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Restaurant marketing is a growing necessity with more and more orders being placed online than ever before. As restaurants make the transition into the digital space, email marketing should follow suit.
With email marketing being one of the most effective forms of marketing for restaurants in the digital space, we’re breaking down our top 6 most effective email templates that drive sales for restaurants and providing templates for each style for restaurants to download and make their own.
The Effectiveness of Email Marketing
Is email marketing effective to drive sales for restaurants? The short answer is yes. Email marketing is known to be the most effective and affordable form of digital marketing for both Enterprise and SMB restaurants. According to Hubspot, the ROI for email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent and with an estimated 4 billion daily email users, email marketing is one the most powerful marketing tools restaurants can own to re-engage their guests and highlight promotional offers.
Email marketing revenue worldwide is seen to grow over the next 5 years by 8.62 billion dollars - learn more on Hubspot's email insights here.
The Templates
We’ve packaged up 6 of the industry’s most-effective email templates for restaurants to use across their campaigns. These templates are tried-and-true — we’ve utilized these templates to generate a 28.5% higher open rate and 3.5% higher click-through-rate for our clients, compared to the industry averages. Here are our top 6 templates for restaurant promotion, broken down by audience, content/offers, and layout.
Template 1
Email Template 1 is ideal for restaurants with already established photography, patterns or illustrations that speaks to their branding. This email prioritizes incentivizing guests with a top bar to grab initial attention, followed by the primary content and call-to-action.
Expert tip: The hero of this email is the image. The copy comes second and should be short and to the point. You want to grab attention and drive action quickly with this type of campaign.
Get access and download Template 1 to use in your next email campaign.
Template 2
Email Template 2 is ideal for outreach that incentivizes guests with a single promo code. This email format speaks more towards the call-to-action, working alongside a simple layout with minimal branding.
Expert tip: When sending promotional codes, if your platform supports it, allow your customers to save it to their account for later use. Then 1-2 weeks later, segment customers that have yet to redeem the promo code, nudging them to.
Get access and download Template 2 to use in your next email campaign.
Template 3
Email Template 3 builds off of Template 3, providing restaurants with a different variation for email campaigns. This email should showcase and highlight menu items with one call-to-action and incentive.
Expert tip: To keep engagement high, keep at least three email designs in rotation. This will alleviate the workload on the team but allow your audience to experience something new.
Get access and download Template 3 to use in your next email campaign.
Template 4
Email Template 4 is ideal for restaurants that want to highlight different menu items and customize the feel of the outreach a little more. Use this template to explore different image layouts and promo badges that fit your brand and your visual language.
Expert tip: When using multiple images, try to group like-minded products. Consider what sells well together or what items would be of similar interest. For example, a latte would pair perfectly with a double chocolate donut.
Get access and download Template 4 to use in your next email campaign.
Template 5
Email Template 5 is ideal for restaurants that are introducing their loyalty program to new customers or highlighting new announcements. This email format provides a more thorough breakdown of copy, allowing restaurants to explain the program's details and encourage customers to begin collecting and redeeming points.
Expert tip: It’s important to remind customers when they have points to redeem. We sometimes assume a lack of enthusiasm but more often than not, customers simply forget. By segmenting your customers with loyalty points to redeem, you’ll be sure to see an increase in engagement.
Get access and download Template 5 to use in your next email campaign.
Template 6
Email Template 6 is ideal for restaurants that are wanting to increase mobile app downloads and sales. People tend to be protective of their phone real-estate and need a good reason to download an app. This email format starts with a loyalty-based incentive to entice guests with loyalty points and exclusive in-app promotions, so they’re excited to take advantage!
Expert tip: Make sure to provide a visual example of what your app looks like. Click-through rates increase when customers see what you’re promoting because it allows them to get a taste of what they could have.
Get access and download Template 6 to use in your next email campaign.
More Resources
Building out your email marketing strategy is now as easy as downloading templates and replacing messaging and imagery. From marketing and loyalty to online-ordering and more, Lunchbox has you covered — check out some of our favorite marketing resources below.
