How Simple Games and An Email List Can Help Your Brick-and-Mortar Business Make a Lot of Money Fast
Victor Varnado
April 29, 2026
You've heard it before... "You should be collecting emails. Email marketing works."
And you probably nodded, made a mental note, and then got slammed with the actual work of running your business.
Here's what nobody tells you: the hardest part isn't sending emails. The hardest part is getting your customers to enthusiastically give you their email in the first place -- while they're in your venue, happy, distracted, and having fun.
That's where a simple, on-screen game changes everything.
The only thing standing between you and a fuller room on a slow Tuesday night is a list... and the habit of using it.
Why Email Outperforms Every Other Marketing Channel for Local Businesses
Social media looks shiny, but you don't own those followers. An algorithm change -- or a bad week -- can make your audience disappear overnight. Email is different. When someone gives you their address, you own that relationship. Your message lands directly in their inbox, no gatekeeper required.
A McKinsey study found email is 40 times more effective at getting customer action than Facebook or Twitter posts. For every $1 a small business puts into email marketing, they get roughly $38 back in revenue. And nearly 90% of consumers say they prefer to receive business updates and promotions via email over any other channel.
The math is simple. The execution is the hard part -- or so people think -- and that's where most local businesses stall out.
Here's a quick recap of what the numbers actually say:
$38 in revenue for every $1 spent on email marketing
40x more effective than Facebook or Twitter at driving customer action
90% of customers will share their email address in exchange for a small incentive
The Barrier: Getting People to Sign Up
Most businesses try one of two things. They put a sign-up form on their website (where it converts maybe 1–5% of visitors). Or they train staff to ask at checkout -- which works better (30%+ sign-up rate with a good ask), but relies on consistency from tired employees during a busy rush.
There's a third way that makes the sign-up feel less like a transaction and more like part of the fun: gamification.
When customers are playing a game on a screen in your venue -- competing for a leaderboard spot, showing off to their friends, invested in the outcome -- asking for their email to save their score or enter a prize draw feels completely natural. They're already engaged. They're already winning (or trying to). Giving you their email feels like getting something, not giving something up.
The Two-Email-a-Week System That Fills Rooms
Once you have a list, the system is simple. Research consistently shows that sending 1–2 emails per week is the sweet spot for local businesses. Too few and people forget you exist. Too many and they mark you as spam. Two per week, done consistently, keeps you top of mind without wearing out your welcome.
In one survey, 61% of U.S. consumers said they prefer to receive promotional emails at least weekly. And 91% want to hear from businesses they already patronize. Your customers want to hear from you -- you just have to show up.
What to Send Each Week
Tuesday (or Monday): An update. New item on the menu, an upcoming event, a fun behind-the-scenes note. Something useful, no hard sell.
Friday: An offer. Weekend special, subscriber-only discount, or "show this email for a free [X]." Creates urgency and ties the email directly to an in-person visit.
Keep it short. 50 to 125 words is the sweet spot for response rates.
Use the customer's first name in the subject line. It lifts open rates by 20%+ on average.
Always include a clear call to action: "Come in this weekend," "Show this email at the register," "Reserve your spot."
Here's an Example of an Effective Friday Email...
Subject: Sarah, half-price wings tonight only 🍺
"Hey Sarah, This Friday only, we're doing 50% off our famous wings from 5–7pm. No coupon needed, just mention this email. Come hungry. See you soon — Danny's Bar & Grill"
That short, personalized email takes three minutes to write. It costs nothing to send. And it can pack a room on a night that would otherwise be quiet.
What Actually Happens to Your Business When You Start
A Bain & Company study found that increasing customer retention by just 5% -- getting a small slice of your regulars to come back even slightly more often -- can boost profits by 25% to 95%. That's not a typo.
Repeat customers spend more, refer friends, and cost virtually nothing to market to once they're on your list.
Here's what that looks like in practice across different business types:
Salons that stayed in regular email contact with clients saw 42 additional appointments booked per year per client, and an 11% increase in total spending.
Auto shops that sent service reminder emails improved customer retention by 20–30%.
A local bar that emailed a Wednesday happy hour deal saw a 30% sales bump that evening -- on a night that was previously slow.
A retail boutique that sent a subscribers-only preview sale saw a 20% lift in weekend sales.
These aren't Silicon Valley startups with marketing teams. These are local businesses run by real people, using a list and two emails a week.
This Works for Any Local Business, Not Just Bars
Email reminders aren't a "bar thing" or a "restaurant thing." They work for any business where customers physically walk through your door.
Coffee shops & cafés — weekly specials, "bring a friend" promos, afternoon slow-hour offers
Salons & barbershops — appointment reminders, "it's been 6 weeks" nudges, seasonal service deals
Gyms & yoga studios — class schedules, lapsed member win-backs, member milestones
Retail boutiques — new arrivals, subscriber-only sales, weekend flash deals
Restaurants — weekly specials, slow-night deals, event announcements
Auto shops — maintenance reminders, seasonal service coupons, loyalty offers
The formula is the same: show up consistently in the inbox of people who already like you. Give them a reason to come back.
How to Start This Week
You don't need a complicated system. You need three things:
Choose a way to collect emails. A clipboard at the register. A QR code on your receipt. A raffle entry on a slow night. Or an option that's fun and engaging while requiring zero effort on your part -- a game that runs on your TV screen and automatically captures emails while your guests compete.
Your first email. Two or three sentences. One offer. Your name at the bottom. It doesn't have to be perfect -- it has to exist.
Commit to a Tuesday/Friday habit. One update, one offer, every week. That's the whole playbook.
The businesses that win at this aren't the ones with the biggest budget or the most polished newsletters. They're the ones that show up consistently in the inbox of the people who already love them.
