Have you reopened your bar or pub after lockdown? Are you trying to figure out the best way to market your venue now lockdown restrictions are slowly being eased?
This article is going to break down the three things you need to do right now to get your marketing in shape for the new normal. How do you promote your bar or pub, and still remain Covid-19 safe? How do you reach your customers who aren’t ready to head back out for a drink yet? How do you approach your social media messaging – do you post the same way you used to, or should it change?
Changing Customer Attitudes – The Personal Factor
Here’s the core truth – as customers, we don’t make decisions about our spending in the same way we used to.
All the old ways we used to choose venues have changed. I’m less concerned about what drinks are on offer, or what football team the pub supports, or even the prices.
What I want to know now is this:
- How well will you keep me and my family safe, if I choose to visit your bar?
- How clean is it?
- Is there enough room for us all to keep our distance?
- How much do I trust you to maintain excellent hand hygiene when you’re preparing my drinks?
These are all new challenges for us as venue owners.
And here’s the thing – they’re deeply personal.
The old marketing messages aren’t landing in the same way they used to. We need to learn to speak to our customers where they are now.
So – what the hell do we do now?
1. Prioritise Reassurance and Transparency
You’ve put a LOT of effort into getting your venue ready to reopen. You’ve done the risk assessment, closed off some tables, figured out how to take orders and payment with minimal contact, and started taking details from customers when they arrive.
Essentially, you’ve gone to great lengths to make your venue as safe as it’s possible to be.
So now’s the time to shout about all the measures you’ve put in place.
Forget the old social media posts about drinks offers, or how excited you are to be showing the footie, or that new guest ale you’ve just added. They mean nothing to customers who are looking for reassurance about going out for a drink.
Instead, be transparent and reassuring – show them what you’re doing. Post videos of the new layout, of how to order drinks, of the one-way system you’ve implemented.
Demonstrate it, so it becomes familiar to them.
Don’t just post it once, and then cross it off your list. This is an ongoing challenge, and needs to form a core part of your marketing for the foreseeable future.
Reassure, and demonstrate.
2. Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep
If there’s one major mistake we’re seeing time and again in the industry, it’s this: venues are making promises that they have no way of keeping.
The biggest one is this:
“We’ve made the bar safe for you to visit!”
When you’re trying to reassure customers, it’s easy to slip into the grand promises trap.
But, unless you’ve converted the venue into a sealed and sterile lab, there’s just no way you can promise that it’s 100% safe.
Nothing is.
So – reassure your customers, but watch out for the undeliverable. You haven’t made your venue “safe“; you’ve made your venue “as safe as possible“.
A small detail, but customers can spot an inauthentic promise a mile away – and it’ll work against you in the long run.
3. Start a Conversation
Here’s the final challenge, and it’s the easiest to implement. It’s this: treat all your marketing as an opportunity to start a conversation about the new normal.
No one is expecting venues to have all the answers. We’re all trying to figure this out as we go. Some things we’ll get right, and others we’ll need to learn, adapt, and refine along the way.
So – bring your customers into the discussion. Ask them for feedback, suggestions, things they liked and didn’t like. Get their opinions and feedback, and have a two-way conversation.
Sure, some of it will be crap. But some of it will be good. And it’ll ALL help you get a better understanding of where your customers are – what they’re feeling, what they’re anxious about, and what they want to see.
Want a Hand?
You don’t have to try and tackle all this on your own – you’ve got more than enough on your plate. We can help – get in touch to find out more about our marketing services for bars, pubs, and the hospitality industry. What are you waiting for?