When it comes to successful restaurant marketing, emails are still an unbeatable channel, no two ways about that.
They are very cost-effective and versatile, allowing you to connect with your customers, promote special offers, and keep your brand on top of everyone’s minds.
However, email marketing isn’t possible without the right tools.
That’s why we’ve compiled a detailed list of tools that can help you streamline this labor-intensive yet vital task.
We’ll cover three categories of tools you can use for email marketing and provide some recommendations within each category.
That way, you’re bound to find something that fits your needs perfectly.
If you want to separate email marketing from other efforts and use separate tools for that, this category might be the best choice.
Dedicated email marketing tools were developed specifically for this very purpose.
Let’s explore some systems worth considering.
Mailchimp is a quite popular name in the world of email marketing tools and newsletter providers.
This cloud-based solution is very feature-rich and has excellent automation capabilities, allowing users to personalize customer journeys, send trigger-based emails, and more.
Besides automation, here are some other features Mailchimp offers:
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Enables users to target customers based on their interests and preferences |
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Design emails to match your brand aesthetic |
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Provides over 130 industry-specific templates |
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Monitors the performance of your email campaigns |
As for pricing, Mailchimp provides four subscription plans: Essentials ($13/month), Standard ($20/month), Premium ($350/month), and a forever-free plan.
The free plan offers limited features and covers only 500 contacts, but it can still be a great option for those just starting and don’t have that many subscribers yet.
Overall, Mailchimp is ideal for larger businesses looking for a tool with extensive features and integration capabilities.
They constantly expand their feature set and offer hundreds of integrations with both well-known and niche apps.
Source: Mailchimp
One downside to Mailchimp would be the lack of email or live chat customer support for free plan users—they only get access to online tutorials.
The Essentials plan and higher do include email and chat support, but phone support is reserved exclusively for the Premium plan subscribers.
This could be a minus for those needing good customer support along the way.
Moosend is a cloud-based, AI-powered email marketing solution with quite strong automation and personalization capabilities.
These capabilities allow you to:
Along with these, this solution offers all other email marketing must-haves such as segmentation, analytics, and A/B testing.
When it comes to pricing, Moosend claims to be the number one alternative to Mailchimp, promising users can save 45% by switching to their system.
Their clients can choose between three subscription options: Pro ($7/month), Moosend+ (Custom pricing), and Enterprise (Custom pricing).
They also offer a generous 30-day free trial, which allows those who are interested to try out all their core features.
Another big plus is that they provide customer support through multiple channels (phone, live chat, and email) at no extra charge to all of their users.
So, if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly solution with great customer support, but maybe not with as many features as Mailchimp, Moosend is definitely the way to go.
MailerLite is all about providing you with as many options as possible when it comes to email creation.
They offer three different email editors, each with its own unique purpose:
Besides these email creation tools, with MailerLite you can also:
MailerLite, just like its competitors, offers various pricing plans (shown below).
According to this detailed online review, their free plan is one of the best ones in the industry, offering a really generous feature set.
This makes it perfect for small businesses on a budget.
While Mailchimp is still unbeatable regarding features, this solution is praised for being intuitive and user-friendly, with minimal training necessary.
If that seems interesting and you want to find out more, consider signing up for their free plan or request a 30-day free trial to try out MailerLite’s more advanced features.
Did you know that many table booking systems also come equipped with email-sending capabilities?
With them, you essentially kill two birds with one stone: you level up your table reservation management and send emails to your patrons.
It's a total win-win.
Tablein is a table booking software that both your staff and customers will adore.
It allows diners to book online in seconds from anywhere and empowers you to keep your restaurant fully booked and thriving.
Here are some of our notable features:
As for email marketing itself, Tablein offers a wide variety of useful and user-friendly features, too.
For example, we provide a fully GDPR-compatible module that enables customers to sign up for your newsletter while booking a table at your restaurant.
As you can see, the sign-up process is simple, straightforward, and not too pushy, which makes it perfect for growing your email marketing list.
But why stop there?
With our solution, you can send confirmation emails about reservations, but also turn every confirmation email into a promotional opportunity.
Our system lets you embed links and images into these emails so that the recipients, while they’re checking their reservation details, can also see what kind of exclusive events or special deals you’re currently offering.
After all, confirmation emails have extremely high open rates, so why not take full advantage of that?
And when you can even check how well your emails are performing with Tablein’s reporting feature.
Source: Tablein
It monitors your subscribers and helps you gauge how interesting your content really is so that you can optimize your efforts accordingly.
Finally, for full-blown email campaigns, you can integrate Tablein with other email marketing tools like MailerLite and Mailchimp.
Source: Tablein
This allows you to easily add new emails to these platforms and use booking data to personalize your campaigns.
Talk about getting the best of both worlds.
So, if Tablein seems like the right solution for your business, head to our website.
Over there, you can check out our affordable pricing plans, sign up for a free 14-day trial, or contact us directly for more information.
OpenTable is another popular table reservation platform available, covering various aspects of running a restaurant, from managing reservations to, of course, marketing.
In terms of email marketing, it provides a wide variety of features.
For example, you can create automated and personalized email campaigns using templates from their ever-growing library.
This includes templates for anniversaries, birthdays, repeat guests, and more.
You can then monitor your progress through a user-friendly dashboard, which you can see below.
In addition to this, OpenTable enables users to:
Note, however, that all of these features are available only to Pro Plan subscribers—their most expensive plan at $499 a month.
Speaking of pricing, it seems that a lot of advanced capabilities come at a higher cost. Besides the Pro Plan, they also offer a Basic Plan at $149 and a Core Plan at $299.
So if you’re looking for an extremely versatile and feature-rich table booking system that also acts as a full-blown email marketing tool, and you’re not significantly constrained by budget, OpenTable is worth considering.
But, if you’re in the market for something simpler and more budget-friendly, it might not be the best option out there.
We definitely recommend taking advantage of their 30-day free trial before committing to a purchase.
Resmio is another cloud-based solution offering all the features you’d expect from an efficient table booking system.
This includes reservation management, shift scheduling, a guest management database, guest feedback, and even an online food ordering system.
In terms of email marketing, resmio helps users grow their email list by embedding newsletter subscription forms either on the restaurant website or directly in the table booking/online order process, similar to Tablein.
The website sign-up form can even be customized to match the brand’s visual identity.
Their email marketing tool also includes intuitive and customizable email templates that look great on both desktop and mobile.
You can change up the logos, texts, images, and buttons, as well as add customer names for a more personalized experience.
However, keep in mind that the email marketing tool is an add-on and costs an additional €19.90 per month for Premium plan users (€69.90 per month).
For those on the Ultimate plan (€129.90 per month), on the other hand, all add-ons are included in the price.
There’s also a Basic plan available, which is completely free, but it does come with limited features and the email marketing tool cannot be added to this plan.
To test all the features available to the Ultimate plan subscribers, sign up for their 30-day free trial.
If you’re in the market for a more complex solution that will handle multiple aspects of your restaurant operations and include email marketing capabilities, this section is for you.
Here are three all-in-one restaurant management tools worth looking into.
SevenRooms is a popular solution among hospitality professionals, serving restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, bars, and wineries alike.
Their product focuses on three core segments:
In terms of email marketing itself, they offer a variety of features, such as:
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ROI tracking |
Allows you to monitor influenced actions, like reservations achieved through your campaign, and analyze email performance |
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Automation |
Automatically schedules and sends emails |
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Segmentation |
Targets subscribers based on filters and tags (e.g., wine lovers) to personalize emails |
They also provide a number of beautiful templates, designed specifically for the hospitality industry.
You can edit them and embed links and images in order to entice recipients to take the desired action, whether it’s to make a reservation or look at your new menu.
There’s no pricing information on their website, although some online sources suggest that prices start at about $499 a month.
It’s a truly comprehensive solution, so it’s not surprising that it’s a bit on the pricier side.
Overall, online reviewers seem to agree that, despite its extensive feature set, SevenRooms has been able to retain its user-friendliness and is constantly improving in this area.
They don’t offer a free trial, but those who are interested can book a free demo to see the product in action before making a final decision.
TouchBistro is yet another popular solution for all types of restaurants, from fine dining establishments to cozy family-style venues.
This platform helps manage both front-of-house and back-of-house operations while also offering guest engagement solutions.
Part of the guest engagement module includes a POS-integrated marketing tool that allows users to create and automate their email marketing campaigns.
For example, with this tool, you can generate emails using a drag-and-drop editor and templates, customize triggers for emails, and monitor various email campaign KPIs.
Source: TouchBistro
It's important to note, though, that TouchBistro Marketing is currently available only in Canada (excluding Quebec) and the United States.
So, if you're outside these regions, this tool won't be accessible to you.
When it comes to prices, TouchBistro offers a wide variety of options.
Essentially, each tool has its own pricing (for instance, the marketing tool starts at $99/month) so you can pick and choose what you need.
This à la carte approach allows you to create a solution perfectly tailored to your own requirements, but be careful—costs can quickly add up that way.
Therefore, before you opt for this system, be sure to thoroughly assess your needs and budget.
You can also schedule a free demo to learn more and make a better-informed decision.
The last solution on our list is Toast, a cloud-based all-in-one platform for restaurants that handles operations, team management, restaurant hardware, suppliers, accounting, and marketing.
When it comes to its email marketing, some of the features you can expect to find are:
In the image below, you can see what kind of email campaigns you can run with Toast.
In terms of pricing, Toast offers full flexibility, allowing customers to choose the hardware, features, and additional add-ons they actually need.
They also offer a pay-as-you-go model where you don't pay upfront for hardware or a monthly subscription for software, but instead pay a 3.9% fee for every processed transaction.
This fee is present in the standard payment plans, too, but is lower at 2.49%.
Unfortunately, this solution isn’t available to those outside the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
However, if you are in one of those regions and interested in the product, you can request a free demo and learn more about the system.
Feeling more confident about navigating the endless options of restaurant email marketing tools out there?
Good, because now it’s time to do your homework and thoroughly research each solution on your own.
Remember, just because a system seemingly has the lowest price or the most dazzling features, that doesn’t automatically make a tool the right choice for you.
Instead, focus on your own goals and requirements, and evaluate each option with those in mind.
Explore the online reviews, and don't be shy about taking advantage of free trials.
With a little bit of due diligence, you'll soon be reaping the rewards of successful email marketing with a tool that truly fits your needs.