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Do you have ideas in mind when it comes to bar promotion? Are you considering something classy or quirky? Have you tried testing those ideas already? Did they deliver the results you expected?
Promotion is always the tough nut to crack in restaurant operations. The idea of coming up with marketing strategies for your bar business may seem impossible at times. As a bar owner, you must constantly think about ways to draw customers into their bar.
With the opening of the new economy, it might be more challenging. If you live in a big city with most bars there, it’s tempting to disappear into the sea of beer. But you must start realizing that you are more than just a drink.
Check out the ideas below for cool bar promotion ideas that set you apart from the competition.
Top Promotion Ideas For Your Cocktail Bar
Bars and nightclubs are never just about having great food and a cool atmosphere. To keep your customers engaged, you must keep them coming back. You can use the following practical and effective ideas to increase your customers’ interest in your bar’s offerings.
Focus on Social Media Marketing
The goal should always be to engage your audience on a personal level. Many consumers choose brands whose interests match their own. Maybe you would like to share your chief bartender’s history, the ingredients for your legendary cocktail, or a recent hilarious experience in your bar?
It is easy to reach a large audience using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which are cost-effective and personal.
Social media can be used to organize your events and invite your customers to them. Create events your customers can sign up for so they can invite their friends too. Promote upcoming beer pong, pool, and poker tournaments.
You can create a web page with links for online registration, gauge interest, and provide reminders for upcoming events.
Incorporate hashtags into your marketing campaigns. Display it in your dining space to encourage people to discuss your bar on social media. Offer discounts when people use your hashtag and check-in at your bar on social media.
Create a monthly photo contest in which the best picture with your bar’s name and hashtag becomes a gift card winner.
Maximize the use of Google My Business
Providing your business with a free Google My Business account gives potential customers a place to find out essential information, such as your operating hours, website, address, photos, and even reviews.
It is one of the easiest online bar marketing strategies to implement and enables Google to make it easy to show information about your business when people use Google Search and Google Maps. It will take a tremendous amount of work to get your site to rank on the first page of search results.
A Google profile ensures that when someone searches for a relevant query, your listing will appear. This is important because people often use Google to find new places to visit.
Apply SEO and Targeted Ads
Use the appropriate keywords to improve your website. If you want to find a bar in your area, you need to know what locals are searching for. Use that knowledge in your search engine optimization. The first thing you should do when brainstorming bar marketing ideas get on the map to entice locals.
Although you have special offers or host events, your bar marketing efforts will go to waste unless they are promoted appropriately. While you should use social media to advertise your bar events and offers, without personalizing your marketing you will not see many results.
Several restaurant marketers have been sending bulk SMS and email messages to their databases and pondered why they failed to correlate with sales. Often, the promotional message will not be relevant to your intended audience.
As an example, if you are hosting a Game Night at your pub, you should send an SMS or email about the same to your younger patrons rather than to the entire database.
Offer Bar Specials
Drink specials are considered as one of the best promotion ideas for cocktail bars as it stirs up the curiosity of customers. Rather than concentrating on the bar event, these promos are more focused on the menu item itself. However, when paired with an amazing bar event, they’ll certainly shine. Here are some specials you can offer for your cocktail bar opening.
- Cocktails that are ready to drink are popular with the younger generation. They pose no hassle and don’t take extra manpower to make. They also help engage your customers with your brand.
- Put together a mystery drink menu from your bar. With appropriate allergy warnings, serving guests something mysterious shouldn’t be a catastrophe. It can be fun! Inspire your bartender to produce something tasty and mysterious.
- Make a DIY signature beverage. Make your guests your bartenders for the night. Let them enjoy making and enjoying their drink.
Consider running Loyalty Programs
A bar can’t be marketed better than by people who frequent it more often. Use them to upsell your brand by providing them incentives to bring in new customers. Your loyalty program may reward them with extra points for referrals.
Whenever they celebrate a birthday or anniversary, you can offer them special discounts so that they will invite their customers to your bar.
You can use rewards-based loyalty programs to promote your bar. You can choose whether to offer a point-based or visit-based rewards program based on the size of the average check and the demographics of your customers.
To attract frequent visitors to your bar who do not spend much, you should consider a loyalty program that rewards them for visits.
Then, if your customer base consists of customers who rarely visit but spend a lot, you should offer a point-based loyalty rewards program.
The best bar promotion ideas involve building relationships with customers on a long-term basis. Loyalty is excellent for building repeat business. The reason why sometimes people hop from one bar to the next is that they don’t feel connected to one place.
Provide a discount to customers who are regular customers via SMS or email. By doing this, your customers will feel like they belong to an exclusive group and will return for the discounts and freebies.
In most situations, retaining a client is cheaper than getting a new one. Loyalty programs, similar to punch cards, reward customers who return repeatedly. A discount is granted after seven visits, and you can offer another one after ten.
Provide an Alcohol Takeout and Delivery
Another excellent bar marketing idea is offering them the convenience of enjoying their drinks in the comfort of their house. There is already a buzz about alcohol deliveries. Several third-party delivery services have already started assisting restaurants with alcohol sales.
Then let’s assume that you want to launch your order process online, starting with smart packaging and marketing. You should first determine whether food and alcohol delivery and distribution are restricted in your area.
There are areas where hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars, and clubs are permitted to provide food and non-alcoholic drinks delivered to take-away (until 11 pm), click-and-collect, and drive-through. Food and drinks (including alcohol) can continue to be delivered.
The 2003 Act’s age verification requirements apply even if the alcohol is sold remotely. In the case of alcohol, drinks that have not been served are not considered as served.
To verify that the receiver is not under 18 years old, the person who makes the delivery must ask for an identification picture.
The responsibility of delivering alcohol is massive. As a restaurant owner, it is your responsibility to secure all the necessary permits and licenses for alcohol distribution, as well as learn about the municipal age verification policy and other regulations surrounding alcohol consumption. Even if it generates revenue, be careful not to over-serve customers.
Host, Organize and Join Local Events
A bar that offers karaoke nights will surely attract Millennials and will give your business the publicity and edge that it needs. Having a karaoke session with your friends can be a lot of fun.||So you can expect the whole crowd to visit you.
It is not only an excellent way to attract new clients to your bar but also to expand the number of existing ones. A karaoke night can be planned on a weekday to attract corporate crowds as well, who can come to the occasion to relax after a long and tiresome day.
Streaming live games is an excellent option. Increasing your restaurant’s visibility is easy with drinks and sports. A live screening of different sports or leagues can be put up on a big screen, and you can run a drinking game about the upcoming events.
The winning team can even receive a surprise gift voucher or even a free drink. There is no doubt that such a press release will catch the attention not only of your patrons but also of the press.
Artistically-themed events are also popular. In addition to attracting huge crowds to your bar, it will be featured on all social media accounts of the event and initiate word-of-mouth marketing.
Playing games together is always a winning proposition! The fact is that bars are usually regarded as havens for singles, but couples still enjoy a few drinks. It may be worth promoting couples as well in your next campaign.
The majority of places only remember couples when Valentine’s Day rolls around, but a bar offering games that target couples in June might be able to compete with businesses that target singles alone. The event is sure to be enjoyed by couples and people on the first dates.
Do not forget about the local holidays and other fun events taking place almost every day! Such events will also introduce your bar to several potential customers you would not have otherwise met.
Engage with Local Businesses
The best way to support your community and increase visibility is to host a fundraiser or form a partnership with a local company.
- You could host a charity night and donate part of the proceeds of the night to the charity of your choosing. You can offer charity members the opportunity to serve drinks and wait on tables at the event.
- Pets that are available for adoption outside of your location can be promoted by an animal shelter. You can attract customers by setting up a sheltered stand with available animals right out your bar doors or in the parking lot, while also helping find families for pets who need them.
- Provide networking opportunities to the professionals in your neighborhood with a business mixer hosted by the local businesses.
- Promote a local brewery, winery, distillery, or another beverage maker. The most common incentive is to receive a discount for your supply.
Press releases and radio advertisements are effective means of media outreach for these bar events. If you are interested in effective public relations, it might be advantageous to designate a spokesperson as your coordinator. This will ensure effective organization and promotion.
Run Online Contests
The rules about bar promotions don’t say that offline competitions are the only option. You could create a hashtag for the competition and run an online campaign. During the competition, the bartender can design a wackiest and original drink that a customer would order if he or she was the bartender.
The winner can choose a voucher from your bar or a free drink for a month, or they can be featured on all your social media pages. This hashtag can be used to promote your bar to the fullest, so let your participants promote it accordingly.
Try out Influencer Marketing
Micro-influencers have tremendous power. Never underestimate them. A blogger’s influence can make or break your brand when it comes to promotions. The fact that they have a huge following and people believe what they say, makes them an ideal spokesperson for your bar.
Letting them experience a side of the bar first, having your team and the workings of your bar on their channel, and providing the best experience would make their entire following more aware of how your establishment operates. It will improve your bar’s reputation if a food blogger recommends it.
The search for a major celebrity could be a little challenging. Even so, every city has its stars. Approximately all cities are home to at least one celebrity of similar status. Making your bar seem like a local hotspot is possible by inviting your customers for a special evening is one of the most perfect cocktail bar promotion ideas.
Extra Thoughts
The advantage of having a blog on your bar’s webpage is that it helps construct your brand, showcase your team, and encourage your loyal clients to come back. In addition, you can build your mailing list by mailing a related newsletter.
Bar blogging is an excellent digital advertising tool, but here are a few matters to keep in mind:
Stay on schedule. Comply with the posting schedule. You should choose a schedule you can realistically stick to, whether it’s daily, weekly, bimonthly, or monthly.
Make sure you write about something that your customers will find valuable. You can use this section to provide drink recipes, fun drinking games, or topics that are of interest to your customers, such as art or music. Decide on the content your patrons will prefer to share and show online.
Use a call-to-action on your blog to direct clients to your bar. This can be a link for making a reservation or a special offer to your subscribers.
A blog for a bar may seem strange at first, but being a bar allows you to add elements not found in regular blogs. By writing a casual and fun blog, you will get people to like your bar and get patrons to recommend it to others.
Adding humorous anecdotes, telling stories about a new dish, writing about gastronomy, and several other things to this can make the experience more appealing to your customers. Your bar can benefit from having a blog to attract regular readers and patrons, make a connection with your customers, and enhance your online visibility beyond social media pages and delivery channels.
Don’t Skip on Telling Your Story!
In today’s age, social media offers a wide range of options for promoting products and services. You can promote your bar more efficiently and effectively with the new story feature.
Connecting with your audiences on a personal level can be made possible by uploading items such as the making of a drink, the journey of a dish, or even a small mess made by your bartender when juggling. The use of videos can generate more social media traffic for your bar as well as more patrons.
It is stressful and taxing to run a bar in such a competitive market. If you want to run a successful bar, you must market it properly. Having great drinks and an awesome atmosphere won’t cut it.
The best way to attract and keep customers for your bar is to market it effectively. Hope you gained new ideas from these bar marketing ideas to implement so your bar can achieve great success.
