Direct Mail Marketing isn’t Dead

Since the recent marketing trends have pushed small businesses into choosing email marketing over direct mail marketing, some business owners have decided to completely get rid of direct mail in their marketing campaigns altogether.  After all, direct mail is often more expensive than email marketing, right?  

The problem with this line of thinking is that it underestimates the core of what makes marketing work—doing something different.  When you do something different as a business, you get attention.  Customers react to unique experiences and the promises of them, so they respond positively to any type of marketing that is unique and stands out from the rest of the thousands of ads they see throughout the span of a day.  

This is why direct mail can work for you. It’s not the newest, greatest trend in marketing, but sometimes that’s a good thing.  New isn’t always good and customers are more likely to pay attention to direct mail when it’s not what everyone else is doing, so don’t falsely assume that direct mail marketing is dead.  

Direct mail is still a great way to reach a local customer base and can be effective, given the right message and design.  Direct mail also has several advantages over email marketing, especially in its ability to communicate brand awareness and “stick” in the consciousness of potential customers.  It has the potential of reaching multiple people (instead of one person’s email inbox, where it may or may not be read) and if done right, can still be money well spent—even in today’s modern small business marketing strategies.  

With this in mind, why not try something with your direct mail campaign that will capitalize on the concept of uniqueness?  Allow your targeted audience to see how you stand apart from the trends in order to set your own.  

Should I include educational information in my emails to customers?

Creating Emails People Want To Open

With the introduction of smartphones and other wireless devices into the mainstream market, an increasing number of consumers are sending marketing emails straight to their junk email boxes.  This is no surprise—especially in consideration of how bombarded people are with advertisements and marketing through everything from their televisions to their cell phones.  

That’s why email marketing is all too often a hit-or-miss kind of scenario, where your email has a big chance of not being read.  While email marketing is an inexpensive way to meet your present and future customers, it’s the type of marketing that needs to adjust to the customers’ needs and wants if it is to be effective in its purpose.

So how do you create emails that you know people will want to open?  The answer is simple: the email needs to add value to their lives.  There are several ways you can do this:

1. Attach incentives to your emails, such as coupons or discounts. 

If customers know that most of the emails they receive from you are beneficial to their wallet, then they’ll be less inclined to shuffle your emails into their junk mailbox.  You can also use emails to announce weekly specials or remind customers of “Two for One night” or something similar.  

2. Make your emails educational by sharing your expertise.

This is a big one—what is one of the main reasons people get online in the first place?  If you answered for information, then you’re correct.  People use the internet to research, find out information, read news articles, stay up-to-date on their favorite activities, and keep up with trends that are important to them.  When you include important information in your emails that is relevant to your clients, your emails will then add value to their lives through the information you provide.  Share cooking secrets or recipes, discuss important trends in menus, talk about health benefits of certain foods on your menu, and show your expertise in what you do.  It will build brand image for your restaurant and build your customer base in the process. 

Restaurant and Retail Marketing: Send Birthday Emails

In marketing your restaurant, you’ll find that there are a lot of gimmicks and tricks that people think of to encourage repeat customers, but only a few of them are tried and true practices.  Since small business owners have little time and money to spend on an unproven gimmick, a little research goes a long way in making sure the marketing techniques you are using will actually do what they’re supposed to do – make people want to come to your restaurant.  

One of these proven strategies is birthday emails and specials, sent via email directly to your customers.   When your customers receive an email offering them a special discount that is personalized for them, it’s an offer that’s almost impossible to turn down.  Everyone wants to feel special on their birthday and everyone wants to DO something special like go out to a restaurant with loved ones or friends, while being showered with gifts (or discounts or free menu items).  

Below are the steps you can take to incorporate birthday emails into your regular marketing campaign.  It is simple and low-cost, and with the right software, can be fully automated.  It’s a no-brainer!

1. Collect the Necessary Information

Keep subscription cards at your counter or hostess stand and include them with your bill for customers who are dining in.  With the right offer attached, once word gets around, customers will be asking you for you.  If you have a website, you can include a form on it as well.  

2. Organize and Send Monthly Birthday Emails

Software to maintain a customer database is usually equipped with email capability that will automate the process for you for each customer.  Otherwise, emails can be sent by an employee or manager, but this will be a time-consuming process. 

Why should I consider sending birthday emails to my customers?

Making Customer Feedback Work for You

Bill Gates, the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft, once said, ““You need to know about customer feedback that says things should be better.”  As the CEO of the world’s largest person computer software company, Gates understands that in order to build your business successfully, you MUST get the feedback of the people buying your product.  They are, after all, the lifeblood of the business, and their opinions can mean the difference between success and failure for your restaurant.  All you have to do is take the time to listen to them.  

1.       Customer feedback tells you what your customers need/want.

If you are seeking way to attract more business from a certain segment of the population or demographic, then you need to listen to what that group wants.  Here’s an example: Want to draw a younger crowd to your restaurant?  Then take surveys, use social media, and do a little research to find out what the 20-something customer base thinks about your restaurant.  Listen to their feedback and attempt to meet their demands as much as you can.  

2.       Customer feedback tells you where you stand vs. a competitor.

Ask questions about your competitors and find out why customers prefer that restaurant to yours.  You can do this by asking “What attracts you to your favorite restaurant?” or something along those lines.  If your customers state that ambiance or a friendly wait staff are the factors that attract them, then you have a good clue regarding the changes you should make in your own establishment.   

3.       Customer feedback tells you about market trends.

Finding out the trends of your customer base can be a boost for your business in several ways, and these trends can be determined through customer feedback.  Ask your customers which social media sites they tend to use the most, figure out how many use smartphones for shopping/finding places to eat, or use their feedback to pass on promotions through their preferred method of contact.