A lot of sports bar operators spend most of their marketing efforts on trying to get new guests through their doors. And while it’s super important for growth, as an industry we sometimes forget that the best people to market to are the ones already in our seats.
In fact, studies suggest that, depending on your industry, acquiring a new customer can cost five to seven times more than retaining an old one. So, it’s economical to put some energy into keeping guests coming back. If they’re enjoying your venue, other folks will hear about it.
Your current guests are your most captivated audience. They’re already in your seats, enjoying your drinks, dishes, and atmosphere. Now’s the best time to market your sports bar’s upcoming events, specials, social media, or anything else you think is noteworthy.
Let’s take a quick look at a few modern, in-house marketing tips to get your hot leads into regulars.
Use QR Codes
QR codes and the bar/restaurant industry have been around for a while, but it really took off thanks to COVID-19. More restaurants, including sports bars, began using QR codes to direct patrons to digital menus instead of handling hardcopy menus.
But that doesn’t have to be their only use.
Sports bars can use QR codes to direct guests to specific marketing pages. For example:
- Sports schedule page. Tell guests what you plan on showing on your TVs. Use the STVG Web Widget to automatically pull your TV schedule info and embed it on your website. This is a free feature with every STVG subscription. This page is also a good place to promote any Watch Parties you might be hosting in the near future.
- Upcoming special events page. Don’t print out new leaflets on the regular when you can save time (and increase your green efforts) by just updating a web page. Use the QR code to direct eyes to your upcoming events like live music, trivia night, community efforts, and more.
They can also be used to direct patrons to your social media accounts, your bar’s favorite non-profit, or anything else you want to drive attention to.
QR codes can be used on posters on your walls, on paper menus, table signs, stickers on your table/bartops, and more. If you want to have extra fun, hide a QR code around your sports bar; patrons that scan it in can win a special prize of your choice.
List Your Sports TV Schedule on Your TVs
Your guests are visiting your bar for one main reason – to watch sports. And to call out the obvious, that means two things:
- They want to watch more sports
- They’re focused on your TV screens
So why not market the games you plan on showing on your TVs?
The SportsTV Guide for Digital Signage lets you do just that. List up to 12 games on our eye-catching, animated schedule expressions customized with your sports bar logo and colors. Info on the games is automatically pulled from your STVG subscription, taking unnecessary work off your plate (you’re busy enough as it is).
This lets your guests know what games are coming up and when to return to watch more of the action and order your signature dishes.
At last you can leverage some cool tech that has previously been saved for only the large franchises.
Get Up Close and Personal with Tabletop Tech
Tabletop and tableside technology not only speeds up the ordering and churn process, but it has immense marketing potential as well. Similar to your TVs and digital screens, tabletop tech allows you to market directly to your patrons in a very eye-catching manner.
You can market your bar’s menu specials, what rotating beers you have on tap, special events, and what big games and sporting events you plan on putting on your TVs. If you have upcoming events that require registration, you can have your guests do that from their seats while they’re in your seats. Same with booking future reservations.
Tableside technology also allows for easier upselling of menu items and can integrate into your loyalty program, making your guests want to come back. You can capture more customer data, such as email addresses, to future market to them. And you can use that extra data to build customer personas so you can market your sports bar to other, similar patrons out there.
A lot, right? We expect those tableside capabilities to only continue to evolve and grow.
Wrapping Up
These are just a few modern ways you and your team can market your sports bars to your most important patrons – the ones already in your seats. Of course, there are low-tech versions for each of these, such as paper fliers, a-frame signs, tabletop tents, etc. And, in fact, a combination of old school and new school might actually be the right approach for you.
Happy marketing!
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