Most restaurant email is a newsletter, written when someone has time and sent to everyone. Automated emails are different. You write them once, and each guest gets the right one at the right moment: when they join, before their birthday, when they haven't been in for a while.
Three automations do most of the work for a restaurant: a welcome, a birthday treat and a win-back. This guide covers how to set up each one, what to put in it, and how to tell whether it's working.
How an automated flow works
Every automation has the same parts:
- Trigger: what starts it. A guest joins your list, a birthday is coming up, a regular hasn't visited.
- Steps: the messages, in order, with waits between them. "Send the welcome, wait three days, send the second email."
- Checks: yes/no questions that change the path. "Has this guest visited since? If yes, stop."
- Exit: when a guest leaves the flow. Usually when they've done what you wanted, such as visiting or redeeming the offer.
Write the plan on paper first, one line per step. If it takes more than five lines, simplify.
Before you start: the list and the rules
- Only message people who agreed to hear from you, and make it easy to stop: every marketing email needs an unsubscribe link, and texts should honor STOP. Rules differ by country and state, so check what applies where you operate.
- Collect what the flows need. A birthday flow needs birthdays. A win-back needs visit history. Ask for the birthday on the sign-up form (month and day is enough).
Flow 1: the welcome series
A new subscriber is paying the most attention they ever will. Use it.
Example flow:
- Right away: a thank-you with who you are in two sentences, one great photo, your address and hours, and a small first-visit offer.
- Wait 3 days.
- Check: have they visited? If yes, exit.
- Email 2: the story. The people, the coffee, the thing you're known for. A reminder of the offer.
- Wait 7 days.
- Check again. If still no visit, email 3: the offer expires soon.
Keep the offer simple, with no minimum spend, and give it an expiry so it has a reason to be used.
Example of how to measure it: say 200 people join in a month and 50 of them redeem the first-visit offer within two weeks. That's a 25% redemption rate. If the next month you change the offer and 70 of 200 redeem, you know the new offer works better.
Flow 2: the birthday treat
The simplest flow, and a personal one.
Example flow:
- Trigger: 7 days before the guest's birthday.
- Email: "Happy birthday from all of us", and a treat valid for the week around their birthday.
- Wait until the day before the offer expires.
- Check: redeemed? If not, one short reminder.
Tips:
- Send it early. A week's notice lets guests plan a visit. A treat that arrives on the day is often too late.
- Make the treat something you can afford to give. A dessert or drink with a low plate cost feels generous and costs you little.
Flow 3: the win-back
Regulars rarely announce they've stopped coming. They just come a bit less, then not at all. A win-back flow notices the gap and reaches out.
The hard part is defining "lapsed". A fixed rule ("hasn't visited in 60 days") treats every guest the same, but a weekly regular who's missed three weeks is more worrying than a monthly guest who's missed one. A better rule compares each guest with their own rhythm.
Example: a guest who visits about every 7 days hasn't been in for 21. That's three times their usual gap. A guest who visits about every 30 days and hasn't been in for 35 is only a little late. Flag the first one, wait on the second.
Example flow:
- Trigger: a regular is coming noticeably less often than usual.
- Email: "We haven't seen you in a while." What's new on the menu, and a reason to come back, such as a free drink on the next visit.
- Wait until they visit, or 10 days pass.
- Check: visited? If yes, exit and let them go back to normal emails.
- Text (if they've opted in to texts): a short, friendly reminder of the offer.
- Exit after that. Don't keep chasing.
Measuring what works
Opens and clicks are a start, but what matters is whether guests came in. For each flow, track:
- How many guests entered the flow.
- How many reached the goal: visited, redeemed, ordered.
- What they spent on those visits, compared with the cost of the offers.
Example: a win-back flow reaches 100 guests in a month. 20 come back and redeem a free drink that costs you $1.00 each. They spend an average of $12 on the visit. That's $240 of sales for $20 of drinks, from an email you wrote once.
Two mistakes sink most flows: too many messages (cap how many a guest gets per week, and respect quiet hours for texts), and offers staff don't know how to redeem at the counter.
How Ospelia does it
Ospelia's Automations start from ready-made recipes (welcome series, birthday treat, slipping regulars, after catering, ticket buyers and more) or from scratch, and single-message quick automations turn on with one switch. You pick what starts a flow (joins, visits, tags, birthdays, website forms, payments, catering stages, reviews and surveys), then add emails, texts, waits and yes/no checks. Waits can be a set time, until a guest visits or clicks, or until a day before their event. Ospelia learns each guest's usual rhythm and flags regulars coming less often. Automations only send once you've set them up and turned them on.
Email & text marketing is where you design the messages: a drag-and-drop designer with your logo and colors, and texts with pictures and short links from your own Twilio number. Every email has an unsubscribe and preferences link, texts honor STOP, and results show opens, clicks and the visits and online orders that followed each email.
Guest records come from Customers & loyalty, synced from Square with names, emails, phone numbers and Square Loyalty points.
