Your Internet-using customers are just a click away from entering your restaurant.

 

According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), one in four Americans is likely to receive e-mails from a restaurant. And Forrester Research reports that 65 percent of marketers think e-mail marketing will become more effective in the next three years.

 

Capitalizing on this trend, Qdoba Mexican Grill sends its customers e-mails for coupons, limited-time offers, birthdays and anniversaries. With each e-mail, Qdoba has a little more mouse time with customers.

 

"Our e-mail marketing program has been really great," said Rachel Harper, marketing manager for Qdoba Restaurant Corp. "We're able to get in touch with our customers on a more intimate level. We can send out a coupon in the morning and see significant redemptions by lunch time."

Andrea Von Utter, chief operating officer for Fishbowl Marketing, said Qboda had a limited budget when they began the e-mail program. "They had to grow their business from inside the four walls," Von Utter said. "They needed to market to their existing customers."

 

Von Utter said restaurants traditionally grow business through television, print and radio advertising, but they can't measure the effectiveness.

 

"Radio, television and other forms of media do a decent job of getting new customers," she said. "But if you want to get core customers coming back, you're better off using e-mail marketing."

 

So far, it's worked for Qdoba.

 

"The results are amazing," Harper said. "We don't coupon all the time, so when we send them to customers via e-mail, the coupons are not taken for granted."

 

A campaign's success hinges on the message. According to Fishbowl Marketing data, which tallied results from its 140 restaurant clients, "Welcome" e-mails have an open rate of 55 percent while "Newsletter" messages have an open rate of 26 percent. For all restaurant messages, the open rate is 32 percent. Considering the average public open rate is 17 percent*, the restaurant industry is a step ahead of the rest of the world.

 

"When consumers join most of our client's e-mail lists, they get a welcome e-mail and typically some free food," Von Utter said.

 

Qdoba gathers its customers' e-mail addresses through the Qdoba Card, a customer-loyalty card, which must be activated on iloveqdoba.com. If they subscribe to the optional e-mails, customers receive free chips and salsa. Qdoba also places a fishbowl at the ordering counter for business cards. In addition, the fast-casual chain has its Web site plastered on to-go packaging, napkins and cups.

 

For in-store e-mail sign-up slips, Von Utter recommends asking customers to provide only name, e-mail and zip code. "You don't want to ask them too much information because they won't fill it out," she said.

 

Once Qdoba has the customer's info, he receives four monthly e-mails based on local-store marketing efforts and occasional national promotions. Harper said it takes her mere hours — instead of days or weeks with direct mail campaigns — to execute e-mail.

 

"We have a lot more control over when things go out. If we need to make a quick change, we make it," she said. "But the best thing about online marketing is you see results almost immediately."