10 Ways To Use Low-Cost Postcard Marketing To Promote Your Restaurant
What's the best way to entice new customers into your restaurant and encourage previous diners to return? An effective way to reach new audiences and remind existing customers of the amazing cuisine you serve is the humble postcard. Custom printed postcards are an affordable and highly effective way to promote loyalty schemes and special offers, celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, or simply to touch base with customers old and new.
Here are ten low-cost postcard marketing ideas that will help put your restaurant on the map:
1) Re-Engagement
If you have a mailing list of regular customers, postcards are a great way to keep in touch with them. Whether you're promoting a special offer or encouraging bookings ahead of the festive season, a postcard, mailed to their home address, is an unusual and effective way to re-engage with your diners and encourage them to make a return visit.
2) Promotional
Promotional postcards, distributed door-to-door around the local area, are commonly used to advertise the opening of a new restaurant. However, they're just as effective at promoting existing establishments, especially if they feature a discount voucher or other incentive. Be sure to include a map to highlight the location of your business. Alternatively, if you offer a takeaway or dine at home service, you can use the address data you hold to mail out regular postcards advertising your latest menus, offers and services.
3) Events
Whether it's a regular weekly event or a one-off occasion, postcards are an ideal way to invite customers to your restaurant for wine-tastings, cooking classes, live music evenings or bring your own bottle nights. Postcards that invite people to an event or tasting can be a powerful way to drive footfall into your restaurant.
4) Feedback
Customer reviews are essential to the success of any restaurant, and postcards are the perfect way to request feedback at the end of a meal in your restaurant. The postcard could include a form for the diner to complete, or direct them to an online review website. You can also use postcards to respond directly to any customer complaints you receive, or to reward people with a discount off a future meal if they take the time to write a review.
5) VIP Invitations
Food critics, influencers and high-profile diners are more likely to visit your business if they feel valued and appreciated. Why not invite them to a press launch or special event using postcards, and include offers only available to those on your guest list?
6) Loyalty Schemes
Creating a postcard-based loyalty scheme is an easy way of rewarding your regular diners and encouraging them to return. People love to collect points on postcards, which can be redeemed for vouchers, gifts or freebies. The postcards can include bonus points on certain nights of the week, or redeemable only during special events or promotions.
7) Menu Postcards
If you're looking for a fun and affordable way to promote your new menu, postcards are perfect. You can create a design that reflects the branding and feel of your restaurant and hand one to each diner as they leave your premises. A postcard is a handy size to slip into a purse or bag, giving your customers an easy way to pass on details of their amazing meal to colleagues, friends and family. To encourage take-up, why not include a coupon for a free starter, dessert or drink?
8) Birthdays
Invite customers to sign up to your mailing list in return for a special birthday gift. Then, a few weeks ahead of their birthday, mail them a postcard inviting them to spend their special celebration at your restaurant. An incentive, such as a free bottle of wine, will encourage them to bring along their friends. The birthday girl (or boy!) may decide to reserve a large party table, which could lead to a very impressive return on your investment.
9) Table Postcards
One of the most effective uses of postcards we've seen is to place one on each table, encouraging diners to post a positive post-meal review or share a snap of their meal on social media. Encouraging social content and followers is a great way to spread the word about your restaurant and engage with potential customers who've enjoyed by their visit.
10) Christmas
Christmas is a very busy time for restaurants, and postcards are the perfect way to encourage people to book their festive celebrations at your venue. As well as distributing your postcards by hand, you could also mail them out to previous customers during September or October. You might want to offer a discount or offer to encourage early bookings.
Postcards are a low-cost, high-value marketing tool that can be customised to suit any occasion. Which of these postcard marketing ideas have been most successful at getting people through your door? Let us know, we'd love to hear about how we've helped make a difference for your restaurant.