# Email Marketing

**Admin → Marketing** is your email list and campaigns. Because customers order directly from you rather than through a marketplace, these contacts are yours.

## Contacts

The Contacts card shows your list and three numbers that matter:

- **Contacts** — everyone who's given you an email
- **Opted in to email** — who you may actually send marketing to
- **Unsubscribed** — who has opted out

**Only opted-in contacts receive campaigns.** Unsubscribes are permanent and honored automatically. Don't attempt to work around this: sending marketing to people who opted out damages your sending reputation and, in most jurisdictions, breaks the law.

## The four campaign types

| Type | When it sends |
|---|---|
| **Broadcast** | Once, to everyone opted in, when you send it |
| **Welcome** | Automatically, after someone's first order |
| **Win-back** | Automatically, when a customer has been inactive for N days |
| **Abandoned cart** | Automatically, when someone starts checkout and doesn't finish |

Broadcasts are for announcements. The other three run on their own once configured, which is what makes them worth setting up — they keep working while you cook.

## Creating a campaign

1. Go to **Admin → Marketing → Campaigns**.
2. Create a campaign and choose its **type**.
3. Give it a **name** (internal — customers never see it).
4. Write the **subject line** and the **email body**.
5. Configure the trigger, if it has one:
   - **Win-back** — set **inactive days**. 30–60 is a reasonable starting point for a regular lunch spot; longer for occasional destinations.
   - **Abandoned cart** — set how long **after** the abandoned checkout to send, and the **oldest cart** still worth emailing about.
6. **Send a test to yourself.** Always.
7. Save as **Draft**, then set it **Active** when you're ready.

### Campaign statuses

**Draft** (not sending) → **Active** (live) → **Paused** (stopped, resumable). A sent broadcast becomes **Sent**. Old campaigns can be **Archived**.

An automated campaign only runs while it's **Active**.

## Writing emails people open

**Subject lines are most of the battle.** Be specific — "Half-price wings this Thursday" beats "This week at Rosa's."

**One message per email.** A campaign about three things gets no response to any of them.

**Include an actual reason to order** — a special, a new item, a limited-time offer. "We miss you" is not a reason.

**Write like a person.** Small restaurants have an advantage over chains here. Use it.

**Keep it short.** Most people read on a phone between other things.

## Sending a test

Send a test to yourself before every campaign, and read it **on a phone**. Check the subject line isn't truncated, links work, and it makes sense to someone who isn't you.

## Getting more contacts

- **[Rewards](/rewards)** is the best source — people hand over an email for points.
- **The card reader** offers rewards enrollment after payment, where customers type their own address.
- **Online orders** already require contact details.

Never buy a list, and never add addresses people didn't knowingly give you.

## How often to send

For most restaurants, **once or twice a month** for broadcasts. Weekly is too much unless you genuinely have news weekly. Automated campaigns don't count toward this — they're triggered by the individual, so nobody feels bombarded.

## Where to go next

- [Rewards & Loyalty](/rewards) — grow the list
- [Customer Records](/customers) — who you're emailing
- [The Dashboard](/dashboard) — whether campaigns move sales