Do’s And Don’ts Of Creating A Mailing List That Will Keep Your Business Hopping

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Perhaps you’ve had a person or two tell you that you need to create a great mailing list for clients for your restaurant but you’re unsure of where to begin.  There are some easy steps that can get you started down the path to creating a list of clients that will help you be able to market more effectively and therefore keep your restaurant full all the time.  Here are some ideas to consider if you don’t already have a list of people you mail and email.  

Here are a few things you don’t want to do when it comes to creating a mailing list:

• Don’t keep your mail sign-up sheet at the cash register and nowhere else. 
• Don’t make a sign-up sheet and never utilize it.
• Don’t make a sign-up sheet and spam your clientele.
• Don’t make an email list and sell it off to other people. 
• Don’t create a mailing list and never do anything else with it and expect to get results.  

Some of the above may seem like no-brainers but they can be easy mistakes to make.  Often people don’t realize they are over-mailing their clients with items that aren’t even useful.  In addition it’s easy to make a quick sheet for people to sign up on and then never have sign-ins anywhere else.  

Take a look at some of the things you should really ‘do’ when it comes to creating a great mailing list.  

•  Do think outside of the box and have places people can sign up outside of your restaurant; think hotel rooms, businesses and convention centers.
• Do offer incentives for signing up to a mailing list like coupons, specials and birthday deals.
• Do consider how you email or mail your clients so you don’t look like average junk mail. 
• Do consider hiring a professional company to help you get the responses you deserve.  

One of the most important things about creating great direct mail marketing is to be unique and stand out from the crowd of junk mail people receive on a daily basis.  One easy way to do this is to make sure to offer value in each of your mailings.  This can come in the form of tips, coupons or specials offered.  Another important tip is to be as personal as you can with each message.  

If you are unsure if you’re on the right track or how to get started with any form of marketing it’s good to contact a professional for guidance.  Marketing is the heartbeat of your restaurant and without it you’ll be more likely to sink than swim. 

Use Direct Mailing To Keep Your Restaurant Full

Do you have an early bird crowd or lunch crowd that regularly fills the tables in your restaurant?  If you don’t then you are missing out on a lot of potential business.  There are many reasons keeping diners coming for all meals of the day are important and not the least of which is increased revenue.  If you’re unsure of how to get them in at different times other than dinner consider some of the following.  

Direct Mailing Them

Directly mailing clients is a great way to start to fill your seats at other times of the day besides just for the dinner rush.  One excellent way to get more people informed is to get a list of local businesses.  Send out postcards or menus that highlight lunch specials.  This is a great way to get those working nearby thinking of you and through your doors to try your food.  When going this route it’s a good idea to not consider marketing for dinner specials as often the same business class will commute in for work and leave by the dinner hour.  

You can also use direct mail to get in touch with the senior crowd.  If you don’t already offer a senior discount now is the time to start.  Most seniors enjoy eating out and they like to get their dinner in much earlier than the traditional dinner crowd.  This can be a great way to reach out to the community and capture some of the clients you have previously been missing and also get your tables filled during normal down times.  

Sometimes showing potential clients what your restaurant looks like is all it takes.  Think about all the potential diners that drive by and what they will think when they see what the inside of your restaurant looks like.  Sending out a postcard or an email with some professional shots of the inside of your dining room is a great way to create interest.  

Reveal a recipe to those that want to know how you make something.  Every restaurant has something that they do better than anyone else.  Most the time, clients are dying to know how you make it.  Send out a postcard or email that provides a redemption for the recipe on their next visit.  

Getting ideas for new marketing strategies that utilize direct mailing through the standard mailing path or through email can be difficult.  There are professional companies that keep up on all the different strategies and what’s working and what’s not working.  Contact us today so we can help you with a direct mailing program that works. 

Do You Know Some Of The Best Tips To Getting More Customers In Your Restaurant?

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Let’s face it, owning a restaurant is hard work.  There’s a very unique sort of inventory control by way of making sure you’re not wasting food and on the same note there’s quality control by way of making sure your clients are only served the best and freshest food.  If you’re like many you’re worried about increasing your revenue by increasing the amount of clients come to dine at your establishment.  What you may not know is some of the best strategies for getting them in there.  Consider some of the following suggestions:

Are you working with local hotels and motels?

There is a great untapped resource of new travelers hitting your local hotels and motels.  This is a wonderful spot to start spreading the word about your establishment.  One great way is to make sure you have menus available and offer take-out.  In addition you should have ways for these potential clients to sign up for email or mailing lists and offer them an incentive for doing so, such as a coupon.

Creating lists and checking them twice!

If you’re not already building a list of clients that would like to receive emails or regular mail you need to start.  This is an excellent way to keep in contact with your client base and let them know what’s happening in your restaurant.  You may also like to send out different promotional items such as coupons, birthday specials or other ideas.  Make sure to check your list often and make it simple for people to sign up and easy for them to opt out if needed.  

What to do with a list once you’ve got one:

Well gathering a list of names and contacts can be wonderful but what do you do with it once you’ve got it?  The first thing to consider is mailing and emailing.  Emailing clients is the perfect way to let them know what’s happening in your restaurant because it’s fast, free and many people are online.  You can send out coupons or let your customers know what’s on the menu.  This will help to create interest and bring more people in; keeping your tables full.  

If you’re not sure where to start with getting more people to come in to your restaurant, you should enlist the help of professionals.  Getting the right people involved can get the results you are after without all the stress wrong turns can lead to, check us out today: http://guestcontact.com

Why Incentives Can Help Your Restaurant Get More Clients

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If you’re not sending out incentives for your restaurant you may be losing business and not even realize it.  Keeping a restaurant full day after day can cost you time and energy but it doesn’t have to be as taxing as some managers make it.  Good marketing can help you get promoted without costing much.  There are many ways to get people talking about your establishment and more importantly coming in to see you.  

Tips to getting started marketing your restaurant:

      1.       Consider what you are doing.  

Are you creating lists of your regulars?  Are you marketing at all?  What does marketing mean to your restaurant and who’s in charge of it?  Is there a budget for your marketing?  If any of the questions are unable to be answered this is a good place to start.  If the answer is ‘no’ to the above questions it’s also a great place to start.  Regardless of what type of restaurant you have you need to keep people talking about it and wanting to come into it.  

      2.       Are you mailing or emailing your clients?

One of the best ways to get in contact with those who regularly like to dine in your restaurant is through mail.  Whether you send it the old fashioned way or you actually just shoot out emails on a regular basis, you need to let them know what’s going on.  Create specials on the menu so there is variety and offer them incentives so they want to stop by and get a savings.  

      3.       Do you send out incentives for your clients?

If you’re not already offering incentives out there you really need to reconsider your marketing strategy.  People love getting savings no matter how small and this will bring them into your establishment.  There are many ways to spread the word but some of the best are simply mailing or emailing people.  If you send out an email with a dollar or percent discount people will likely print it off and save it for the next time they don’t want to cook.  This will cost you nothing but a very small amount of time. 

You can also mail out a coupon for weekly specials, free appetizers or a discount.  Let your clients know what you have going on in the restaurant that week and why they’ll want to stop by.  This is a great way to establish a connection and to get them coming back in again and again.  

We can help you get started with any of a number of marketing strategies.  Whether you’re new to spreading the word or you’ve tried many different strategies we can help you create something unique.