Bar Owners…Is Your Direct Marketing Message Missing These Three Elements?
Bar owners aren’t just in business to serve up great drink specials and hot wings! As a business owner, you are also responsible for making payroll, ordering supplies, keeping the books, offering extraordinary customer service….and marketing your business.
Now before you glaze over when the word marketing is mentioned, let’s take a look at three “must have” components that are easy to do to make your promotion successful. Knowing your market and pitching to the right media with the right message will make your business extremely profitable. Following these steps in a bar marketing plan will bring customers through your doors…time and time again.
Know Your Market
Just who frequents your bar? Ask yourself if you know anything about your regular customers. What is the age group, marital status or income level you typically cater to? What are their favorite beers and drink specials? Don’t know? You need to take the time to find out. This is the group you need to cater to and give them what they want.
Have more than one type of group that you serve? An older crowd typically pops in after work and stays until about 8:00pm while a younger crowd comes in later and closes the place down. These two distinct groups have different needs and if you don’t find out what they are, your competitors surely will.
Media is Much More than Newspaper and Radio
Although radio and print advertising is included in media, there are so many other ways of spreading the word about your bar…with much less expense. Radio and print ads are traditional advertising methods with a big price tag! The message goes out to everyone (whether they are interested or not.) However, today’s media includes direct marketing methods (contacting your ideals customers directly) that take bar marketing a step further such as:
- mailing postcards to your existing clients
- e-mailing special offers
- sending monthly newsletters
- tweeting about planned events at your bar
- texting a limited time special that is happening over the next 2 hours
The nice thing about social media, email, and texting is that they tend to be “viral” meaning the word gets “spread around.” Messages can be forwarded to friends and family with a simple click of a button.
You Wouldn’t Offer Beer and Wings at a “Woman’s Bachelorette Party” Would You?
Your message is extremely important. Send the wrong message to the wrong group and your direct marketing campaign flops. (This is where knowing your market comes into play) Make a strong offer your group can’t possibly ignore and tell them how to respond to the offer. For example: Call this number to reserve your party, bring in this coupon for a 10% discount, etc. The message must be clear, make an offer and tell the customer how to take action.
So there you have it… the 3 m’s (market, media, message) for a successful direct marketing campaign that is easy to implement and affordable. However, make sure you include all three because if you ignore one of the elements – it is like a three legged stool with one of its legs missing. It collapses.
