“VerticalResponse Customers We Admire” is a series in which we highlight a customer and the things they’re doing well with their email, social and event marketing. Below, we discuss a Bastille Day email promotion from Kimpton’s Grand Cafe, including key lessons and take-aways.

Grand Cafe is a modern French brasserie, Kimpton restaurant and VerticalResponse customer whose email and event promotion we admire! Their fresh take on traditional French cuisine is paired with an extensive wine list and handcrafted apértifs, located in a gilded Barbary Coast ballroom. Below is an example of an email promotion they created to announce their special Bastille Day events. Scroll through the awesome email campaign for five event promotion take-aways:

1. Get Creative – Buttons and links are awesome, but with this refreshing call-to-action (click the mustache for details) who wouldn’t want to click for more details? Include images, colors and tactics that stand out to recipients and they’ll be more likely to engage with your email.

2. Appeal to Everyone – Grand Cafe predicts Bastille Day might not resonate with all of their recipients (i.e., yours truly) and cleverly offers an alternative “Bastille Day not your thing? Our new misfit dinner starts July 19th…”. By appealing to all their subscribers, they get the most from their campaign and avoid alienating certain readers.

3. Stay Relevant – Coordinating a holiday like Bastille Day with an event gives Grand Cafe the opportunity to remain current, timely and relevant. Stay up-to-date with upcoming holidays and current events and make sure they’re reflected in your marketing. 

4. Make it Accessible – In layman’s terms, a restaurant makes money when people visit their location and pay for their food. Grand Cafe makes sure to include their reservation phone number prominently at the top of their email. Lesson? Whether it’s a link to sign up, purchase or a phone number to schedule a reservation or appointment, make it easy and accessible for your customers and prospects to reach you and your services.

5. Your Business + Technology = BFFs – Grand Cafe realizes the increasing rate of email being viewed on mobile devices, made evident by their link to “view a mobile version” of their email. They further embrace the power of social media by including social sharing icons and forward to a friend links. And, including access to a Google map of their location makes their restaurant even more accessible. Technology is ever evolving; Using it to your advantage as Grand Cafe does in the examples above makes promoting your event and company that much more powerful.

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