The month of Ramadan is a great time for the restaurant industry in the Middle East. Guests are often looking for an opportunity to dine out with friends after fasting for several hours.

For restaurants, Ramadan is considered a peak season or month. To make the most of it, dining concepts need to plan ahead to ensure delightful dining experiences.

It’s not just about preparing your venue for Ramadan. You need to consider your marketing plans, including email campaigns and social media.

In this article, we’ll be focusing on Ramadan email campaigns for restaurants. We’ll help you create everything from teasers, to mid-Ramadan messages, to re-engagement campaigns when things slow down towards the end of the month.

The Making of a Great Email

Email remains one of the most inexpensive ways to communicate with guests in the restaurant industry. It can take the form of a monthly restaurant newsletter or an email campaign.

Nearly 60% of consumers subscribe to email newsletters, indicating a strong desire to learn more about the brands they like.

Every successful email campaign has the following:

  • A great, catchy subject line (and you can use emojis)
  • A mouth-watering image (usually a popular dish in your menu or a setting of your dining concept)
  • A clear message with a call-to-action (email body)
  • Preview text (not mandatory but recommended)
  • A segmented list of guests

6 Ramadan Email Campaign Ideas for Your Restaurant

Before you start sending out restaurant email campaigns, make sure it’s your guests’ preferred method of communication. Other methods may include SMS marketing or WhatsApp messaging.

Ramadan email campaign #1: The teaser campaign

This is by the most popular seasonal email campaign restaurants send out. It’s best to launch this campaign about 1-2 weeks before Ramadan begins. Share images of your Ramadan menu, special offers, opening and closing hours, etc.

Ramadan email campaign #2: The big reveal

If you’ve not unveiled your Ramadan Iftar and Sohoor menus, this campaign does just that. After building anticipation with your last email, this Ramadan email can include your Ramadan Iftar and Sohoor menus.

You can also let guests know about how to make a booking, if you require reservation deposits, and if you have no-show fee or cancellation fee.

Ramadan email campaign #3: More bookings with special offers

Ramadan is all about social gatherings. One way to boost restaurant sales is to make special offers for large group bookings.

Ideas include offers for:

  • Small companies and startups looking to bring their team together.
  • A campaign for guests who have dined as part of a group in the past.
  • A special announcement via email and on social media to entice your followers.

Ramadan email campaign #4: Stay top of mind mid-Ramadan

This is a campaign you can send during the month of Ramadan. If you see bookings dwindling by mid-Ramadan or towards the end, you can send an email campaign to guests inviting them back for Iftar.

Ramadan email campaign #5: Ramadan charity campaign

One way to get more guests is to create a common cause. Ramadan isn’t about delightful foods; it’s about prayer and charity.

Inform guests of your charitable plans and if you’re donating a percentage of your sales to a notable, local charity.

Ramadan email campaign #6: Ramadan Giveaway

Besides charity, another way to excite and entice guests is to create a special giveaway during Ramadan. Often this could be an Iftar-for-2 or special, non-financial gifts.

Final Tips

  • Make sure email is your guests’ preferred method of communication
  • Determine which of the above campaigns fits your needs
  • Don’t bombard guests with too many emails
  • Don’t send out all those campaigns (that’s 6 emails in 1 month, which is A LOT!)
  • Ask guests for feedback and see which of them came after reading your email.

Also, make sure you’re using a restaurant reservation system, like Servme, to help you collect deposits, online bookings, and cater to guests’ needs without a ton of paperwork!

If you’re using Servme, you can do all the above and create and manage email campaigns directly from your dashboard. You can use auto-tags to identify guest behavior, including Ramadan guests for coming years and future campaigns.