Why Your Franchise Restaurant Needs a Direct Mail Campaign

It is important to send you mailers out to the proper people, particularly your target audience. You don’t want to waste your time and money sending mailers to everybody. So how do you know who to send your direct mail to? Well it is actually pretty simple, reference the people who signed up for your mailing list.

This strategy already narrow down your audience scope as these people have already expressed interest in your restaurant. They are wanting to hear from you and are expecting to hear from you. They have an interest in your business and are looking for more information, and interested in any promotions. 

With this data, you can narrow your focus even further by segmenting your target audience by myriad factors including age, income, geography and more.

For example, if you just launched a new kid’s menu? Then you might want to target the families on your list and send promotions their way. The key is to make your mailing list signup and survey comprehensive so you know as much as possible about each person on it.

In fact, there’s a marketing rule behind this. The 40/40/20 rule states that 40% of your campaign’s effectiveness stems from the mailing list itself. The other 40% is based on the offer and the remaining 20% is based on how creative the design is. Start with a robust list and your campaign is already off on the right foot.

If you don’t have a mailing list yet, then you need to look at your location. Think about the neighborhoods and areas around you. Create a diameter around your restaurant and target within that. You don’t want to go too far out because people are less likely to travel outside of their immediate neighborhoods. If you need help figuring out who to mail to then we can assist you. 

Sure, there might be quicker or easier ways to reach your audience through digital channels like with an email newsletter blast or send an SMS text message to your patrons. However modern customers still trust direct mail materials even though digital marketing has made strides in recent years.

Did you know that 76% of people trust the advertisements that they receive in the mail. This comes in third, only behind television ads and print media ads. What about the Millennial generation, who never knew a world without digital outreach? Well a similar study showed that 70% of this demographic trusts print mail as well.

In order to build a long-term relationship with your guests, then it begins with establishing trust. If you can convince local community members that your restaurant is reputable and worthy of their visit, you’ll get them through the door that much quicker.

The ROI your restaurant receives is a key metric in weighing the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Studies show that direct mail advertising generates an ROI of around 29%, coming in just behind email and social media marketing. Conversely, paid search has an ROI of 23%, while online display ads come in at 16%. So what does this mean? Well good news, your money isn’t going to waste, it is actually going to work.

You are essentially putting your restaurant menus, updates and promotions in the hands of people who are most likely to give them a try. Let’s get a little more specific- the response rate for direct mail is 5.1%, compared to 0.6% for paid search and 0.4% for social media.

Did you know that the average office worker receives around 200 emails a day, but only a few pieces of mail. In order for your restaurant’s marketing message to be seen and not just deleted then you should put it in the physical mailbox rather than the digital. 

Direct mail is a tangible token that takes more effort to throw away than a simple click of “Delete” on someone’s smartphone or computer. What’s more, it’s more memorable and easier for our brains to process. Your mailer is also more likely to be displayed on the fridge or in a take out drawer ready to be used or referenced when it comes time to make dinner plans. 

One neuroscience study found that, when compared to emails, postcards won out on the following metrics:

• Review time
• Stimulation
• Valuation
• Memory speed/confidence
• Desirability

While email is best for capturing initial reader attention, direct mail is stickier, which is marketing-speak for more memorable. The translation? You’re harder to forget direct mailers over email.

Want to grab your customers’ interest in a unique and eye-catching way? You can experiment with your direct mail pieces, incorporating special textures, thicknesses, lettering, and formats. Especially in the restaurant and foodservice industry, this is an ideal way to brand your business and generate buzz. You can plan the design of your mailer to coincide with what you are promoting.

Planning a black-tie dinner at your space soon? Send glossy invites to your mailing list, complete with fancy fonts and sophisticated packaging.

Adding a new dessert menu or expanding your wine list? Find graphics or take pictures that depict the changes and use them in your collateral.

While digital marketing has the advantage of interactive GIFs, video, and sound but that doesn’t mean print-based materials have to be dull or bland.

When you send an email or post on your social media feed, you’re one of the thousands of voices your customer hears and sees every day. Your posts can easily become lost amid a sea of competitors. Even if you have the best brisket in the county or chocolate cake that’s known a few states over, it’s hard to attract new followers in this environment.

With direct mail you’ll be competing against far fewer peers over the digital marketplace.

While direct mail marketing is an efficient way to reach your restaurant audience, it’s doesn’t have to stand alone. In fact you can integrate it seamlessly into your other marketing efforts for an effective omni-channel approach. Instead combine it with your digital marketing campaign and to interact with your audience in multiple ways. 

For instance, you can send an email highlighting a new special on your menu, then send a mail piece that goes into greater detail on what the entree includes, complete with pricing, pictures and more. Then, follow up with a social media post and another email.

Research shows that when direct mail pieces follow an email, brand recall is nearly 40% higher than when the pieces are sent on their own. In addition, buyer motivation is 26% greater. When these two aspects are combined, your restaurant can grow its total number of impressions and enhance patron acquisition efforts.

You know how delectable your food is and how much effort you’ve poured into your restaurant design. You’re ready to launch a new marketing approach that helps your community understand these same sentiments.

A direct mail campaign can help you get there. Not sure how to start one? That’s where we come in.