The restaurant industry is a crowded landscape with so many new players competing for guest attention and loyalty. With various options and dining experiences at guests' fingertips, restaurant operators need to find ways to make their restaurants stand out to drive repeat business.

A wide variety of dining establishments rely on social media marketing or email marketing to promote their restaurants and boost their bottom line. Email marketing allows restaurant owners to tailor their messaging to a specific audience, personalize content, and address recipients by their first name.

The value of EDM marketing

Out of all the email marketing tools, Electronic Direct Mail, or EDM, has proven to be highly effective in launching marketing campaigns. EDMs can be automated so that restaurateurs can send personalized emails to their target audience without requiring a large staff to manage them. Restaurants can leverage EDMs for promotions, specials, and happy hour deals while also adding that much sought-after human touch to electronic correspondence. Here are some other key benefits:

Cost-effectiveness: EDMs allow restaurant owners and hospitality operators to engage with their audience more effectively for a fraction of the cost of a paid social media campaign or advertising on media channels. 

Targeted messaging: Restaurant operators can create emails to specific audience segments. The more personalized the messaging is, the more likely it will garner a reaction from guests, leading to more repeat visits.

One email blast: EDMs allow hospitality owners to reach their audience instantly, helping build long-term relationships with guests.

Automatic emails at your fingertips: With EDMs, restaurants can send and schedule automatic email campaigns for birthdays and special restaurant promos. Automation requires minimum manual input, reducing the burden on staff.

High return on investment: EDM is cost-effective, can be automated, and can be sent to a targeted audience. If used correctly and strategically as part of a bigger marketing campaign, it can be a powerful tool for restaurants to build guest loyalty and higher ROI.

Building an email database for EDM campaigns

Before embarking on launching an EDM marketing campaign, building an email database is the first step restaurant operators need to take to connect effectively with their target audience. Here are some ways restaurant owners can build a high-quality email list using their restaurant reservation system like TableCheck to foster engagement and drive repeat visits to their venues.

Capturing guest data from the booking form

The booking form of TableCheck captures client details like email addresses and other critical data. With Tablecheck, data is owned and controlled by merchants, unlike third-party OTAs who typically own this information, making it inaccessible to hospitality operators.

Using customer opt-ins to create a high-quality email list

With TableCheck, guests can opt-in to receive emails during the process of making a reservation at their favorite restaurant. The opt-in aspect is critical, as guests who sign up show they are interested in receiving information and offers from the restaurant and are less likely to unsubscribe from emails.

Leveraging surveys to gauge guest sentiment and encourage sign-ups

TableCheck also allows restaurants to conduct surveys, which ultimately helps client restaurants expand their email subscriber base while learning more about their customers' opinions. The feedback from the surveys can be used to improve the food, service, and ambiance if there are any of the areas where customers have expressed dissatisfaction. On the other hand, guests may provide feedback on what they enjoy, helping restaurants maintain popular features like weekend live music or holiday breakfast buffets.

TableCheck Customer Survey has the bonus of being very cost-effective since the necessary technology is already part of the core package of the platform and can be employed at will. Restaurants can ask a range of inquiries, from learning about their customers' demographics to inquiring about customer service to learning if they appreciate the dessert menu. The list is infinite, and there are so many vital insights and data points that can be gathered just a few clicks away.

Learn more: Top 10 restaurant survey questions to improve guest satisfaction

Placing QR Codes on strategic locations

QR codes can be used for more than just simply generating menus; they can also be used to rapidly build a mailing list. QR codes can be placed on a menu, kiosk, or guest room. Additionally, operators can also track sign-ups per QR code which can give insight into which campaign has led to more registrations.

Automating hospitality: How to use TableCheck EDM

1. Segmenting the audience for effective EDM campaigns

TableCheck EDM allows hospitality operators to segment the guest list based on parameters such as common traits, preferences, or guest spending based on their planned marketing campaign. Is the goal to promote new vegan dishes to vegan guests or attract back high-spenders to the venue? Restaurants can create their segmented list and align it with their marketing goals.

2. Monitoring EDM campaign performance

TableCheck-powered EDM campaigns are trackable. The emails sent can be labeled with a campaign name, and restaurant owners can see its performance by viewing the campaign's open rate and booking success rates. By tracking campaigns, hospitality operators can learn, analyze, and update any future marketing efforts or discover a formula that works with their audience.

Here are the key performance metrics that can be tracked in the TableCheck platform:

• Recipients: The number of messages successfully sent includes any delivered message, including ones that went to the spam folder

• Open rates: Number of people who viewed the email at least once

• Click rate: Number of people who clicked at least one CTA button/image in the mail

• Reservations: Number of reservations booked due to the email

• Pax: Number of covers booked due to the mail

• Spam: Number of messages that were delivered but were put in the recipient's spam folder

• Bounced: Number of messages that were sent but failed to be delivered to the user’s inbox

• Skipped: Number of receipts that were skipped, for example, due to not sending to the same email address twice

• Failed: Number of mails which failed due, e.g. to system error

3. Customizing mail templates and theme 

Restaurants may build a new email template using TableCheck EDM. It's simple to alter the text, graphics, and links for each marketing campaign.

Additionally, TableCheck enables restaurants to choose a theme and define the brand's colors, fonts, and standardized header and footer, standardizing them for each email the restaurant sends out.

4. Sending one-single email blasts

Some campaigns can be sent as a single blast, while others can be scheduled to send a blast once a month, for example, to customers who have a birthday or anniversary within the next month.

5. Personalization delivered directly to the guest's inbox

TableCheck EDM allows operators to personalize information for guests, making "at scale" restaurant marketing much more personable. A restaurant that sends an email to its customers on the eve of their wedding anniversary offering them a free mocktail with their meal is using a great example of personalization. This type of communication has the potential to increase satisfaction among current customers, encourage return visits, and boost overall satisfaction among visitors.

6. Automating EDM communication

TableCheck makes restaurant email marketing easy and convenient. TableCheck automates sending emails to a selected list on a certain day and time. The user must pick the list, generate text consistent with the restaurant's branding approach, and specify the date and time.

Learn more: JW Marriott Hotel Nara's Silk Road Dining restaurant generates more sales using the TableCheck EDM feature

Booking platforms, such as TableCheck, are multifunctional tools for restaurants. TableCheck assists hospitality businesses in managing bookings, developing a database, and personalizing and automating restaurant marketing with measurable results. With TableCheck's EDM, restaurant operators can attract repeat guests while also moving their business forward.

This article was published in October 2022 and updated in June 2024.