Building an E-mail List

E-mail has become one of the most cost-effective ways restaurant operators can communicate with their customers. E-mail marketing campaigns are time sensitive and they engage a customer with a brand on multiple levels.

Building an e-mail list is crucial to restaurant operators wanting to get the most out of their e-mail marketing campaigns. For Ridgeland, Miss.-based McAlister’s Deli, building an e-mail list also involves staying true to their corporate philosophy: not to discount products and services and not to bundle.

MacDonald said the customer and employee incentives were what made building their list successful. McAlister’s held employee contests designed around the location that built the best list. The top employee prize was a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. Cash prizes and others also were part of the program.

“We’re learning as we go with this particular program but we feel the interaction with the community will be important as we grow. We really wanted to be in that game and we also want to be on the front-end of that technology,” MacDonald said.

Punches Botta said McAlister’s is one example of a restaurant that has done a great job of building their e-mail list. “What we’re seeing now is people really, from general managers to servers, are starting to see the power of e-mail. They know if they can get two guests per day to sign up, each name contributes back to sales. It’s really identifying how it can boost sales for them,” she said.

http://www.fastcasual.com/article.php?id=6681&prc=10&page=17 By Valerie Killifer editor