Let us stipulate right away that we send out newsletters via VKontakte. Accordingly, our data concerns messages sent via this social network. For example, statistics may be different for email newsletters. VK newsletters have different effectiveness. And first of all, it depends on the purpose of the message being sent.
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Invitation to an event
The effectiveness of such mailings varies depending on the event: there are failed cases, and there are successful ones.
For example, a gastropub in Novosibirsk sent out a mailing to its guests inviting them to a concert by the band Bad Balance. A total of 5,093 messages were sent. The open rate was high: 88% of recipients viewed the message. 15 people responded to it and 10 actually came to the concert. That is, the conversion to action was less than 0.2%. Alas, the result is, to put it mildly, not impressive.
Here’s an opposite example: a bar in Barnaul discovered the day before a planned event that the idea was on the verge of failure. Of the 20 tables in the establishment, two were booked. The bar launched a mailing list to the database, and by evening all the seats were taken.
In our experience, an acceptable conversion for this type of mailing is above 1.5%. The establishment already feels this result. The percentage can be higher: in the range of 1.5–3%. This can already be called a good result.
We assume that success depends primarily on the event itself. If the guests are interested in it, then the mailing works well. If not so much, people react weakly. However, even a 0.2% conversion is 10 people more than it could have been.
Collecting feedback
On average, a request to leave a review yields a conversion rate of 8–10%.
Sometimes the reviews received this way are critical. But in this case, they do not go to the external Internet and remain in the correspondence between the restaurant and the guest. Based on the criticism, the restaurant can draw conclusions and improve the quality of service. Positive comments can be used to promote the restaurant.
Sometimes restaurants in their newsletters ask not just to tell you whether the guest liked it, but to follow the link and leave a review on Yandex.Maps or 2GIS. A restaurant in the village of Koltsovo near Novosibirsk managed to raise its rating from 3.9 to 4.1 in this way.
Happy Birthday
Birthday emails have the highest conversion rate.
The open rate of messages is the same as for messages on other topics: on average, 8 out of 10 people read the greeting. At the same time, 1 out of 10 recipients respond to the offer to celebrate a birthday in a restaurant. That is, the conversion is about 10%. This, in our opinion, is quite a lot.
Examples
Here are the data for the OneLev cafe in Orel for April: in just one month, 283 letters were sent to birthday people with congratulations (with a total number of people in the mailing list of 4,118 people). The open rate was 69%, which is relatively low. And even with the lower open rate, 33 guests took advantage of the offer from the mailing list and came to celebrate their birthday in the cafe. That is, the conversion was 11.6%.
Here are the data for nine months in the PokeTop gastrobar in Novosibirsk: 1,129 messages, 121 birthday people attracted in this way. The efficiency is 10.7%.
Data on the Crafter pub for eight months: 987 mailings, 90 responses, 10% conversion.
The conclusion is simple: it is profitable for restaurants to congratulate their guests on their birthday. But to do this, you need to develop a database with information about dates of birth, for example, collect it automatically. Another option: ask guests to fill out a questionnaire to receive a discount or a loyalty card.
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Invitation to celebrate New Year
The conversion rate for New Year’s newsletters averages around 2%.
For example, here are the results of one bar in Moscow. On the eve of 2024, it sent out a mailing to 702 people from the database. 544 people read the message — 77%. And 16 of them booked a table. That is, the conversion rate was 2.3%.
However, we also had some really bad New Year cases. For example, a cocktail bar in Novosibirsk sent 2942 messages before the New Year 2024. Of these, 1 converted into a target action. With a normal average opening rate of 70%
Our compatriots are less willing to celebrate New Year in a restaurant than a birthday. However, it makes sense to invite guests for the New Year: some agree, thereby increasing the holiday profit.
When and Why Newsletters Don’t Work
We can’t always say exactly why this mailing worked well and another didn’t. But there are some general patterns.
For example, the following work poorly:
- Sending too many emails. Initially, before birthdays, we made chains of three letters: in advance with a reminder about the birthday and an offer to book a table, a little later with another reminder, and finally, congratulations directly on the birthday. After we reduced the chain to two letters, the conversion increased significantly.
- The text is too long. People are quite lazy, it is better to formulate your thoughts more briefly.
- Unclear call to action or multiple calls to action in one email. This seems to confuse people too.
- Well, and the most important thing: the offer may simply not be interesting to the guestThen no mailings will help.
Conclusion
Newsletters are a useful tool. Especially for collecting reviews and attracting birthday people to the establishment. For other purposes, the effectiveness of this tool is lower: 2-3% is a good result. But in this case, the tool works, and it is worth using. The main thing is to do it wisely. Our experience shows this.
Photo: Artem Konontsev / Shutterstock
Source: rb.ru