restaurants can showcase customer reviews, feature photos of diners enjoying their meals (with permission), run photo contests and feature winners in newsletters
5. Cross-Channel Integration: Fashion emails often link to social media and vice versa. Restaurants can include social media buttons in emails, promote email sign-ups on social media platforms and use consistent branding and messaging across all channels.
6. Mobile Optimisation: fashion emails are designed to look great on mobile devices. Restaurants should make sure their emails are responsive and easy to read on smartphones, use large, tap-friendly buttons for CTAs, and keep subject lines short for mobile inboxes.
7. Frequency and Timing: Fashion brands send frequent emails, sometimes daily or twice daily! While restaurants may not need this frequency, they can increase the number of emails during peak seasons or for special events (e.g., the night before Mother’s or Father’s Day, selling gift vouchers for families who can’t visit personally). Test different sending times to find when customers are most likely to engage.
8. Loyalty Programs: Fashion brands often use emails to promote and manage loyalty programs. Restaurants can also use emails to update customers on their loyalty points or status and offer exclusive perks to loyal customers. This messaging is often part of their loyalty management system.
9. Behind-the-Scenes Content: Fashion brands often give subscribers a peek behind the curtain. Restaurants can share stories about the chef’s inspiration for new dishes, show the process of sourcing ingredients or preparing complex dishes, and introduce staff members to create a more personal connection.
10. Data-Driven Decision Making: Fashion brands carefully analyse email performance metrics. Restaurants should track open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, A/B test different subject lines, content, and designs, and use these insights to continually refine their email strategy.
By adopting these strategies, restaurants and cafes can create more engaging, effective email campaigns that drive customer loyalty and increase revenue. The key is to adapt these tactics to fit the unique characteristics of the hospitality industry and the specific brand of the restaurant.
Don’t be at the mercy of Facebook or social media for what your customers can see, or when they hear from you. A simple monthly newsletter only needs three parts: a menu item, an event or announcement, and a fun fact or ‘behind the scenes’ about the business or a team member. Every time you send an issue with an inquiry link, bookings and orders will follow – it’s a promise! Social media is a ‘rented space’ with many restrictions – restaurant email marketing results belongs exclusively to you.
Starting a regular email marketing newsletter can seem like a big challenge, but beginning with a simple, friendly email can make the process much less intimidating. You might just start with an email to 20 customers, using the BCC function and plain text – just like you send to a supplier. Getting #1 newsletter out the door is the main priority – don’t let ‘perfection get in the way of progress’ – think of it as a friendly message to friends.
Email outperforms social media for customer engagement
Why? Because it’s direct communication that lands in the customer’s inbox, unlike social media that can get lost in a crowded feed – email also stays in the inbox until deleted, unlike social media posts that quickly disappear.
Email open rates can range from 20-30%, compared to social media visibility rates of less than 5% – the mystery of ‘social media algorithms’ is a continuing challenge! As you develop your email marketing skills, you can target segments of your audience – e.g. send a discount cooking school promotion to everyone who’s attended before but send a full-price option to the rest of your list.
Essential elements of restaurant Email Marketing
A successful newsletter should include the following:
Manage your email campaigns
See also: 18 Ways to Collect Customer Contacts for your Cafe, Restaurant or Bar
Getting Started: tools and resources for DIY email marketing
By focusing on these areas, restaurant owners can create effective email marketing campaigns that engage customers and drive business growth while keeping the process simple to manage. Once you have the system set up, it’s easy to pass this task on to someone working offsite who can bring the elements together each time and write content under your supervision.
Examples of simple and friendly newsletter content
For an Italian restaurant
Menu Specials: Come in from the cold and indulge in our hearty Osso Buco, a traditional Milanese dish. Savour tender, slow-cooked veal shanks in a rich tomato and vegetable sauce, served with creamy polenta. It’s the perfect warming dish for a chilly winter’s evening! Book now to reserve a table [link]
Events: It’s Christmas in July! Celebrate with us as we transform our restaurant into a winter wonderland. Enjoy a traditional Italian Christmas dinner with a twist, surrounded by twinkling lights and festive cheer.
Fun Facts: The secret to our delicious pasta? Our authentic Italian pasta machine is imported directly from Italy! It can churn out over 100 servings of fresh, homemade pasta every hour. So, every mouthful of spaghetti, fettuccine, and ravioli you enjoy here is fresh from this hard-working machine!
For a Bistro Grill:
Menu Special: Our October special is the Chargrill Platter. It’s a mouth-watering mix of grilled meats from local farms, served with a choice of special sauces and seasonal vegetables, and email subscribers receive a bonus service of deep fried onions (mention this email when you order). Book now to reserve a table [link]
Event: Get ready for a spooktacular Halloween! Join us for a night of delicious food and fun. Remember to wear your costume and be ready for the dark, dark chocolate mousse!
Fun Fact: Did you know the grill marks on your steak aren’t just for show? They actually add flavour by caramelising the surface of the meat, enhancing its natural taste. It’s one of the many reasons why grilled food is so delicious.
For a specialty cafe:
Menu Special: Our April special is the Honeycomb Spice Latte. It’s a sweet treat made with freshly brewed coffee, creamy milk, and a drizzle of rich honeycomb and cinnamon syrup. It’s sure to have you buzzing with delight.
Events: We’re celebrating Easter with a special bottomless brunch! Join us for a feast of delicious food, our unique coffee brews, and bottomless cocktail coolers, beer and wine. It’s a day for fun, feasting and community. Book now to reserve a table [link]
Fun Fact: Coffee is actually a fruit! The beans we roast and grind are the seeds of a cherry-like fruit. So, having a cup of coffee is like enjoying a very special kind of fruit juice!
Promote job opportunities:
Don’t make it the leading article, but it’s always useful to include a link to your website’s Careers & Employment Page – you never know who reads the email and sends it to a chef or keen barista who needs work!
The importance of the Welcome Email
When someone joins your list, they should automatically receive a friendly and informative welcome message. It’s surprising how often this is not done, even though this email has the highest open rate of any that are sent!
Here’s an example of the first email a restaurant could send out to get started with its email marketing:
Subject: Welcome to [Restaurant Name]’s Family!
Dear [First Name],
We’re delighted to welcome you to our [Restaurant Name] family! Thank you for signing up for our newsletter. We promise to keep things short, sweet, and delicious.
Here’s what’s cooking at [Restaurant Name]:
1. Weekend Special: Enjoy our delicious [Dish Name] for just [Price] this Saturday and Sunday. It’s the perfect excuse to treat yourself!
2. Meet the Team: Our head chef, [Name], has been with us for [X] years. Make sure to say hello – they’d love to hear your favourite dish!
3. Did You Know? Our [Signature Dish] recipe has been in the family for three generations. Some secrets are too good not to share!
We’d love to see you soon. Book a table this week and mention “NEWSLETTER” for a free [appetiser or dessert] with your meal.
Until next time, happy eating!
[Your Name]
[Restaurant Name]
P.S. Follow us on [Social Media Platform] for daily food inspiration and behind-the-scenes snaps!
[Include social media buttons/links]
[Include a clear ‘Book Now’ button]
What can restaurants learn from the high-frequency emails of fashion brands?
We can learn a lot from their messaging, and we have one key advantage – a physical store and presence (many fashion brands are digital only). But being ‘bricks and mortar’ doesn’t mean we avoid email or just do it occasionally – the principal lesson to learn from fashion is to be interesting and up the frequency!
1. Segmentation and Personalisation: Fashion brands often segment their audience based on preferences, purchase history, and engagement levels. Restaurants can do the same by categorising customers by dining preferences (e.g., vegetarian, wine enthusiast, jazz lover), tailoring offers based on visit frequency or average spend, and sending personalised recommendations based on past orders.
2. Visual Storytelling: Fashion emails are typically very visual, using high-quality images to showcase products. Restaurants can invest in high-quality food photography to showcase the atmosphere and dining experience.
3. Urgency and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Fashion brands often create a sense of urgency with limited-time offers. Restaurants can promote time-limited seasonal menus, offer subscribers exclusive ‘first access’ to new dishes, and even use countdown timers for special event bookings.
4. User-Generated Content: Fashion brands often feature customer photos in their emails. Restaurants can showcase customer reviews, feature photos of diners enjoying their meals (with permission), run photo contests and feature winners in newsletters
5. Cross-Channel Integration: Fashion emails often link to social media and vice versa. Restaurants can include social media buttons in emails, promote email sign-ups on social media platforms and use consistent branding and messaging across all channels.
6. Mobile Optimisation: fashion emails are designed to look great on mobile devices. Restaurants should make sure their emails are responsive and easy to read on smartphones, use large, tap-friendly buttons for CTAs, and keep subject lines short for mobile inboxes.
7. Frequency and Timing: Fashion brands send frequent emails, sometimes daily or twice daily! While restaurants may not need this frequency, they can increase the number of emails during peak seasons or for special events (e.g., the night before Mother’s or Father’s Day, selling gift vouchers for families who can’t visit personally). Test different sending times to find when customers are most likely to engage.
8. Loyalty Programs: Fashion brands often use emails to promote and manage loyalty programs. Restaurants can also use emails to update customers on their loyalty points or status and offer exclusive perks to loyal customers. This messaging is often part of their loyalty management system.
9. Behind-the-Scenes Content: Fashion brands often give subscribers a peek behind the curtain. Restaurants can share stories about the chef’s inspiration for new dishes, show the process of sourcing ingredients or preparing complex dishes, and introduce staff members to create a more personal connection.
10. Data-Driven Decision Making: Fashion brands carefully analyse email performance metrics. Restaurants should track open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, A/B test different subject lines, content, and designs, and use these insights to continually refine their email strategy.
By adopting these strategies, restaurants and cafes can create more engaging, effective email campaigns that drive customer loyalty and increase revenue. The key is to adapt these tactics to fit the unique characteristics of the hospitality industry and the specific brand of the restaurant.
Check the other useful blog posts on the Foodie Coaches website…
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