email marketing campain

[Rockstar_pizza]

So I know we have covered it before but curious how many people use some sort of email campains? We use constant contact. If you do how often do you send out? What I have started doing is a VIP club, so my slowest day (Tuesday, I mail out an email with an Insane deal, something good that is for VIP only. I am not a big fan of discounting, because It gets the customer thinking in terms of cheap BUT I think when its wrapped up in a VIP only ordeal It works without the stigma, Thursday we send out our newsletter with a package deal (pizza bread sticks and 2 liter or something like that . It is one of the only ways I can track its efficiency. The bad thing is lately I am the cook, dishwasher, busboy, accountant and much more, it seems every day someone is sick or needs time off, so I pick up the slack and I noticed that I was missing sending out emails on time or having to do it at 2 in the morning before bed. I found a great company that I have been using…e all about it. http://eallaboutit.com/ I send a quick email together once a week about what ever is going on and a 2 specials one for tuesday and one for thursday and they do all the work, best part is I have not been scrambling at the cut off period ( before people leave for work on thursday seems to work great for me.
any ideas also on the BEST way to increase email address?

 

[Roger]

I use constant contact. At the beginning of each month I set up emails to go out each Mon, Wed, and Fri of that month. I do the work once each month and then it’s all automated.

I found that the best way to get email addresses is to put a drop box on the counter with sign up forms to win a free pizza.

 

[pizza3.1416]

I’m using email and text. My email database is also coming through my text opt-ins, as I don’t have time or energy to manually upload business cards or email sign-up forms. Text is outstripping email redemption nearly 10:1 and my read rates on email don’t compare. I’m doing no discounts for carry out yet as all my discounts are going towards dine in only.I know I can upsell any discount with my dine ins. I’ve had a great month and seem to be going from strength to strength each week.

 

[royster13]

Do the clients that buy from you based on a text/email coupon offer a good return to your business?..I can see that it drives sales but are they lower margins sales?..At some point the discounting has to end but if you are known for your offers it is hard to stop…So you get caught between a rock and a hard place…

 

[pizza3.1416]

royster13:

Do the clients that buy from you based on a text/email coupon offer a good return to your business?..I can see that it drives sales but are they lower margins sales?..At some point the discounting has to end but if you are known for your offers it is hard to stop…So you get caught between a rock and a hard place…

Upsell is my key. All my offers are dine in only(so far) and I have a bar. I’m also selling alot of salads, wings, soda and beer. I see it as a perceived value for the customer but I’m really pushing volume. If a customer dines with me 3 times a month, my goal is to “make it hard for them not to dine with me 4/5 times a month”.

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

I use constant contact. At the beginning of each month I set up emails to go out each Mon, Wed, and Fri of that month. I do the work once each month and then it’s all automated.

When I first started I did it that way but I found that people were thinking it was the same old thing and deleting it, I have found that my open rate is increasing and so is my response just by sending something different each week.

At some point the discounting has to end but if you are known for your offers it is hard to stop…So you get caught between a rock and a hard place…

well my discounts are on tuesday, Its always dine in, and it does not have to bee deep discounts. I also make them feel special by doing a gourmet pizza that I will be featuring NEXT month, or an OFF menu oven baked sub that my supplier wants me to sample…like a chicken parm…

 

[brad_randall]

I just checked my “sign up” e-mail account to which Papa John’s send their opt-in marketing messages. They send me between 5-10 e-mails per month and sometimes hit me twice in the same day! I think that cries for the “junk” button to be pressed, but I assume that it must work for Papa John’s. Their customers, especially the ones that sign up for their e-mail marketing, must be heavily deal driven.

If you read the Loyal Rewards blog (open to all), they have found in their experience for it to be the best practice to send out e-mail blasts once every two weeks. I’m sort of in that frame of mind. I only want to send out a blast when I really have something to say like, “I have a new pizza to try” or “we are doing a fundraiser.”

I’m trying to get into a groove where I send out one deal-oriented blast, like what would go out on the 30/60/90 day postcards, and another one that is more conversational. One example of “conversational” would be Ready at Kickoff where I’m not even offering any sort of discount - I’m just explaining what Take & Bake is and how it can be part of someone’s Superbowl plans. Another example would be our Dance Marathon Fundraiser - again not offering any discount but trying to drive traffic to our online ordering while helping out a good cause at the same time.

Dunno, maybe I should have two e-mail lists? One for those interested most in hearing about deals/saving money and another for customers driven by the creative side of our menu.

Edit:
Rockstar pizza:

any ideas also on the BEST way to increase email address?

Mailchimp can create a button that allows customers to sign up for the list from your website. They also have a widget that can be put in the tabs of your Facebook page. I haven’t done the button on my site yet (I swear it’s on my “to do” list) but I’ve placed the tab on my Facebook. You should see if the company you’re using can set up some of the same things. You could also break out an I-Pad and do something crazy like: How Naked Pizza Uses Chimpadeedoo.

 

[Jennifer]

brad randall:

Dunno, maybe I should have two e-mail lists? One for those interested most in hearing about deals/saving money and another for customers driven by the creative side of our menu.

Setting up 2 lists may reduce the number of customers who receive your “non-deal” messages, but you should also see better response rates and fewer opt-outs and complaints.

With Mailchimp (and other email services) you can segment a list based on questions you ask on the sign-up form. You could ask what kinds of emails they want want to receive (deals, event info, etc.), or how often they want to hear from you. You could also try segmenting by demographic, but keep in mind that the more questions you add to your form, the less likely people will be to fill it out.

If you think there’s value in it for you, you can also add hidden segments to a list. We segment our customer list this way based on business type, country, and other factors. So when we send a message, we can decide who will receive it — for instance, one version of a newsletter might go only to independent US restaurant owners who’ve asked for info on new training videos. Open and response rates are higher all around when the content is relevant for the customer.

 

[MenuDrive]

With Constant Contact you can setup Autoresponder, which will send the emails on a specific time frame. It is great for new customers who just registered for your list. However, you can only keep 10 emails active. We recommend it for our customers and it has helped save time for them.