Restaurant email and SMS marketing: bring guests back without a discount

Restaurant email and text marketing works when the people on your list asked to be there and you send only a few useful messages: a welcome, a note when a guest hasn't been back, a birthday, and news about real events. It costs far less than winning a new guest, and on your own channels you don't pay a commission on the order it brings.

This guide covers which channel suits which message, how to build a list you're allowed to use, the messages worth sending, the rules, and how to tell whether it's working. We run email and text for restaurants, so we have an interest; the guide is written so you can do it yourself. The legal sections are general information, not legal advice.

They do different jobs. Most restaurants should start with email, and add text once there is a real reason for it.

The frequencies are our own rule of thumb, not a published standard. Watch your unsubscribes and adjust.

The list is the asset, and you can only build it slowly. Ask where guests already give you their details:

• Direct online orders: a sign-up box at checkout. This is the best source, because they already order from you.
• Reservations: the same, through your booking system.
• A QR code at the table or on the receipt: offer something genuinely useful, such as the first look at new menus or a birthday treat.
• Wi-Fi sign-in, if you offer it, with a clear choice to join.
• Your website: a short form, no pop-up on arrival.
• Your staff: a word at the door, for regulars.

Two things to avoid. Don't buy a list: strangers don't turn into guests, and they do complain. And don't assume delivery-app customers are yours to message. Check what each app's terms allow, and treat them as guests to win over with a card in the bag instead.

Set up the first three once and they run themselves. They also tend to be the most relevant, because they are timed to the guest rather than to your calendar.

A few examples, to change into your own words:

Welcome: "Thanks for ordering from Rosa's. You'll hear from us about twice a month: new dishes, patio season and the odd surprise. Here's the menu for next time."

Come back: "It's been a while. Our birria's back on Thursdays, and we'd love to see you. Order direct here, or book a table."

Birthday: "Happy birthday from all of us at Rosa's. Dessert's on us this week: show this at the table."

Text, for a real event: "Rosa's: 2 tables left at 7 tonight on the patio. Book: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out."

Do you need a discount?

Not every time. If every message is a coupon, you teach regulars to wait for one, and you give away margin on orders that would have come anyway. Lead with news: a new dish, a returning favorite, an event. Save offers for a slow Tuesday or a guest who has drifted away. Before you run one, put it through the food cost calculator to see what is left per plate.

The CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC's guide sets out what it needs. Most email tools handle the mechanics, but you remain responsible, even if someone else sends on your behalf:

The FTC says each separate email in violation can bring penalties of up to $53,088 (FTC). Purely transactional messages, such as an order confirmation, are mostly exempt, though adding a promotion can change that. Keep them separate.

Marketing texts have to meet a higher bar. Here is the short version; your texting provider should help with the mechanics, and if you plan to text at any scale, ask a lawyer.

• Written consent first. For autodialed marketing, the federal rules require prior express written consent: a signed agreement, which can be electronic, naming the number, with a clear disclosure. Buying from you can't be conditional on agreeing.
• Keep the consent record. Note when and how each guest joined. A box that isn't pre-ticked, with the wording next to it, is the common way to do it.
• Honor opt-outs fast. The rule says within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days, and treats replies such as "stop", "quit", "end", "revoke", "opt out", "cancel" and "unsubscribe" as valid (47 CFR 64.1200). Include how to stop in your messages.
• Send between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the guest's time. The time-of-day rule covers telephone solicitations. One law firm review from March 2026 argues it doesn't reach texts to people who consented, and notes that courts are divided on how some of these rules apply to texts. Whatever the outcome, nobody wants a restaurant text at midnight.
• Register your sending number. Twilio says anyone sending to US numbers over a standard business number (10DLC) from an application must register, and that unregistered traffic pays extra carrier fees (Twilio). Most restaurant tools handle this for you, but ask.

Start with what you already pay for. Your POS, ordering or reservation system may already include email and text, and it knows who ordered what, which makes the automatic messages possible. Square's Plus plan, for example, includes email and text marketing, with the first 500 texts free and then 3¢ each (Square). A separate email tool makes sense when your POS can't do what you need, as long as the guest list can flow between them.

Whichever you choose, ask who owns the guest list, and whether you can export it if you leave. A list you can't take with you isn't really yours.

Count orders and bookings, not opens. Give each message its own link or code, then add up what came through. Here's the arithmetic for one message, with example numbers you should replace with your own:

Compare that with what moving the same guests off the apps is worth, using the delivery commission calculator. A guest who orders direct because of your email keeps paying off, since the next order costs you card processing rather than commission.

Find out whether your POS or ordering system includes email and text. Turn on the sign-up box at checkout. Write a welcome message and a come-back message, and set them to send automatically. Then pick one real event in the next month to tell people about. If you would rather have it run for you, see our email and text service, or start with the free restaurant audit, which looks at how you bring guests back.