The nightclub and bar business is full of competition, and in order to survive you need to find an audience of repeat customers. You need to find promotions and marketing ideas that will get the people interested in your bar, and then you need to find effective ways to get the word out.
Food
Bars are places where people get together to have some drinks, engage in conversation, and maybe enjoy some live music. At some point people will want to eat, and if your bar does not offer some kind of food then you will probably lose that portion of your clientele that is hungry. You can contract out to a local pizzeria to supply you with basic finger foods such as pizza and chicken wings, or you can invest in a kitchen for your bar. Food offers the chance to not only keep your customers in your bar and paying for drinks, but food can also be another profit center for your business as well. Bars and nightclubs that serve food can also create a different atmosphere than those that do not. Serving food allows you to be seen as a full-service drinking and dining establishment, and if you invest in a kitchen you can also open up your bar in the afternoons for the very profitable lunch crowd.
If you do not currently serve food then you could be missing out on the revenue from the customers who are hungry and have to leave your bar to find food, as well as the profits generated by the sale of food itself.
The Internet
The Internet offers hundreds of outlets for businesses to find customers and then keep those customers informed of upcoming events. If a customer enjoys your bar, then he may be looking for your Internet presence to become more involved in your events. Get involved in all of the social networking sites on the Internet, and then use these sites to generate interest in upcoming events or in upcoming drink specials. It is not necessary to create your own website because the major search engines will find your social networking sites very easily, but it can enhance the experience for your customers if you do have a fully interactive website. Let customers post pictures on your website to remind everyone of the great time they had in your bar, create a message board forum that allows you to interact with your customers, and create an email list that you can use to keep your customers updated on upcoming events. The internet allows you to stay in constant contact with your customers, and you should use this to your advantage.
Special Days
A fun thing to do with your bar is to create special theme days and use that as an excuse for a marketing campaign and pricing specials. For example, advertise a Groundhog's Day party in February and encourage people to bring items associated with the theme of Groundhog's Day. Create drink specials, and turn the entire event into a party. Using non-traditional holidays is an effective way to do this because every bar and nightclub already celebrates the major holidays. In order for your bar to stand out, you need to create the biggest party possible for the most obscure holidays you can find.
Tags: your customers, need find, upcoming events, with your, drink specials