Nick Discusses the Top 3 Bar Restaurant Promotions That Don't Suck

http://barownermarketingsystems.com/nick-discusses-the-top-3-bar-restaurant-promotions/ Brandon: All right Nick, you’re on the spot today. I’ve got an important question to ask from all of our bars and breweries, and even restaurant readers of NextRestaurants.com… They want to know what promotions they can count on, that will always work and won’t suck? Not the methods that are tried and true that everybody does, but ways they can run their promotions and that are always going to be successful. I’ve asked you to think through maybe 3 elements, ideas, or promotions that you can bring to the table. You got something for us today? Nick: I do. Before I get started on those, I guess it’s important for the viewers and listeners to understand is what customers really want when they go to a bar or restaurant for a promotion. For a lot of people, they’re getting out of the house because they’re bored at home – they want some kind of interaction, they want fun. They want something exciting. So what makes a good promotion is a good experience. So, when they go over to that bar or to that restaurant, they’ll walk out of there and say, “I had a great time tonight.” Brandon: Yeah. Nick: That’s the one thing to think about when you’re putting a promotion together as a bar owner. Especially if it’s: What can we do to make it more interactive? To get the crowd involved, to make it fun, to make them want to come back. Anytime I’m putting a promotion together I always try to think of that. I try to place myself in the shoes of the customer – what I would want when I want to go to a bar or restaurant. Some of the things are common sense, like one of the promotions I was running offered some kind of prize or giveaway. One thing that we do is have what is called a spin-the-wheel promotion. One day out of the week, from 5:00 to 7:00, every ten minutes, we will spin this wheel and we have 50 paint sticks and 50 slots on the actual wheel. The first 50 people at the door are going to get one of these paint sticks. We’ll buy a meal, a drink, or we’ll give them some small party packages for up to 4 people. We’ll just give stuff away; anything from Bud and Miller or our other liquor representatives. But usually, it’s something where people are going to go out to eat. They’re hungry, they don’t just want to sit at home, but they can be involved in sitting [at the bar or restaurant] and still have a chance to win stuff. People spin the wheel, we’re MCing on the microphone – it’s interactive and people have a good time! And they love winning things! So that’s one thing that I tend to do and that my clients do as well. Another thing, that’s always worked out really well, is to have customers win big prizes. Something like a flat screen TV (they’re pretty cheap these days). You can get a 40” or 52” TV from $300 to $400. You bring in one of your sponsors—Bud, Miller or somebody else—to throw you some money for the promotion, and put their beer or liquor on special f