According to a benchmark study by popular email service provider MailChimp, the industry average for restaurant emails getting read is 19.77%

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For an email that's getting read and a link inside the email is clicked, we get the click-thru rate. The industry average, according to MailChimp's study, is 1.34%.

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In our case study for a recent email from one of our restaurants, the click-thru rate was at 10.5% twenty-four hours after sending:

So what's this mean for your business?

This particular email got 458 people to take action.

Compare that to the average from MailChimp's study. At their 1.34% click-thru rate, 58 people (0.0134 * 4,328) clicked a link within the email.

The difference between our case study and the industry average: 

400 more people taking action. ​

This is a significant amount of people to be able to do business with. 

When we're consistently sending relevant emails out, and this many people take action, three or four times a month, there's going to be real sales.

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But if you look closely at the "average" email, you'll see a common thread of things that will drop click-thru rates.

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Here's seven frequent mistakes that get "average" results:

1. No call to action
2. Too much information
3. Irrelevant information
4. Putting text over images
5. Low quality or low resolution images
6. Lack of clarity or purpose (hard for reader to know what to do)
7. Does not render well on mobile devices

The good news is, these items are very easy to fix. Once done, click-thru rates will improve.

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Here's some tips to maximize results:

•  Clear and direct subject line with the restaurant's name. This gets them to open the email.
• A headline and subheader that builds on the subject. This creates interest to keep reading. 
• An interesting, and relevant image. This helps retain attention.
• Then only the details that expand on the subject. They are specifically important to the reader.
• The clear Call To Action.
• Footer has useful information: Address links to Google Maps for easy directions. Phone number is hyperlinked to make it easy to call the restaurant. Other contact options are discreet yet available if needed.

Additional factors:

• No typos or errors.
• Colors are clean, simple and consistent with brand. Going from the email to the website or landing page is a seamless visual experience.
• The goal isn't to provide all the information possible. It's to generate real interest in a specific outcome, create curiosity, and get the reader to take action.
• Timing

​Example of these tips put into a format:

Let's make your restaurant shine!