Fajita Grill

Constant Contact Customer Since: 2005
List size: 950
Open rate: 50.4%
Favorite feature: Website Sign-Up Box
Website: www.fajitagrill.com

In Oswego, New York, Constant Contact customer Fajita Grill is satisfying the taste buds of thousands of people looking for fresh, top-quality southwestern food. Founded by co-owners, Josh Molinari and Anthony Green, The Fajita Grill serves its food "assembly-line" style so the customer gets to choose they want-and there is plenty to choose from. Their slogan is "Fresh food. Fast." For the convenience of their customers, they also offer free WI-FI.

Molinari and Green used to talk about opening a restaurant that served fresh food and had great customer service when they were students at Rochester Institute of Technology. They opened their first store in Syracuse just over a year ago and then a second store in Josh's hometown of Oswego, a few months later. They have future growth plans for adding two more Fajita Grills this summer and they are looking to make franchise opportunities available.

One of the main ways they have been spreading the word about their new restaurant is through email marketing. Fajita Grill's Marketing Director, Abby Weaver, searched the Internet for email marketing services that would fit their needs. "During my research, I read information on Constant Contact's site about how they help get emails through firewalls. That, along with the 60-day free trial, were the clinchers for me in signing up for the service."

When Abby starting using Constant Contact, she had an email list of 480 emails, and now, after just five month her list is up to 950. "I doubled my subscriber list by sending out interesting emails that people would want to forward to friends, having a sign-up form on my website, and putting info about the emails on the LED sign at the restaurant. Even the employees are excited about it! They're telling customers and helping grow the list too."

Abby tried traditional marketing to get more people through the door, but found better results using Constant Contact to send out a monthly coupon.

"I can't believe the number of people who are actually walking in our restaurants and redeeming the coupons. Before I tried email, I put a coupon in the local newspaper and had fewer than 10 people redeem it. Then, I put the same coupon in an email and sent it to 400 people and saw 100 of the email coupons redeemed that month! That's an outstanding rate, given that only 400 were sent. I've also tried direct mail and got such a low redemption rate that I won't do it again. The email coupons are being printed and brought in daily and people are fighting to get on my email subscription list."

Abby loves how easy it is to create and send campaigns. "I don't need a designer. I don't have to wait for a printer or the US Postal Service to get it delivered. I can hit send at 10 am and watch how many people open it, and where they click on my site. It's amazing! And I can do it all on my laptop."

With email marketing, the Fajita Grill will continue to spread the word about their fast and fresh southwestern food to more and more customers in New York and, if they have their way, other parts of the United States. Now that's a business that's sizzling!