How do you bring in new guests that have never been to your bar before? It's tough, right? Competition is everywhere, marketing dollars are few and there are way too many things on your to-do list for the month. Can't someone take care of this for you?
Well, yes actually. There is someone who can, actually a few someones. They are your customers and they are the best *free* resource you have! Aside from general word of mouth and social interactions from your customers there is one great way you can get them to help you bring new people into your restaurant.
Host their events! Be the venue they choose when they want to have a get together and we promise they will fill your space with folks who may not have heard of you before. The first step is getting them in the door, but the second step is to create an experience they will not forget.
We suggest personalizing your restaurant events as much as possible. Consumer personalization, in general, is very important, especially with the millennial age group. Did you know 52% of millennials expect brands to remember and acknowledge their birthdays in marketing emails? That's in comparison to only 20% of the baby boomer population (source). These small details, like birthday acknowledgements and personalized emails, are making a big impact on brand loyalty and positive perception.
So, what does personalization for events look like? For a restaurant, there are so many things you and your staff can do to customize an event. Everything from putting fresh flowers on the table, new linens, or even putting the guest of honor's name on a pre-fixe menu, it all will make a difference in the way your guests interact with your environment. Making your event space particularly beautiful, may drive instagram engagement from people wanting share that experience. Remember, the goal is to make the experience so unbelievable, that your host's guests want to book their next event at your venue.
Being able to personalize your restaurant events means being hyper-organized. Host a lot of events? Investing in all-encompassing software might be the best way to manage this. Software like Perfect Venue makes it easy to run your event from the sale and planning phase, through to completion.
Just starting out handling events? A simple checklist to make sure everything is taken care of may be a good place to start. It's important to address as many tasks as possible before the actual event so that you can deal with any unexpected issues that may arise the day of. It will also help reduce stress so that you can entertain your guests in a way that makes all of the attendees want to come back for a return visit to your restaurant or bar.
Editor's Note: This blog was originally published on April 5, 2016, and was last updated on June 8, 2023.
