It has rightly been said that timing isn’t the main thing, but it’s the only thing.

When it comes to targeting the right customer at the right time, email marketing can be a win-win for your business. Email marketing is one of the most popular and cost-effective mediums for building strong relationships with your customer. Marketers, across industries, are leveraging email marketing to promote deals, reach out to customers in real-time, and boost brand engagement manifolds.

With the advent of new technologies and the push back due to the COVID pandemic, restaurants today are going online. Since the delivery business is booming at the moment, restaurants now have the opportunity to reach even a wider audience, expanding to locations that earlier seemed out of reach. This also means that strategizing the outreach and marketing campaigns has become crucial to beat competitors. According to a DMA study, for every $1 you spend, email marketing can give you up to $42 in return. Email marketing continues to deliver a strong return on investments made by businesses. An amalgamation of email marketing and personalization can do wonders for your restaurant business.

But the key to successful email marketing for restaurants is to know WHEN to send the promotions.

What's the Best Time for Sending Emails to Restaurant Clients?

The goal is to stay on top of your customers’ minds. When to send an email totally depends on your audience. Knowing the demographics of people around is one of the most important things for successful email marketing.

Monday Blues

Often people send promotional newsletters on a Monday to gain a high response rate. However, it may not be what you’d expect. Most of the customers, especially millennials, are already bummed out about the end of the weekend. People start their office on Monday with an inbox flooded with emails.

Restaurants should consider sending promotions later in the day or preferably the next day. According to a MailChimp study, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the most suitable weekdays to send food promotions. The approach leaves ample time to target customers for weekdays as well as for weekends.

Before Lunch & Dinner Time

Speaking on a granular level, sending mouth-watering pictures of food with amazing offers right before noon & around 2 PM can boost your business. Emails have higher opening rates just before lunch, in which 47% of emails are opened outside work hours.

People are often looking for quick food on their mobile phones. Promoting dinner specials just right can entice people to make an easy choice and get good food. Promos work without fail since you’re appealing to basic human desires of getting something at a discount.

Beginning of the month

A fresh pay-check arrives as the new month begins. Popular brands such as Starbucks, McDonald’s target millennials with multiple email marketing strategies. One of them being sending out promotions when they get credited with salary. People tend to spend more in that span.

Beating the Rush

Harvard Business Review recommends brands to not flood people with emails. Sending too many emails can annoy people, and in no time, people will mark you as spam. You can always do more with less.

An email saying ‘Drop 15% off your lunch today’ is motivating enough to make customers eat with you. You can beat the rush with exclusive and tailored offers sent out at the right timing. ‘Happy Hour Drinks’, ‘Get ‘em Before They’re Gone’, ‘Get a Head Start On Lunch’ are some of the flavors of communication you can use.

Nothing engages better than ‘Exclusive Deals Just For You’. Mastering the perfect message and timing the same can help you fully utilize the potential of your restaurant. A simple ‘Happy Hour’ email can ensure attendance in off times of the day.

Here are some more ideas to send a promotional restaurant newsletter:

• Share some exclusive recipes.
• Highlight new menu items and share menu updates
• Share daily chef’s specials
• Let your customers take a virtual tour of your kitchen
• Celebrate your customers’ milestones

Email marketing is one of the most low-cost marketing strategies, yet the most effective for small and independent restaurants.  Maybe your restaurant is new on the block, but implementing email marketing to your digital marketing plan lets you compete harder with established brands.

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