Maximize Your Bar’s Print Collateral
Pubs and bars are full of printed marketing material that is a natural medium to increase opportunities for engagement with customers. Depending on your setup, there could be everything from table tents and menus to posters and free standing displays. If you’re going to be printing anything, take an extra few minutes to think about how you could engage the recipient. Adding a Facebook logo is nice but let’s take it a few steps further.
Give an option to join the “exclusive” text message list
Opt-in text message lists have become more common in the bar and taproom space Something to the effect of “Join our list and receive special offers only available via text”. This is possibly the best form of opted-in marketing as folks are much more likely to read their texts versus promotional emails. Opt-It has a service like this tailored specifically for bar owners here.
Create an augmented reality experience
Augmented reality (AR) has yet to really take off in the USA but is being used with all kinds of wild results overseas. If you’re unfamiliar with AR, check out Layar for a good overview. But for craft beer specific uses, call the guys at Craft Nation, they’re already doing radical applications on existing bottles of beer. For example, on your tap takeover flyer, you could set up the image of your bars’ tap lineup to open up a video of your bartenders actually pouring beer and talking about the special brews for the takeover.
Keep your menus fresh
Speaking of print menus, make sure they’re up to date, particularly the beer list. No one likes it when all the options on the menu they’re looking at are no longer on tap. As a busy bar owner, you might consider TapHunter to make this process quick and easy. When you update your drink lists on TapHunter, the print menu will automatically update and be ready to print. No more wasting time with PhotoShop or InDesign every time you tap a new brew!
The point is, you’re spending money on print anyhow, why not add a little extra punch for not a lot of extra cost? There are plenty of ways to go about this, just keep in mind the need to make it as straightforward as possible, while also engaging.
