Your customers sometimes need to be reminded why your fine dining establishment is their preferred one. And, it will only take you a few minutes to get their attention. An email marketing program can make that happen. By customizing the design and content of your email marketing campaign to suit your differing classifications (or segmented) audiences, you can make your restaurant the "Go-To" place for your customers. Whether it is for a business brunch, a birthday celebration, or a summer feast, an email marketing program can be customized to bring in more regulars.

Email marketing programs have a variety of user-friendly options for creating email designs for your fine dining restaurant. With these email design templates, you can recreate the atmosphere of your restaurant via email, show off your fabulous menu, and present your awards and press releases. This will remind your customers why they love your restaurant better than some of your competitors'.

There are two things you can do to make email marketing really succeed for your business:

First, you can segment your client base email list into different customer categories.

As an example the three categories I am going to suggest are:

a) Corporate/Business clients: These are the clients that have occasionally come in to have an office party or, business lunch, client dinner, or anything similar.

b) Possible Regulars: These are the clients that have come in sporadically over the years (maybe for a birthday celebration or an anniversary, or maybe they sometimes come in on a romantic date.

c) One-Time Visitors/Interested Customers: These are people who have come in once before and have filled out a comment card. With this category, you have the opportunity to convert them into "regulars" by offering special discounts through your email marketing program (this could be a seasonal thing, or even a celebration promotion - birthdays, anniversaries etc.).

Now that you have your segmented audiences, the next thing you can do is specify your design to attract those audiences. For the business segment, upload pictures of business lunches and dinners. Include your menu and some customer testimonies. This will help advertise that your restaurant is a great place to "close the deal."

For the "potential regulars" and the "one-time visitors/interested customers" you can create a similar atmosphere with the design of your email marketing programs template. Start by adding images of your finely lit, well-adorned dining area, while also including pictures of your most succulent entrees and wines. Both these groups need to be reminded about the great atmosphere you provide. The main difference will come in the content of you email marketing campaign. For the "potential regulars," you may want to offer them 10-30% discount for people celebrating a birthday or anniversary. You can also offer a discount for returning customers, or for those that refer your restaurant to their friends (this is something that's easy to do with most email marketing programs, as they allow you to include a simple "forward to a friend" button in the body of your emails). For those that have been to the restaurant only once before, or have merely clicked on your website and signed up to receive offers, you can present them with the same discount for celebrations, while also including seasonal menu items, and an overview of your awards.

Something to keep in mind: Know your audience. You don't want to be frequently sending out your email campaigns too often. You are not a discount shoe store. You have to conduct yourself with the same class and dignity that your restaurant is famous for. Sending out an email marketing program campaign every week can annoy your customers and weaken your brand image. Sending out an email marketing program campaign once a month, or once every quarter, it a better idea for fine dining establishments.

An email marketing program will help your fine dining restaurant bring in more regulars. Bringing in more clients, more frequently, means building stronger brand awareness, and means generating a higher cash flow. Smells good... Bon appetite!