As a pub owner, your venue is your baby. Your heart and soul has gone into building the space, and there is nowhere else you’d rather go for a pint or a glass of wine. While you know exactly what you have to offer, what’s your one big problem? How to spread the word and gain more customers. Knowing how to promote your pub is the key toward making your place more profitable, so we’ve listed these top 10 pub promotions to help you gain more loyal customers as well as more walk-ins.
1. Invest time in social media
If your pub doesn’t already have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, set them up. Today. Social media is a fantastic platform for shouting about your pub. Use it to publicise any and all news – whether this is a new craft beer, new member of staff, or even new furniture. You can advertise upcoming events too, to gain more entrees to your pub quiz for example. It’s also a great way to inform people of practical information such as your phone number and opening times.
The key to using social media well is to keep it personal. Fill your page with selfies, team photos, and photos of your customers – with their permission of course. You should also encourage customers to post photos about their experience at your venue, as these can be five times more successful than obvious, staged imagery and adverts according to data collected by Photoslurp.
Depending on your clientele, you might also consider using LinkedIn (ideal if you attract professionals), Pintrest (if you have a more creative, younger crowd), or YouTube (if you host regular events). Get more advice on the most popular social networks.
2. Host topical theme nights
Keep things in the pub fresh and fun by holding theme nights. These can help you gain new customers who are interested in specific themes, as well as encourage existing ones to keep returning for the fun. Themes are especially effective if pub-goers can get involved. This could be either in the form of fancy dress or activities depending on the theme. Make the most of the calendar and hold topical evenings such as Oktoberfest, a Halloween party, and even things like the Queen’s birthday. Other, lesser-known options could be ‘Star Wars Day’ on May 4th, and ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’ on September 19th. Themes can be adopted with fancy dress, decorations, food, and drink – for example offering a special on rum-based drinks on ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’.
3. Invite bar sports leagues into your pub
With the addition of equipment such as darts boards and pool tables, you can not only encourage a little friendly competition among your customers, but you can invite local leagues to use your venue. Renting a pool table is an easy way to get started in order to establish how popular these occasions would be. League nights are ideal for bringing in new clientele, who are likely to return to your venue if you can provide them with a clean and comfortable atmosphere where they feel at home.
4. Create local partnerships
Getting involved in the community is a great way to spread awareness about your pub. These partnerships can be with local charities, music and arts groups, or other small-scale organisations such as craft clubs. Invite people in to host themed evenings or talks which will attract new customers. These could be book clubs, language classes, knitting sessions, drawing classes, gardeners, or fishing. The list could go on and on. Take a look at your local newspapers and keep an eye on supermarket notice boards to find out what’s out there in your community, and use this information to think about which groups you want to attract in to your pub. Even something like turning your pub into an art gallery to display the works of local artists will help cement your role in the local community, which can only be beneficial for business.
5. Associate yourself with a ‘Special’
If you can gain a reputation for being the place to go for – blank – you are likely to attract customers who want to see what the fuss is about. Take a cue from our friends across the pond and consider becoming the new ‘Home of Hot Wings’, or anything else you know you’re great at! You could be the place to go for ‘wicked wings’ or ‘bottomless barbecue’, or if you don’t offer food, concentrate on drinks; ‘Brighton’s Best Bellinis’, or ‘Coventry’s most Curious Cocktails’ – catchy alliteration can help make your venue more memorable.
6. Host food and drink theme nights
Depending on your capability, hosting different theme nights relating to food and drink can be highly successful. These can could be something topical, such a special on Guinness and Irish Stew for St Patrick’s Day, or mulled wine and slice of Christmas cake throughout December. Alternatively, these could be out of the blue simply to test popularity. Why not trial a new Pad Thai recipe on a ‘Thai Night’, or offer tasty but unfussy food at a barbecue in the summer, which all the family can enjoy? If you are unable to provide cooked food, themes can be adopted with just drinks such as cocktails from the ‘20s, or local brew festivals during which you could invite local beer and cider producers in.
7. Encourage some healthy competition
As well as the bar sports-based evenings, think about introducing some other games and competitions that might attract a wider audience. The ever-popular pub quiz is still a firm favourite; consider offering food and drink included in the cover charge, such as fish n’ chips or even just some buffet-style finger food. As well as trivia nights you could branch out into something more unusual like a Sherlock Holmes-esque ‘Whodunit’ night, or other game nights using board games. An option which doesn’t directly involve your customers could be a head-to-head cocktail making contest among your bartenders. Have each one create a bespoke cocktail and ask your customers to vote for their favourite.
A really unusual and exciting option could be attempting to break a record for something. If you think you have a real chance at beating an existing record, get in touch with the folks at the Guinness Book of Records. This will help you gain media attention as well as attracting more customers.
8. Try your hand at quirky signage
Anyone who’s used the London Tube system will have likely seen the thought-provoking, often humorous handwritten messaging that appears on the whiteboards at the various stations. Pubs up and down the country have made their mark by adopting a similar concept with their external blackboards. If you have a great joke or a topical – inoffensive – comment, get it out there on your board. Signage like this is attention-grabbing to passersby, and often gets shared on social media – bringing even more attention to your pub. Take a look at these great pub signs for a little inspiration.
9. Focus on families – even just for a day
Families can bring in significant revenue if you know how to entertain them properly. Even if you generally have a more mature clientele, consider hosting family days once a week or once a month, during which you can serve things like child-friendly food and mocktails alongside your normal menu. In the summer hiring a bouncy castle or other outdoor activity equipment can attract those with little ones, and having things to do is likely to keep everyone happy whiling away the hours at your pub.
10. Charity event days
A brilliant way to promote your pub, and your chosen charity, is to partner up and host a fun day or evening. If your chosen charity relates to children consider a big family fun day with plenty of outdoor activities, child-friendly entertainment like face-painting or a magician, and an informal barbecue. Or if it’s to do with animals you could host a petting zoo or pet-meet up depending on the space available. Whatever you decide to do, promote everything on social media and donate a percentage of the profits to the charity, as well as having collection buckets dotted about the place.
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