VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

Keep 'em Coming Back for More with Loyalty Programs

I received something in my mailbox recently that absolutely thrilled me. I reached gold card status at Starbucks and my new card arrived! If you didn't know, Starbucks lets you register any gift card, and then tracks your purchases made on that card. Once you reach a certain number, Starbucks will send you a gold card. In addition to the cool card with my name on it, I also get periodic free drinks and discounts on products.

Starbucks reminded me in the card info to update my email address so I know when my special deals arrive. Great for email marketing! By updating my address I'm also signing up for their marketing emails, an easy way to grow their list. Any business can do this, and you don't have to set up a special page on your site; this can also be accomplished in person at a register or in your store.

With the exception of the fancy card, this is a pretty simple loyalty program. You probably are part of one or more like this already: "Buy X sandwiches, get 1 free" or "Spend X amount of money in our store and save 25% off your next purchase." A simple punch card is an easy way to start a loyalty program for your regular customers. Knowing that buying from your company or using your service will earn them something in the future will help keep your company top of mind and keep customers coming back for more. There's even a new app called Stampt built specifically with this use in mind, making it easier and faster than ever to create your own loyalty program.

Really, my fancy new card just shows my dependence on caffeine. But now that I have reached this special level I will be more likely to think of Starbucks when I need a pick-me-up. And, that continued business is the true value of a loyalty program.

Are you using a loyalty program at your business? How do you make it work?

Posted by: Jill Bastian

Jill Bastian is the Training and Education Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter @Jillieb3.

Free Stuff = New Customers + Great Word of Mouth

The word "free" is a wonderful word, isn't it? Risk-free, free shipping, buy one get one free - they're all tried and true in the world of marketing. But have you ever thought of really giving something free up front to gain a customer or great word of mouth?

I'll ask all CFOs or bean counters to stop cringing, I know, I've had the discussions with many of you. And I understand that most businesses are in business to MAKE money, not give away the store. But done right, giving away something for free can really make a difference and help your business grow (not go away).

Here are some ideas of how a few industries give things for free to gain customers.

Software Companies - What's great about online software is that you can do a lot by giving your product and digital content away to get people in the door in a limited fashion.

• Give full access to your product for free for a limited time. This takes away any tough sell questions if people can get in and really play with it.
• Offer a free downloadable guide or something that you email that adds value.
• Offer free webinars to potential customers.
• Give the first month of an online service totally free or give a few months of a service contract free. These are usually pretty inexpensive to give away.

At VerticalResponse we take it one step further, we give our email marketing product away for free to smaller non-profits. This works in many ways; Our non-profits talk us up to their friends and colleagues, and we love the fact that we give back to the community. Free is good all the way around.

Restaurants & Bars - Getting and keeping costs in line is important to all restaurant owners, but there are some things you might try to generate some neighborhood buzz.

• Offer a free appetizer of your choice from 4-6pm to get the crowds in the door early.
• Give free cookies for dessert.
• In Europe most cafes give you olives, chips, and nuts for ordering a few drinks.
• A restaurant in the Bay Area gives you free hamachi shots and free cotton candy at the end of your meal. Cotton candy is quirky enough to cause some word-of-mouth and out of 251 Yelp reviews, 70 of them mention it!

There's a restaurant in Lake Tahoe known for giving a "doggie bag" of a turkey sandwich and a pumpkin pie slice after you eat there for Thanksgiving. You still get the feeling you're eating leftovers without the hassle of cooking!

Clothing Retail - Give a cool, free reusable shopping bag for customers to carry their stuff around in. Scoop in NYC does a great job at generating buzz from the free durable shopping bags they give away plus they get some nice advertising out of the deal when people are walking around town carrying the bags. Ambaince, a women's boutique clothing store in SF, does the same thing.

Health Clubs - Health clubs can get really creative to attract customers. You can come up with a nice package to get people in the door. Here are some ideas of things to give to get people to sign on the dotted line:

• Give free SIGG gym-logo'd water bottles.
• Offer a free hour with a trainer.
• Offer $50 worth of free food at the gym's cafe.
• Give a $25 gift certificate to the gym's spa.
• Have a monthly "mixer" for your guests if they bring a friend who isn't a member.
• Offer free gifts and some healthy smoothies.

The Sports Club LA gives free guest passes to get newbies coming to the club to try it out for a few days.

These are just a few ideas for these particular business types to get customers by giving something for free. Is there something you can give away to get people in your door?

Restaurants & Bars: 5 Ways to Use Twitter & Facebook

We get this question all the time, "I’ve got a restaurant or a bar, and I send out my weekly or monthly email marketing newsletter, but what should I be posting to Twitter  and Facebook?" Social media is great for notifications that are short, sweet and timely. We’ve put together some ideas that you can put to work for your establishment today.

Soup of the Day – I bet the #1 thing most restaurants get calls for on a daily basis is about their soup of the day. Twitter is a perfect application for this! No one really wants to call to find this out, so make it easy for them. Tell them to follow you on Twitter.

Specials – Same as soup, special items on the menu may change on a daily basis. Again, this is the perfect application for Twitter and Facebook. Tweet your specials and include how many you have left, it lends a sense of urgency to your message.

Happy Hour Drinks – If you’ve got a great happy hour, get the people coming in every day. Your customers might not think of your happy hour each day, but if you’re in front of them on Twitter, your chances are better than if you don’t Tweet.

Live Music – Got a great band playing tonight? Let your followers know. If they know you’ll keep them up to date on Twitter, then they’ll follow you forever.

Email Newsletter – If you’ve launched your email marketing newsletter to your recipients, you’ve got a hosted version of it to promote. Share your email newsletter link on Twitter and Facebook so those that follow you will see all of the cool things you’ve got going on.

Got any great ideas you’ve been doing for your restaurant or bar? Share them!

Take a Tip from Restaurants on Email Marketing & Social Media

If you've got a business that requires getting the word out to customers on a daily or weekly basis, using email marketing with social media can lead to a winning combination. One industry that can thrive on this type of combination is the hospitality industry and specifically restaurants. Because of the "up-to-the-minute" nature of these three marketing vehicles, it's perfect for this perpetually changing business. Let's take a look at some great examples.

Email Marketing

You are probably using email marketing to announce chef specials, menu changes, special events and parties and send emails weekly or monthly. Too many restaurants don't keep up with their customers during the year, then start jamming emails out to them in the holiday season for large parties and events. Remember, events happen all year long so you'll need to stay in front of them at all times. Email is also a great way to build your social media lists. To build your Twitter list make sure you tell your email marketing recipients in your emails to follow you on Twitter. Include a link to let them know they'll be able to get your daily specials, then watch your Twitter list grow! You also might want to include a message in your bill holder to sign up for your email list AND follow you on Twitter.

Twitter

I bet if you run or work in a restaurant and run daily specials, one of your top telephone requests is "What type of soup do you have today?", or "What are your specials?". This can be maddening especially if you're busy. Twitter to the rescue! This is a perfect application for 140 characters.  One important note: keep your Tweets to 10-20 characters less than the 140 characters allowed on Twitter. This will allow for others to ReTweet your post. Then your message will get in front of new people who might also end up following you.

Facebook

If you have daily specials that won't fit into Twitter's character limitations, you can include a link to your specials or post them on your wall on Facebook. You can also use the "events" feature to post special pairings and tasting events. And have the chef post that she just went to the farmer's market and is preparing something special for the evening with a picture of the dish.

You don't need to have a restaurant to put these great ideas to work for your business, especially if you've got things that change a lot on a day-to-day basis. This is a great way to combine all of these great things to get more business coming in your door.

2 Great Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Idea #1: This list building idea comes from Jessica Greene-Pierson, a Marketing Programs Manager here at VerticalResponse.

She went out to dinner with her husband at a local Indian restaurant and in the bill holder there was a survey. Nothing new there, we've posted about this idea before. But what got her attention was the fact that they offered a free buffet on your next visit if you coughed up your email address. Clever! Thanks Jess!

Idea #2: Here's another one I ran across recently. At the end of a great meal, the bartender gave us our bill. On the bill he noted that there were two other restaurants we should visit. I'm not sure if the restaurants were owned by the same owner or if they were swapping offers, either way it's a great idea to pump up the foot traffic.

There was a 7 day expiration date and an offer for 20% off our entire bill if we spent more than $25. The catch was that we had to save this receipt and show them. Check to see if your point of sale system allows you to customize your message on the receipt. If it does it's great because you'll capture the date when the clock starts the expiration ticker. Otherwise you can just use your own printer and give them a monthly expiration.

Any other great restaurant ideas? We'd love to hear them!

Restaurant/Bar Reviews...How Do You Handle Negativity?

You get a great review, published in this week's newspaper, you want to tell the world. Of course you get your email marketing list together and send it out to all of your customers. But, what do you do when someone visits a review site and reviews you poorly?

Restaurants are being reviewed at almost double the pace of any other category. And the sites are getting a ton of traffic. Look at Yelp and CitySearch in the past year. There are thousands of reviews for restaurants alone and these sites have become the place where everyone looks for reviews before they patron the place. It can make or break anyone's decision before choosing to go to a new restaurant. So what do you do? Here are some suggestions:

Regulars make for good reviews - More often than not people think to place poor reviews rather than good ones. Remind your regulars, the people that visit you often and love your establishment, to get on a specific review site and tell everyone why they love it. How about sending an email campaign to your list with a link to a review site? It could really help you in the long run!

Read often - You might find that by reading the same thing over and over you could make a change in your business that affects the bottom line positively. Are you being reviewed for poor service? Is it the same server? Are there one or two dishes that keep getting "panned" ?(Pun intended!) It's up to you to listen to what your customers are saying, then make your changes.

Chime in! - Address concerns that your reviewers have. If the steak is too chewy and you've replaced that supplier since last year, go ahead and tell people. Post your own review addressing all of the concerns that people may  have had in the past and what you've done to correct any. Then invite people back.

Just a few ideas on how to address those nasty little reviews...IF you ever get them.

10 Ideas to Get People to Your Restaurant & Get Them Coming Back!

I've been asking our VerticalResponse customers in the restaurant biz to give us some great ways to get people in for the first time, as well as get them coming back. I got some GREAT ideas that I think even if you don't run a restaurant, you can adapt some of them to your own business. Many of these ideas of course revolve around email marketing communications, so hope these ideas strike a chord.

1. Live Music - Speaking of chord! Local musicians are always looking for a place to play. Why not dedicate one night to "Jazz Night" or "Live DJ"? Then print out table tents touting this new night! Send a weekly email to announce who will be there that week.

2. Wine Tastings - Feature a winery or wine distributor for a special tasting night. For $20 taste 5 superb Zinfandels and chat with a knowledgeable wine expert! Send an email to your customers announcing this special.

3. Food/Wine Pairings - One night a month do a special food and wine pairing for dinner. Sell tickets and get people in the door. Once you've got a success, word-of-mouth will take over!

4. Meet the Chef - Getting to know the chef, the man or woman behind the curtain, is always a fun thing to do, especially for the foodies that visit your establishment. Announce this in your monthly email newsletter.

5. Win a Free Party for 6 - Ask your guests to drop their cards in a box for a drawing for a party of 6 of their friends. Offer to make appetizers (inexpensive for you) and give them a discount on the booze. This helps you build your list, but also gets you new potential customers that your guest has invited.

6. Get To Know Your Regulars - Sounds simple right? Our restaurant businesses couldn't stress this enough. People go where they know they're going to get great service but getting greeted by someone who knows the guests puts the restaurant in the forefront of their minds.

7. Neighborhood Gatherings - If your business is in a residential neighborhood, why not have "Meet Your Neighbors" night and offer free low-cost appetizers. Table tents as well as an email with a forward-to-a friend check box would also do wonders.

8. Sllloooowww Nights - If you've got a night where business is pretty slow, why not blow out one of your specialties. Here in San Fran, a bar called the Blue Light does Taco Tuesdays, low cost tacos and beer (they need to thank Elliot Feldman for that one). The place goes crazy. In Lake Tahoe, Sunnyside Restaurant offers fish tacos and Tecaté for $2! Fills the house and gets the buzz going! A restaurant called Nova here in the city opened on Sundays for Sports when they were otherwise closed. Now they're doing a bang-up business from word of mouth that they're opened.

9. Host a Fundraiser - Do you have a customer or two that might need a place to host a fundraising activity? Why not offer yours up? You'll get new customers you may not have ever seen and perhaps even some PR out of it.

10. Some % Off Next Meal - In general, many that we've talked to are against publicly-known discounts. BUT, if you make it a "preferred customer" "vip customer" discount and "slip" them a discount card with their check, they're likely to come back!

Bonus! - Birthday Program - Start collecting data on your guests. If you care to promote a "Birthday Program" you can send emails to those customers a few weeks before their birthday and give them their meal "on the house"!

Hope one of these ideas helped. Got any of your own that fill your house? Chime in!

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!

4 Easy Steps to Using Personalization for Appointment Reminders

Many of you run businesses that mainly operate offline where your customers make appointments or reservations.  Do you find yourself getting stuck in the rut of having to make countless phone calls to confirm or remind people of them? This time consuming tasks can also cost you money.  VerticalResponse can help out. Why not try doing ONE weekly email marketing campaign using personalized reminders based on the specific date and time of the appointment because ONE email definitely sounds better than 50 phone calls. How do you do it? It's a lot simpler than you think.

1. At the beginning of each week have all of the appointments in one spreadsheet. You'll want email address, first name, date of appointment or reservation and the specific time, each in their own fields.

2. When you upload your list, simply select the corresponding field name for email address and first name, then choose either the field names provided or choose "custom field" like I've done below for TIME and DATE. Just remember which ones you used you'll need that information in the next step.

3. When you create your email marketing campaign you'll include these field names with curly brackets in your content. For instance:

Dear {FIRST_NAME},

We're sending you this email today to remind you of your upcoming appointment
Your appointment is scheduled for:

Date: {DATE}
Time: {TIME}

See you there!
Sincerely,
The Team at Company ABC

4. All of the dates and times that correspond to each email address when you upload your list will then automatically populate those brackets into your campaign. Voila!

And don't forget, if an email bounces back, you might want to call up your recipient to get their updated email address. Then you can remind them of their upcoming appointment while you have them on the phone.

Got any new ideas of how to use personalization? Let's hear them!