Great Email timing

This past Wednesday in the midst of the second day of "windy" bad weather here in the Twin Cities I got served a great email from Qdoba.

Headline of "Lousy weather got you down? Buy One, Get One at Qdoba!".

Perfect timing as the weather was horrible with 50+ mph winds and you know what a tasty burrito from Qdoba sure hit the spot.

Smart marketing and hats off to the good people at Qdoba for using their email program so effectively. Darn smart and my guess is that they will have other smart things coming down the pipeline.

Good products + good marketing usually mean success. I'll be watching to see what Qdoba does next - you should too!

What do you think of Birthday Email coupons?

Have you signed up for any restaurant email loyalty programs? If so you have probably received some email coupons for your birthday to some of your favorite eating places.

Two days ago I received 10 - yes 10 birthday coupon emails about one week before my birthday and they all arrived on the same day. So I guess the magic day to send a birthday email coupon is one week before your birthday. I did not know that but I will file this away.

Some of the birthday email coupons are pretty simple - buy one item and get another free. Some of them are kind of tricky like Famous Dave's come in and we'll see if you get a free dessert or a free entree - I'm guessing they are giving away a lot more free desserts. Or Chili's is giving away a free sundae - hey don't you often get a free dessert on your birthday anyway? Chili's needs to step up it's game here. A smart thing that each of these brands does if to give you a few weeks or even a month to redeem.

The one brand that I think does a terrible job is Caribou. They send you an email for a free drink which is really nice but then they restrict it by saying it has to be on your birthday and you have to show a Photo ID? What? So if I'm out of town and miss my birthday I'm out of luck? Come on Caribou give me a few extra days. Fail!

The best email birthday coupon that I got was from Rainforest Cafe. It is a $10 off coupon on my next visit and it is good for 3 months! Now that is a smart email birthday coupon offer and one that I will most likely use.

The whole point of any loyalty program is to reward your users - make them feel good about the brand. So some of these brands have definitely under delivered but a brand like Rainforest Cafe is providing a good offer and a very easy to use time period. So they are my winning brand in the email birthday coupon sweepstakes.

Maybe I will get a more over the next few days. What do you think restaurant brands should deliver for a birthday email coupon? Let me know what your experience is.