By Hugh Beaulac, Contributor

The demand for delicious food and a nice atmosphere is higher than ever before. The niche is getting more and more competitive, so restaurant owners seek out new and creative ways to cut through the noise and attract guests.

The right promotion matters, so choosing the right marketing channels is also important.

On the one hand, email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tools, so it's a good idea to promote your restaurant with email marketing.

On the other hand, the number of social media users is constantly growing, so using a social network like Instagram that focuses on visual content can be more convincing than a photo of an appetizing dish in a cozy restaurant.

But wouldn't it be great if you could make the most out of these marketing channels? In this article, we're going to explain to you why restaurant owners should coordinate Instagram and email marketing, as well as provide you with the top eight ways on how to do it to make your restaurant business successful.

Why Do Instagram & Email Marketing Work Together?

Did you know that 90% of guests research a restaurant before visiting it?

Since customers are more likely to research restaurants on communication channels they use often, Instagram and email marketing are the best options for restaurants to create crave.

When you use both marketing channels to make them work together, your restaurant can achieve the maximum impact for the following reasons:

Modern customers use different communication channels: With 4 billion email users, email has been one of the most preferred communication channels in the last decades. However, the number of Instagram users is growing, too. According to one research, Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users and 64% of them are under the age of 34. This means you can reach your local customers via email and Instagram as they are active on both channels.

Coordinating Instagram and email marketing helps to create crave: Today, restaurant visitors do online research before choosing a place to visit. In fact, 66% of users want to visit a restaurant after seeing it on Instagram. As a visual app, Instagram is a perfect place for featuring restaurant photos that can create crave. What is more, you can also repurpose these images for email marketing campaigns and therefore promote your restaurant or its meals among your email subscribers.

Keep in touch with your local customers where they are active: Living in the digital era, when customers use various communication channels, you never know where your local customers can come from. When you have an Instagram presence and run email marketing campaigns, you give your local customers an opportunity to choose the best channel for brand communication.

To make the most of these two channels of promotion, you should coordinate them. Check out 8 ways to do it – they work great for the restaurant business.

Restaurant email marketing promoting Instagram account (see bottom)

1. Turn Your Email Subscribers into Instagram Followers

One report found that 733 million emails were leaked, so modern people are afraid of sharing their personal data.

But if you have an email list, it's a great opportunity to coordinate Instagram and email marketing. Why? When people share their email addresses with your restaurant, this means they are more loyal to your brand and therefore they are more likely to become your IG followers.

First, you can dedicate an email newsletter to your Instagram account to inform your customers about your Instagram presence and show the benefits of following you in multiple medium.

Second, you can add an Instagram icon and write a laconic call to action at the end of your email to promote your profile without focusing on it. What is more, you can focus on your Instagram profile or place its icon first on the list of social networks, just as shown in this example.

2. Collect More Emails from Instagram Followers

Instagram users are open to brand communication in-app. In fact, 90% of users follow at least one business on the platform. When your restaurant visitors follow your business on Instagram, this means they want to learn more about your company, services, menu, and the employees behind the restaurant. Thus, they are more likely to sign up for your email list to keep up with all restaurant updates.

As a result, the previous method works also the other way around: If you have loyal Instagram followers, you can ask them to leave their email addresses or sign up for your email list.

Here are several creative ideas on how to collect Instagram followers' emails with Instagram:

Include a landing page URL in the bio
Add Instagram Stories links
Promote your email list in an Instagram post
Organize an Instagram giveaway

For example, TAO Downtown creates short-lived Instagram Stories to encourage viewers to take the desired action faster. Not only does the restaurant explain the reasons for being on the email list, but it also simplifies the process by adding a clickable link to the landing page where customers can leave their email addresses.

3. Show Your Happy Local Guests as Social Proof

Happy customers are the lifeblood of any business. Since potential visitors expect a great restaurant experience, they pay close attention to customer reviews and user-generated content your visitors create at your place. Why? Unhappy customers will never promote your restaurant on their social media.

As a result, it's a good idea to show that the people who choose your restaurant are happy with their choice. This will surely help you attract more followers and improve customer flow.

Once you've found user-generated content from your restaurant on Instagram, reach out to the authors and ask their permission to share these visuals in your email marketing campaign.

But if you want to encourage your customers to spread the word about your business, offer them discounts. For instance, you can give a holiday discount – this way you not only help your customers to save money but also create a festive mood.

You can also invite the photographer to take photos during this special day to post them later on Instagram photos and videos of happy customers who have visited your restaurant or sports bar. You can go even further and offer an additional bonus to those visitors who post content and tag you.

4. Share an Exclusive Offer to Attract More Local Visitors

Any restaurant, café, or bar has regular customers. For you, their loyalty is obvious.

But what to do with those who have visited the place once and have never returned? Or with those who follow you on Instagram, or maybe even left email addresses, but haven’t visited you yet?

Create an exclusive offer. Give these ambiguous customers a time-limited discount to create a sense of urgency and increase the likelihood of using the discount code at your restaurant. Plus, it's a good idea to offer different discount codes for Instagram and email marketing. Doing so is one of the best ways to track leads and therefore understand where your local customers come from.

To attract more restaurant visitors, it's important to use both marketing channels to promote your offer. Thus, write amazing Instagram captions for the restaurant business to surely grab the attention of your target audience.

5. Support Your Restaurant During Uncertain Times

In difficult times, it is extremely important to do everything possible so as not to lose customers and save the restaurant from closing.

Now everyone is trying to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19. You should remember about this and let your customers know it’s safe to visit your restaurant and order your food.

Tell them in an email or Instagram post what steps you are taking to protect your staff and visitors from the virus.

Food delivery is now more relevant than ever. If your restaurant has never offered such a service before, you should start now. And don’t forget to share this information with your customers via Instagram and email newsletters.

You should also invite your visitors to pick up the order. It will be great if they get some bonus for this. It will help you to achieve two goals at once: provide a safe way for people to enjoy your food and attract more customers. And, of course, this will be another reason to remind them of you.

What is more, you can use a small business support sticker on Instagram to encourage your loyal fans to promote your restaurant and encourage more people to order from you during the days when restaurants are closed.

6. Feature Customer Reviews

Restaurant Instagram post highlighting a guest review.

Customer reviews are another example of social proof that works great. People trust them much more than your ads.

Of course, you shouldn’t overuse it and show reviews every day. But it's a great idea to share the opinion of your customers about your restaurant or bar with your audience to increase brand loyalty and trust.

For example, you can send customer satisfaction surveys to your customers via email with the invitation to share their customer reviews and then repurpose the best reviews for your Instagram page. Check out how Aroqa New York did it.

7. Retarget Your Email Subscribers on Instagram with Advanced Ads

Instagram advertising is an effective tool in reaching a wider audience of potential customers. With advanced Instagram ads, not only can you choose the right audience who live within your area, but you can also reach your customers based on their email addresses.

In other words, Instagram advanced ads allow marketers to retarget their email subscribers to communicate with them on all channels.

If your restaurant has a food delivery app, it’s a great idea to promote it via Instagram ads to reach a wider audience of potential customers who are happy to support your restaurant business during uncertain times.

Let's take a look at McDonald’s.

Thanks to Instagram video and photo ads, MacDonald's managed to convince their followers to download a new food delivery app. For doing this, the company used four advertising ideas – each for a specific audience. The campaign got a 5.5-point increase in top-of-mind awareness.

8. Promote an Instagram Live Session with Emails

The popularity of live streams is growing. Instagram Live for restaurants is a great way to grab the attention of your audience. You can show your followers what is usually hidden from view – for example, what your kitchen looks like or how chefs prepare meals. You can also give them a cooking class.

Show your customers what they are missing out on. It can be watching the games together with friends or a live band show.

Since it's impossible to save Instagram Live, it's a good idea to inform your email subscribers and Instagram followers about the upcoming streaming to reach a wider audience of viewers.

Use your streaming announcement email to tell your customers how they can support you during difficult times.

The Bottom Line

To stay ahead of your competitors, it is now more important than ever to use all effective marketing channels. To achieve maximum impact, coordinate Instagram and email marketing.

When these channels work together, not only do they help to keep your restaurant visitors hooked and engaged, but they also raise brand awareness and brand trust when it comes to choosing a restaurant. As a result, your restaurant gets more loyal visitors who are happy to come back for more.