Email newsletters for restaurants

What to put in a restaurant newsletter

Regulars open a restaurant email for one reason: to find out what's new and whether they should come in this week. Lead with food and dates. A good issue has two to four of these:

• This month's specials. A photo of the dish, the price, and the nights it runs. "Braised short rib, Thursdays in November."
• Events. Trivia night, live music, a wine dinner, a chef's table. Give the date, the price and how to book.
• Seasonal menu changes. What's coming on and what's leaving. "Last two weeks for the peach salad" gets people in the door.
• Holiday hours. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Mother's Day. This is often the email people save.
• Private dining and catering. A short reminder each fall that you host holiday parties and office lunches, with how to ask about dates.
• A face from the kitchen. A new sous chef, a server's ten-year anniversary, the farm your tomatoes come from.

Use real photos from your phone. A well-lit plate shot on the pass looks better than stock food photos, and people recognize your room.

How to collect emails, with permission

The best list is people who have eaten with you and said yes to hearing from you. A list you bought or scraped will hurt you: people mark it as spam, and that drags down whether your emails reach anyone at all. Some easy ways to build a real list:

• Your reservation system. Many reservation tools collect guest emails, and some ask guests whether they want news from you. Export the guests who said yes as a spreadsheet.
• Your POS. Many POS systems can capture an email for digital receipts or loyalty. Only add people who agreed to hear from you, not everyone who wanted a receipt.
• A paper sheet at the host stand or with the check. "Want to hear about specials and events? Leave your email." Type the addresses in once a week.
• Ask in person. Servers can mention it when a regular asks about upcoming events.

Whatever the source, say clearly what people are signing up for. In the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM rules also require an unsubscribe option and your postal address in marketing email, and you must honor opt-outs quickly.

How often to send

For most independent restaurants, once or twice a month is right. Monthly works if you have one menu change and an event or two. Twice a month works if you run weekly specials or a busy events calendar.

Add one-off sends for things people need to know in time: holiday hours a week or two ahead, a reservation-only event that will sell out, or an unexpected closure. Try not to send more than once a week. The fastest way to lose a regular's attention is an email that has nothing new in it.

Timing matters more than for most businesses. Send midweek, before people make weekend plans, rather than on Saturday afternoon. More on rhythm in how often to send a newsletter.

Running it with MailWild

MailWild is newsletter software for people who don't want to learn newsletter software. For a restaurant, that looks like this:

1. Export your guest list from your reservation system or POS as a spreadsheet, or type in the paper sheet. Drop it into MailWild. It matches the columns, removes duplicates and sets aside addresses that look broken.
2. Take a few photos of the new dishes and write a few lines of notes: what's new, what nights, the holiday hours. The AI drafts the newsletter. Change anything you like.
3. Send yourself a test, check it on your phone, and schedule it for Wednesday morning.

Guests can join from a signup form on your website, or from a signup link you put on a table card or receipt. They confirm by email before they're added. Honest limits: MailWild has no SMS, no online ordering and no loyalty program, and there's no free plan. A 500-guest list is $9 a month and 2,500 is $33. See the pricing page for every size.

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