If you listen to any marketers, all you hear is Facebook this and SMS Mobile that. It may seem that email has lost its importance as a restaurant marketing tool.
Well, paraphrasing Mark Twain, the rumors about the death of email for restaurant marketing are “slightly” exaggerated. Email marketing is still alive and well, and produces results for those who know how to use it right.
When it comes to launching a successful email newsletter, one of the most critical elements is picking the right name for it.
One thing you don’t want to do, and the mistake that so many restaurants commit, is call it “email newsletter” or “e-club.” No one wants to belong to anything that starts with “e” or “email”.
The easy solution is to call it a VIP Club. For example, if the name of your restaurant is Johnny’s Fish & Chips, you can call it “Johnny’s VIPs,” “Johnny’s Friends,” or “Johnny’s VIP Club.”
If the easy solution is all you are after, you don’t need to read the rest of this article.
If, however, you’re still reading this, that means you are true Restaurant Marketing Commando and want a solution that gets you the best marketing results for your restaurant business, even if that solution is not the easiest one.
The solution I’m about to give you will require you to do some brainstorming, soul searching, and maybe even research to really understand your customers and figure out the way to infuse your email newsletter with emotion and fun.
Progress Coffee, a coffee shop in Austin, TX caters to the unruly souls who’d rather have a root canal done than step their foot in a Starbucks. Here they get their java and here they come to see an eclectic collection of bands play music styles most commonly referred to as “alternative”. So it only makes sense that Progress Coffee sends out an email newsletter called The Progress Posse.
Here’s the list of a few dozen words that mean “a group of people” that you can use to come up with the name for your VIP Club:
associates association aficionados assembly band brigade buds bunch buddies cabal camarilla camp circle clan class | clique club companions company comrades crew cronies crowd dynasty enthusiasts fans fraternity friends gang group | inner circle insiders mafia party mob outfit people posse ring school society sorority team tribe unit |
The list above should serve as an idea starter to help you come up with the name for your email newsletter. Some of these words have a negative connotation and you can use them only if you wrap them in humor (not an easy thing to pull off successfully in marketing but worth the try).
Play with these and post your ideas in the comments below.
