A restaurant should send at least ten kinds of email: welcome, loyalty points, holiday or weekend, seasonal, occasion, returning menu, digital ordering, interactive, gamified, and deal emails. A deal is only one of the ten. For an independent restaurant with no marketing team, five are worth starting with: the welcome email, the loyalty points push, the seasonal email, the menu return, and the occasion email.
Most restaurant email lists only ever hear one kind of message, the discount. It is the easiest email to write, and it teaches guests to wait for the next deal. Every type below gives guests a reason to come back that has nothing to do with price.
The examples come from Toast’s published roundup of national chain emails. They are big brands, not independents, and nothing in the roundup says what software they use. Borrow the ideas, not the budgets.
What is the one rule every restaurant email should follow?
Every email needs one job, one message, and one clear next step. The job is why you are sending it. The message is the one thing a guest should take away. The next step is the one thing you want them to do.
A welcome email shows how it works. The job is to welcome someone new. The message is thanks for joining, and here is the dish to try first. The next step is to order it or book a table.
This matters because a list that only receives offers learns to open for the offer. An email with a job of its own gives guests a reason to keep opening.
What are the 10 types of restaurant emails?
The ten types fall into five families.
Start the relationship. This family covers welcome or signup emails and app or digital ordering promotions. A welcome email gives a new guest a reason to stay. The Taco Bell example in the roundup offered bonus points just for joining its rewards program. A digital ordering email gets guests used to ordering with you directly instead of through a third party.
Reward your regulars. This family is the loyalty points promotion. QDOBA, in the roundup, ran double points on one menu item for one week. One item, one week, one reason to come in, and nothing on the menu got cheaper.
Tie it to a moment. This family covers holiday or weekend promotions, seasonal menu emails, and occasion or group ordering emails. The moment does part of the persuading. Milk Bar’s summer email promoted treats that were only around for the season, so the season created the urgency instead of a discount.
Give them something to talk about. This family covers new or returning menu item emails, interactive promotional emails, and gamified emails. Shake Shack’s returning menu email named the specific fan favorites, so guests knew exactly what was coming back. Specific beats vague.
Keep the offer simple. This is the value or deal email. It is the one everybody starts with, and it has a place. It is one of ten, not the whole toolbox. If you send one, add something before you cut a price.
Which restaurant email types should an independent start with?
Start with five: the welcome email, the loyalty points push, the seasonal email, the menu return, and the occasion email.
Each one is a single message, sent for a single reason, to guests who already know your place. None needs an app, a game, or a designer. A seasonal email can be as small as one dish that is only around until the weather turns.
If five feels like a lot, start with the welcome email. One job, one message, one next step.
Which email types can an independent restaurant skip for now?
Skip gamified emails and app-based promotions for now. In the roundup, Domino’s sent an email that pulled guests into its own app to play a game for a chance at bonus points or a deal. That takes an app, a game, and people to build and maintain both. It is a national chain’s playbook, and it does not translate to a restaurant with one kitchen and one owner.
Interactive emails, where a guest taps or reveals something, can wait too. They are fun to know about, but they are not where to start.
How do you give a restaurant email one job?
Finish this sentence before every send: this email exists to ____.
This email exists to welcome someone new. This email exists to thank my regulars. This email exists to tell people the season is almost over. Those are jobs.
If the blank says get people to buy something, the email does not have a job yet. Buying is what you hope happens, not what the email is for. Give the email a job first. The offer, if there is one, comes second.
Where does Toast fit into restaurant email marketing?
If you are on Toast, the email tool can send targeted promotions using the guest and ordering data already in your POS, so the right message can reach the right guests. The tool sends the email. The job of each one still has to come from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many types of restaurant marketing emails are there?
There are at least ten: welcome, gamified, interactive, holiday or weekend, loyalty points, new or returning menu, seasonal menu, app or digital ordering, value or deal, and occasion or group ordering.
Should every restaurant email include a discount?
No. A discount is one of ten types. Emails built around a welcome, a season, a returning dish, or an occasion give guests a reason to come back without a price cut.
Do small restaurants need an app or a game to do email marketing?
No. The welcome email, loyalty points push, seasonal email, menu return, and occasion email need only a guest list and a clear message. Gamified and app-based promotions need infrastructure most independents do not have.
What should a restaurant welcome email say?
One message and one next step: thanks for joining, here is the dish to try first, and here is how to order or book.
Want a Second Set of Eyes on Your Restaurant’s Emails?
Book Your Free Toast Marketing Audit: Get a free 30-minute review of what’s sitting unused in your Toast account. tidycal.com/pam-pormentilla-monteith/restaurant-growth-session
Download the Free Checklist: Grab the Toast Marketing Activation Checklist and see which features to switch on first. greatworkonline.com/toast-activation-checklist