Email marketing for restaurants: which campaigns bring guests back
What the answer looks like
Illustrative output on sample data
Illustrative example: how Lexi answers this for a pub and brewery group with nine venues. It matches email recipients to POS and reservation records and counts visits within seven days of each send, against a 10% holdout.
- Beer release launch: 38% open rate, 4.1% visited, against 1.9% of the holdout
- Trivia night reminder: 29% open rate, 3.6% visited, against 3.1%
- Monthly newsletter: 44% open rate, 1.7% visited, against 1.6%
What the data shows
The newsletter has the highest open rate and drives almost no extra visits. The beer release more than doubled visits against the holdout.
What it means
Guests come in for something new and time-bound. The trivia reminder mostly reaches people who would have come anyway.
What to do
Fold newsletter content into launch-style emails with a date attached, and stop sending the trivia reminder to regular attendees.
Would you like the same view for SMS campaigns?
Why it matters
Open rates show who read an email and say nothing about who came in. Linking each campaign to visits and spend at the venue shows which emails fill tables, which ones only collect opens, and where next month's sends should go.
Frequently asked questions
How should restaurants measure email marketing?
Measure what guests do after the send. Match recipients to visits and spend in the days that follow, and compare them with a holdout group that did not get the email. Opens and clicks help with subject lines, but visits and spend show whether a campaign earned its place.
What is a holdout group in email marketing?
A holdout is a small random share of the audience, often 5 to 10%, that does not receive the email. Comparing their visits with those of recipients shows how many visits the email caused, since some guests would have come in anyway.
How long after an email should restaurant visits be counted?
Match the window to how your guests decide. Seven days suits most restaurant emails, while event or holiday campaigns may need a window that runs to the event date. Keep the window the same across campaigns so the results can be compared.