The 6 Marketing Essentials for Bars

There’s one thing you can be sure of as the owner of a bar: people like to drink. Because of this, your city is probably filled with bars.

This means competition is stiff, and it’s ongoing. For many bar owners, this can be a constant battle. You may be on guard, watching what everyone else is doing and trying to come up with something better and more creative.

Not only do you want to retain your current bar customers, but you’d like to gain some new ones, too.

In this article, we look at the best bar marketing ideas. These are the real game changers, and the ones that can keep you on top of the competition.

Know Your Audience

One of the best game changers for your bar marketing is knowledge. Since it’s always easier to retain your current customers, you want to ensure your marketing strategy is aimed at this customer. (tweet this)

Get to know your current customers and not only will you be better poised to market to them, but you can use these same tactics to market to a new group of customers.

Take what your current ones like about your restaurant and fine tune it. For example, if your bar is packed on ladies night, come up with similar promotions on other nights.

By knowing your customers and your target audience, you can also ensure you’re serving the right drinks to attract the right customers. For example, if you own an upscale bar, you need to provide upscale drinks.

Create a Google Business Page

If you don’t have a Google business page for your bar, your customers can’t find you. By having a Google page, you will show across Google search and maps. Without it, you’re basically flying blind.

Once you create your page, you’ll have photos, hours, location, a link to your website, and even reviews for your customers to look through.

With a Google business page, you would have to hire the best search engine optimization guru on the internet to show up on page one of Google search.

So, do what Google wants, and create a business page today. And, don’t forget to update it periodically with photos and hours as they change.

Create a Visually Attractive Website

Your customers want to see where they’re going. They want to see what the experience is like at your bar.

So, first, make sure your website is mobile friendly. Next, make sure it’s also user friendly, navigable, and intuitive to your customers. Finally, include everything on your website your customers are looking for including:

• Hours and location
• Types of drinks
• Professionally taken, beautiful and enticing photos of your drinks, inside of your bar, and your customers (with their permission)
• Your unique story
• An event calendar for your weekly specials, events and other promotions
• Links to your social media

Once you’ve got your Google business page and your website in place, you can start crafting your strategy with the best bar marketing ideas.

Host a Bar Tournament

Most of your customers enjoy a game, and even more of them like to win.

You can appeal to their tastes by offering a weekly or monthly in-house tournament. You’re sure to attract a crowd of people with these game changer tactics.

Consider offering a bar credit as a prize. You can also offer other items or even cash prizes.

Ideas for tournaments include:

• Darts
• Pool
• Foosball
• Shuffleboard
• Beer pong

Get creative or choose an idea that works with your overall theme. Consider hosting several different types of tournaments to see who they attract.

You can also offer everyone who comes to the bar on the chosen night to watch the tournament a chance to enter a drawing to win something. The bonus with this is that you can collect all of their email addresses and add them to your email marketing list.

Add Live Music

One of the biggest draws and game changers for bars is live music. Whether it’s local or brought in from elsewhere, the key is that you provide it.

You’ll find when you bring in popular bar bands, your bar will quickly become the go-to place for live entertainment and drinks.

Get involved with your local music scene, too. This way, you have a better in with the local talent and getting them to play at your bar. Choose the most popular ones so you get their customers following them as well.

Be sure and advertise this on your website, through your email marketing, and all of your social media platforms.

Have Giveaways

You can provide game changers in the form of giveaway incentives on a nightly basis, or you can choose specific days.

Just imagine the draw you’ll have if you offer one night a month where you award one person a night of free drinking for themselves.

Consider offering giveaways on traditionally slow nights. Then promote it for several weeks through all your marketing channels. You might invite customers to the event and promise anyone who walks in your door before 7 pm a chance to win a free bar bill. Choose the winner at midnight.

This means you have a full bar for a full four hours.

Conversely, you could offer several prizes throughout the evening. For example, you might offer one every hour when the clock chimes the top of the hour. You’ll again get people to stick around waiting to see if they won.

The key with giveaways is to offer something your customers want. This goes back to knowing them and what drives them.

To Conclude

Whether you own a tavern, a nightclub, dive bar, upscale bar where people go to be seen, lounge, or another type, the most important thing you can do when it comes to marketing your bar is know your customers. (tweet this)

If you want to attract, engage, and then retain your bar customers, put them first as you create your marketing strategy.

Take these bar marketing ideas and turn them into game changers for your own bar. If you keep your customers in mind as you create your promotions and your plans, you’ll be well on the way to exponential bar growth. 

At Restaurant Engine, not only do we create great, responsive websites, but you can count on us to create a website that drives business to all your restaurants and edges you above the competition by using mobile-friendly design with a terrific user experience. Ready to take the plunge and create a website with an online menu, blog and beautiful photos? Get your free website consultation today!

Images: Adam Jaime and Michael Discenza on Unsplash

One response to “The 6 Marketing Essentials for Bars”

1. Gezha says:

   June 29, 2020 at 12:14 pm

   Sound ideas worth implementing without second thoughts

   Reply