6 simple marketing efforts for bars, restaurants, and breweries

Last week we picked Rob Austin's brain about the proven goal and process he uses for social media at Leader Bar, a neighborhood pub in Irving Park, CHI. High level stuff.

This week I intended to zoom out even more by talking with Rob about which channels bars and restaurants should focus on. There's social media, but what about print? Radio ads? Email marketing? And so on.

His answer came quickly: you can't be using too many channels; use as many as you can.

That short answer is also paralyzing: "OK, so then what should I do now? How do I decide where to start if I'm supposed to be doing everything?"

Sensing that hesitation, Rob quickly turned the conversation to tactics and examples, and proceeded to reel off a list of marketing irons he's currently got in the fire at Leader Bar. The great thing is they're things almost anyone can do in just a few simple steps:

• Physical media: mailers and card drops around the neighborhood. You or a team member could spend a few minutes in Canva and come out with something more than serviceable. Or if you want something a little nicer, you could use something like 99 Designs, a marketplace where you can hire affordable designers for one-off design projects.
• Ticket/swag giveaways and raffles if you come in during certain times. Get some tickets to the baseball game and let folks know if they come in from 2pm to 6pm on Wednesday they can join the raffle for free.
• Partnerships with distributors. They can of course promote you. Don't be shy about asking them to do so, especially since they have a lot more resources at their disposal than you do. (My editorial opinion: think about how much you're paying your distributors each month—you deserve some extra attention.) Rob partnered up with one of his distributors to get promoted at an MLB game.
• Incentivize customers to post to social media about their experience at the bar so their friends will see it. The incentives Rob uses include swag giveaways and a significant discount off your visit. This doesn't have to be complicated—at Leader Bar servers or bartenders just have the customer show them the post and then apply the discount on the POS.
• Build an email list for email marketing. There are obviously different ways to do this. Rob got a free wi-fi up and running that requires an email submission for customers to use. You could also set up a signup form on your website or even a pop up that greets folks when they enter your site or when your site senses that they're leaving. Contact your website builder for how to do that—almost all of them offer these tools.
• Be very intentional with your QR menu —> website menu flow: you're getting thousands of people to your website if you use a QR code. Show them what you want them to see there, like upcoming events, etc. (We'll have an entire week dedicated to this later this summer.)

Editorializing a bit, the thing about Rob is he's always looking for new things to try, new channels to use. I was struck by how many new things he said he was trying or was about to try.

Also of note: You'll notice that Rob's found particular success with "set it and forget it" things. The website, their QR menu flow, and his email list building are good examples of this—it takes some real effort to get those things up and running, but once you do they're just going and going. They of course need upkeep here and there, but you don't need do constantly "do" them like so many other marketing efforts. That's super valuable.

Check out the interview clip for more detail from Rob on these marketing efforts:

It was remarkable how sought-after Busch Light Apple was last summer. At one point we (BeerMenus.com) got an email from Google telling us that our site's page for it was getting an insane amount of traffic. (We knew it was trending like crazy, it's just an indication how much it was trending that they'd reach out about it and say "could this be right?")

The craze spiked last year, but Bud Light Apple has remained popular—in the last 7 days it was the 2nd most-searched for beer on BeerMenus.com. There's even a Facebook group w/ 14k members solely dedicated to locating Busch Light Apple.

Q: So if you're Busch Light and you found so much success with apple last summer, what do you do next?
A: New fruit flavor. Obviously. Roll out the peach!

Last week Busch Light Peach showed up on BeerMenus for the first time. I believe the advertising onslaught hasn't yet kicked off because pageviews for Busch Light Peach are still minimal, indicating drinkers aren't yet searching for it in huge numbers. I expect that will change soon. (If it's any indication, that Busch Light Apple Facebook group I mentioned earlier has changed it's name to "Where to find Busch Light Apple and now Busch Light Peach?")

The takehome: as long as it isn't super inconsistent with your brand, carry Busch Light Peach if you can. Thousands and thousands of people across the country are going to be looking for it this summer. You might as well have it when people ask for it.

Or even better, list your selection on BeerMenus so that people find you when they're looking for it.

• In March CO voters passed Proposition 125, which allowed wine to be sold in grocery stores. Since then, liquor stores across the state have taken a significant hit, with some stores reporting a 15%-20% and growing drop in sales. As reported last week, NY is considering a similar move, which would likely affect independent liquor stores in the exact same way. It's definitely a complicated situation—the convenience of buying wine at grocery stores is real. But independent liquor stores often bring significant value to the community with their expertise and [often] wider selection.
• Recently two craft breweries purchased their brands back from industry giants. First was North Carolina's Appalachian Mountain Brewery, whose founders bought their brewery back from AB-InBev's Craft Brew Alliance. And then last week Florida's Funky Buddha's original owners purchased the brewery back from Constellation Brands. It's an interesting development for sure, and we'll see if it becomes a trend. Thanks to Guys Drinking Beer for connecting the dots on this in their latest newsletter.
• Somehow Rutherford, NJ has been dry for over a century, meaning there were no liquor stores and restaurants couldn't sell beer, wine, or spirits. (Unusual because I usually associate dry towns and counties with the South.) Anyway, Rutherford finally became un-dry last month, and the business that snagged the first liquor license has reported increased sales and a whole different (in a good way) vibe.