Marketing your restaurant starts with having a great experience delivered by great people.

75% of first-time guests are there because of the recommendation of a friend or family member.

You were recommended because you were great.

If your restaurant is not achieving the sales it needs to survive, think of ways to ensure that every guest visit is above average.

Marketing puts a magnifying glass on the experience you provide.

Before you spend any money on marketing, be great.

Sending out a newsletter is not the same as sending an "e-mail".

E-mail is an electronic letter, a note, a personally engaging message.

Restaurants tend to overcomplicate their e-mail programs by creating graphic newsletters packed with information and then only sending them out once a month.  Twelve e-mails a year is not a way to keep your brand top of mind and engage your contact list.

Your e-mail program is intended to keep your restaurant on their mind so that when they decide they want to go out for an experience, you are their first choice.

Keep your e-mails to less than five sentences.
Make it, so it fits within one screen view of a phone.
Create a link for more information to a relevant webpage.

Less is more when it comes to content.

Send an e-mail at least once a week to stay engaged.

Got 60 seconds? Check out the video

It's essential to communicate the correct message.

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Pictures are great, but the words you choose help a potential new guest visualize themselves having an experience in your restaurant.
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What does your website say?

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The most significant advantage that email marketing has over social media is the ability to customize your message to be more relevant to the person you communicate to.

Asking people on your email list questions is a great way to learn more about your guests, and then it enables you to send out messages tailored to someone's likes.

In the book, Ask, Ryan Levesque explains how finding out more information helps you improve your products and market them.

For example, finding out if they prefer beef or chicken could segment them into different lists.

The people who like chicken could only receive emails about all the excellent chicken dishes you serve.

But what if this week's special is a beef dish?

Send out a message saying, "We know you love chicken, but this beef dish might make you change your mind......"

Knowledge is power, and the more you know about the contacts on your list, the more powerful your messages can be.

But don't just take our word for it; read the book.‍
Ask by Ryan Levesque

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