5 Reasons Why Email Marketing Still Works

Marketing remains one of the most important aspects of the success of a business in today’s marketplace. It keeps your restaurant’s name fresh on the tongue of your customers and ensures a revolving door of diners. While there are several forms of marketing available, many discount the value of e-mail marketing. E-mail marketing, however, is still very useful method of reaching existing and new customers. It poses several benefits to restaurants and should absolutely be utilized.

1.  E-mail is a Great Wait to Connect

Over the last several years, e-mail has really taken off as one of the most frequently used communication mediums. Favored by many groups as their favorite means of communication, e-mail attracts people of all ages; young and older populations. There are very few people in today’s age that do not have an e-mail. There are a handful of reasons why e-mail is favorable. First is its convenience. E-mail is incredibly convenient. Now accessible by smartphone, just about everyone has their e-mail available at their fingertips. Most people check their e-mail at least once daily, often multiple times daily.  Secondly, many people prefer e-mail contact versus phone calls or other methods. It’s simpler and faster to reach out by e-mail than by cold-calling.

2.  E-mail Marketing is Cheap

E-mail marketing is remarkably inexpensive when compared to other methods of marketing. Business owners can literally spend pennies per e-mail when sending out mass communications, as opposed to significantly higher costs per contact for direct mailings, calls, or other forms of marketing and advertising.  It doesn’t take a marketing degree to figure out how to send out e-mail marketing. In fact, the processes is pretty simple and made even easier with websites like mail chimp. The most labor intensive part of e-mail marketing is obtaining the e-mail addresses. Many restaurants invite consumers to provide their e-mail address for coupons or other giveaways. These types of incentives help to build a quality e-mail list to routinely market to.

3.  Keep Your Customers Up-To-Date

E-mail marketing still works because it represents a super easy and affordable way to keep your consumers up to date with what’s going on in your business. Whether you’re running new specials or are adding a new section to your menu, e-mail is a great way to get information out to people. Many restaurants e-mail coupons or offer special discounts to people who subscribe to their e-mail newsletter. The versatility of e-mail allows you to attach pictures (which people really like) as well. E-mail marketing engages people in what you’ve got going on and continues to encourage them to come back through your door. Consistent, regular mailing is an ideal way to keep consumers informed and coming through the door.

4.  Customizable

The customization of e-mail marketing is one large reason for its popularity. As opposed to direct mailings, e-mail newsletters can be customized as frequently as desired. Instead of being stuck with one version, you can create a different newsletter each week. The newsletters can be as simple or as complex as the sender would like. And, they can even be personalized to include information like the name of the receiver. E-mail marketing tactics can be easily incorporated with other forms of marketing to create a integrated marketing campaign that is built and designed to meet the needs of the business.

5.  Measurable Data

Data is important, it tells us whether what we’re doing is working or whether it’s a waste of time. One of the really cool components of e-mail marketing are the analytics that come along with it. Like website analytics, e-mail marketing analytics can pick up virtually every action of the e-mail receiver. The analytics can tell whether or not the person opened the e-mail, or if they trashed it as soon as they received it. They can tell how long they viewed the e-mail and whether or not they clicked on any of the included links in the e-mail.  These analytics can help us identify components of the e-mail newsletters to change. Many restaurants will also offer coupons only to e-mail subscribers; this further provides concrete data as to the effectiveness of the newsletter.

Wrap Up

Ultimately, e-mail marketing remains an inexpensive, viable method of marketing to existing and potential consumers. It allows restaurant owners to reach a substantial number of people with very little time and cost. It promotes exposure of the business and essentially a better bottom line. E-mail marketing should be a part of every restaurant’s marketing plan.