Valentine’s Day is one of the biggest consumer spending holidays of the year in the United States, and restaurants typically receive a very large portion of the revenue. In 2018, consumers spent a record $19.6 million, and according to Forbes.com, spending an evening together was the second highest spending category in 2018, second only to spending on jewelry and almost twice as much as spending on flowers.

No matter what type of restaurant you’re operating, Valentine’s Day can be a great post-holiday boost for restaurant sales. Here are some tips to help you make the most of Valentine’s Day at your restaurant.

When it comes to email marketing, mobile optimization is becoming more and more important every day. Not only does mobile account for more than 50% of all opened emails, a study by Adestra revealed that emails displayed incorrectly on mobile are likely to be deleted within three seconds. And in another study from U.K.-based WOW Marketing, 52% of customers are less likely to engage with a company because of a bad mobile experience.

Instagram might be all the rage, and Twitter might be an easy channel to quickly get your message out, but email remains the most effective way to generate customer engagement and increase your restaurant’s foot traffic. When sending an email to a segment of your customer base, you’re reaching targeted patrons who have opted-in to receive your messaging. They are already aware and ready to engage with your email.

Email marketing is a fundamental component of successful restaurant marketing best practices. When paired with a WiFi analytics and marketing platform, it provides an outstanding opportunity for inbound marketing, where customers who have already indicated interest in your company can be nurtured into loyal, higher-spending patrons.

No matter how powerfully written your email is, it won’t matter if the reader doesn’t open it. You could be offering free meals for life, but if your subject line doesn’t compel the recipient to open, read and react, the email will have been sent in vain. Many marketers create their email subject line as an afterthought, but in several ways the subject line is much more important than the email itself.

Are you developing your coffee shop marketing plan for 2019?

As we begin a new year, remaining keen on what's working now in digital marketing is key to staying current in your strategy. Since most – if not all – of your customers are using the internet to shop, socialize and connect, it's important to show up when they're looking to engage with you.

We've put together some top tactics you need to implement this year in your coffee shop marketing strategy.

Personalization of email marketing messages happens when marketers use customer data to create much more effective email content because it can be tailored for each individual or segment.

Using personalized messaging has been proven to improve open rates and generate more revenue because it allows marketers to create more relevant content that will interest the consumer.

Effective marketing is essential for the success of any business. It is what allows you to gain visibility in the marketplace and promote to your guests so you can maintain a loyal customer base while attracting new patrons. Despite the numerous digital marketing tools available today, email marketing continues to be the leader when it comes to marketing ROI.

Using the Wi-Fi access point(s) at your place of business, along with a quality WiFi marketing and analytics platform, can be a powerful way to accelerate the growth of your email database and the ROI of your email marketing campaigns.

In a world dominated by social media and internet advertising, some marketers may be wondering if email is as relevant as it has been in the past. After all, it seems as if Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the leading marketing channels of choice in 2019.

If you are currently running email marketing campaigns, there’s nothing to worry about. Surprising to some, email continues to prove itself a more-than-worthy option, and one in which you should consider placing a nice portion of your marketing resources.

When executing effective brick-and-mortar offline marketing campaigns, WiFi analytics can be the missing link that marketers have been searching for. This is especially the case for restaurants, coffee shops and other retail locations.

Marketers know that to succeed in today’s marketplace, campaigns must be built upon accurate, comprehensive data about your customers. The problem for most marketers lies in exactly how to gather the necessary data and then arrange it into useable customer profiles.