by Brian McKay

It’s no secret that the hospitality industry is a tough nut to crack. About 40 percent of new bars fail in the first couple of years which is surprising considering that there has been a recent explosion in the craft beer industry. You’d think that with a renewed interest in drinking beer, it’d be easy to keep a bar open but that’s not the case. A lot of people think that they can just open a bar and people will come flocking to them but that’s not going to happen. The popularity of beer drinking means that there is a lot of competition out there and a lot of bars that already have a good customer base of regulars. Convincing those customers to leave the bar that they always go to and come to yours instead is hard. If you’re going to do that, you’ll need to focus on your marketing and do something unique and special. Here are some great marketing ideas to help make your bar stand out from the rest.

Image Source

Word Of Mouth

People telling their friends that they went to a great bar last night and telling them they should check it out is probably your best tool. People almost always try new bars on the recommendation of friends, so you need to focus on word of mouth. The way that you encourage word of mouth is simply by offering a great service. Make sure that you’re hiring good bar staff who are friendly to the customers and know their stuff when it comes to the drinks. For a lot of people, bars are about the experience and they like staff who can tell them a bit about what they’re drinking. If you can create a good atmosphere in the bar and people leave happy, you’ll get a lot more business through word of mouth.

Beer Mats

Beer mats are one of the most underestimated forms of marketing there is in a bar. Everybody is going to be looking at them all night so you should definitely invest some money in some decent custom beer coasters for your bar. You can put your social media details on there to help build an online presence. If you can encourage people to post pictures of their drinks while they’re in the bar, you’ll drum up a lot of interest. You can also use them to provide information on the beers that you serve which will enrich the bar experience for the beer connoisseurs that you’ve got drinking there.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is an important tool for a lot of businesses but people don’t tend to associate it with a bar. But it might be just what your new business needs. If you post a lot of reviews of the beers that you sell and general articles about the industry, you can establish yourself as an authority on the subject. Considering that a lot of people want to go to a bar where they can get great recommendations on what to drink, that’s a massive bonus.

Marketing a bar is tough and there is a lot of competition out there, but if you try these methods, you can make yourself stand out.