Direct Marketing is the Bar Owner’s Powerful Strategy to
Profits and Promo’s
Just what is direct marketing and how is it different from using traditional advertising methods in promoting your neighborhood bar? With the changing economy and customers hanging on tighter to hard-earned dollars, today’s bar owner needs to be a lot more savvy in where they are spending their marketing dollars. The days of spending money without giving it a second thought is over. Jobs are scarce, wages seem to be lower, and the nest egg in retirement plans have all but vanished.
Stop Blaming the Economy
As a bar owner, you don’t want your business to just survive during down times, but actually see a profit day after day. The methods and differences in marketing and advertising techniques are huge! Making an informed decision regarding your business can mean the difference between keeping your doors open or having to close them. You can’t blame it on a bad economy anymore, every bar owner must take ownership of making their business profitable. You just need the know how to make it happen.
Direct Marketing versus Traditional Advertising/Marketing
Here it is in a nutshell: Direct marketing sends messages directly to your targeted audience where most advertising methods broadcast your message to everyone and anyone. You think advertising is the method to choose because you are reaching more people? Not so fast! You are better off marketing to 500 people and delivering a message that appeals to a particular group than broadcasting to 10,000 people who are “hit and miss.”
Direct marketing focuses on existing customers, communicating with them on a personal basis, and using innovative methods of gaining new customers. For example, a monthly newsletter goes directly to patrons who already frequent your bar. Offer a coupon in your newsletter for their next visit, but don’t stop there. Ask your newsletter subscribers to forward the email to friends who also might be interested in the offer. Now you are on to something! What did it cost you? The time it took to design the newsletter and a small monthly fee charged by the email service to send as many targeted emails as you like each month.
Traditional or Image Advertising means spending big money to get your company name out there. Studies have shown that most customers will hear or see an advertisement or marketing message on the average of 7 times before acting on it. Unless you are a large corporation, most small businesses do not have that kind of money to throw out there on paid advertising. You are also sending your message to everyone! A bar owner’s targeted customer does not include audiences such as underage kids, non-drinkers, people who live 15 miles from your bar, etc. Your high paid advertising will be ignored with those groups among others.
As a small business owner or start-up, don’t ignore direct marketing techniques because you think the only avenue is placing an ad in the paper. As your business grows…then yes…there are times you may want to use traditional advertising, but direct marketing brings quick results and customers in the door at little or no cost.
