New Mailchimp research shows the timing windows small hospitality businesses should be using.
What’s happening: New research from Intuit Mailchimp has found that discount codes and birthday greetings are the email types diners open most, but that when those messages are sent plays a significant role in how welcome they feel and whether they drive a visit.
Why this matters: For small restaurant and hospitality businesses using email marketing, the research points to two distinct timing windows that can significantly improve campaign effectiveness, one built around planned occasions and one built around spontaneous dining decisions.
Most restaurant owners know that email marketing works. What the latest research suggests is that timing it well can be the difference between a message that drives a booking and one that gets ignored.
New research from Intuit Mailchimp, based on a national study of more than 1,000 Australians, has found that while diners are most responsive to emails that offer savings or mark a personal moment, they want those messages to arrive at very different times depending on what they are.
What diners open and why
The research identifies a clear hierarchy of email types that Australian diners engage with. Discount codes top the list, with 61 per cent of diners saying they open restaurant emails offering savings. Birthday greetings come second at 46 per cent, followed by new menu announcements at 37 per cent, according to Intuit Mailchimp.
Age plays a meaningful role in those preferences. Among Australians aged 18 to 34, appetite for discount emails rises to 63 per cent compared to 49 per cent of over-65s, according to the research. Younger diners are also more engaged by new menu announcements, with 42 per cent of 18 to 34 year olds opening that type of email compared to 29 per cent of diners aged 65 and over.
Anthony Capano, Regional Director APAC at Intuit Mailchimp, said the findings point to an opportunity that goes beyond individual transactions. “Restaurants are competing for attention in a crowded digital environment,” Capano said. “Our research shows that personalisation isn’t just about the next meal; it’s about building lifelong value. By landing the right message at the right time, restaurants can move beyond one-off visits to create the kind of lasting guest loyalty that fuels sustainable business growth.”
One of the more actionable findings in the research is the appetite among Australian diners for last-minute deals. Almost half of consumers surveyed, 44 per cent, said they would visit a restaurant if it offered a same-night, last-minute deal, according to Intuit Mailchimp. While the majority, 56 per cent, still prefer more notice, the data suggests a meaningful segment of diners is open to spontaneous dining decisions when the right offer arrives at the right moment.
For small hospitality businesses managing fluctuating covers, that finding has a direct practical application. A targeted email sent on a quiet Tuesday afternoon offering a same-night deal could convert an otherwise empty table without discounting further in advance or committing to promotional pricing across a longer window.
Birthday emails need lead time
The research draws a clear distinction between how diners want to receive last-minute offers and how they want to receive birthday communications. When it comes to birthday-related emails, lead time matters significantly, according to Intuit Mailchimp.
Over a quarter of Australians, 27 per cent, prefer restaurants to contact them about their birthday a week before, and the same proportion prefer to be contacted a few days before, the research found. Just 10 per cent prefer birthday emails on the day itself.
The demographic split on this point is worth noting for operators targeting different age groups. Diners aged 18 to 34 are more likely to want a few days notice, with 35 per cent feeling this way compared to 19 per cent of over-65s, according to Intuit Mailchimp. Among older diners, 34 per cent of those aged over 65 do not want birthday emails at all, almost three times the rate of all other demographics combined at 11 per cent.
For small restaurant and hospitality businesses, the research points to two distinct email strategies worth building separately rather than treating as variations of the same campaign.
The first is a planned occasion strategy built around personal moments like birthdays, where lead time of at least a few days is critical and the messaging should feel relevant and considered rather than automated. The second is a spontaneous dining strategy built around same-night offers, where the value proposition needs to be immediate and the send time needs to match the decision window of a diner choosing where to go that evening.
Running both in parallel, targeted to different segments of a customer database based on age and past behaviour, gives small hospitality businesses a more precise way to use email marketing than a single broadcast approach allows.
The underlying point from the Intuit Mailchimp research is straightforward. The content of a restaurant email matters. But getting the timing right is what determines whether it drives a visit or disappears into an inbox.
Research was conducted by Intuit Mailchimp across a national sample of more than 1,000 Australians. Dynamic Business has reported on its findings independently.
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