VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

How Restaurants Can Build Email Lists

I've talked to a number of restaurants about how they go about collecting email addresses, it seems to be a huge pain point. And when you get email addresses, what do you do with them? Here are a few ways that our restaurant customers have grown their own lists.

Use Open Table or a software package to run the show - Many times these software packages have a contact management system where you can collect email addresses. If you have someone making a reservation on the phone, tell them you'll need their email address to confirm it. Then when you have special promotions or menu changes you can use email marketing to them to get them to come back in.

Display acrylic/wooden boxes or fishbowls with a promo - I know I harp on this but I've seen it work. Get customers to drop their business cards  in the box for a free lunch for 4, free appetizers or free drinks. Call for a few winners during a time when you're not busy. Then when the parties come, you'll have the chance to get their friend's cards as well. Keep up with inputting these addresses into your VerticalResponse account or your contact management system so you can regularly send email marketing campaigns to them. We've seen some great ballot boxes at Displays2Go.

Include a sign-up card with the check - When your waitstaff is giving your customers the check at the end of the meal, make sure they pull out the sign up form and tell your customers the benefits of giving you their email address. Make it an exclusive "club" where you email people special events for frequent customers. You can even spif your waitstaff a buck or two for each email address they get, make it a fun competition!

Put a sign-up form on your website - We offer a sign-up form for free, so you should include one on your site. Offer a weekly or monthly newsletter where you might tout member-only events to entice visitors to give you their email address. Then come through on your promise. Le Charm does a great job below outlining the benefits and including a sign up form.

Any way you do it, you'll want to be sure you're keeping up to date with getting these addresses into your system weekly or monthly. Then shoot a welcome email out to them thanking them for signing up.

Got an idea to share for how you collect addresses at your own restaurant? Let's hear them!

Reap the Benefits of Opt-out Forms

Question of the day for our users? Why aren't more of you taking advantage of our opt-out forms?

Here's the deal: An opt-out form simply gives you a consolidated way to manage those who unsubscribe from your email marketing campaigns.

Take this small quiz:

• Do you have an unsubscribe link somewhere on your site that goes into some database and you really aren't sure where?
• Do recipients call you and ask you to take them off your list? (I know, gasp!)
• Are your unsubscribes in places OTHER than your VerticalResponse account?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then you need to be aware of what the Free Opt-out form can do for you - put all of your unsubscribe data in one simple-to-download space.

Here are five compelling arguments in favor of opt-out forms:

1. Complying with the Federal Law - Honoring unsubscribe requests from your email marketing campaigns has always been a good business practice, but the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 made it the law. Opt-out forms provide an easy, automated way for companies to update their unsubscribe list in real-time.
2. Set-up takes minutes - With our wizard-based system, you can create your very own web form. Then, simply copy and paste a few lines of code into your website and watch the opt-out form instantly appear.
3. Unsubscribe management - VerticalResponse opt-out forms allow you to manage unsubscribe databases with a minimum of fuss. Customers can unsubscribe directly from your website, or they can contact your office or call center to remove themselves from your list. You or they can simply type in the email address and they won't get another email. It's that easy.
4. 24-7 Access - VerticalResponse keeps your unsubscribe data constantly updated and grants you access to this information at all times. Best of all, if you need to take the data with you or share it with someone else, you can easily download all of your unsubscribes into an exportable file in minutes.
5. It's FREE - Need we say more? No one wants users to unsubscribe, but it just happens, even to the best of us. So stop the madness! A VerticalResponse opt-out form is an easy way to stay on top of the data and on the right side of the law.

5 Tips on How to Spruce Up Your Content to Get a Better Response To Your Email

There are a few tricks of the trade you can use to boost both your email response rates and your delivery rates with your email marketing campaigns. I mean if it doesn't get into the inbox, you can fuggetabout a response, right?

Here goes:

1. Use Bullets - Avoid using long copy blocks. People tend to scan email these days to see if they want to commit, if you use quick-and-to-the-point bullets you give them a better opportunity.

Example HTML code:
<ul>
    <li> List Item 1 </li>
    <li> List item 2 </li>
</ul>

This will give you a list like :

• List item 1
• List item 2

Want to create a top 10 List? Just change the <ul> tags to <ol> and voila!

1. List item 1
2. List item 2

 

2. Above the fold - Put your most important content or your anchor tags above the fold. Do yourself a favor and when you send yourself a test, see what your email looks like in your own preview pane. If you don't see the important content first, change it up.

3. Stay away from HUGE logos on top of your email, it takes up too much valuable space.

4. Font Colors - Avoid font colors like magenta, yellow, green or gray, they score higher on spam filters than black or blue.

5. Forward to a friend - Include a link in all of your emails. You never know, your next forwarded recipient could be your best customer.

Got any ideas of your own? Bring them on!