Marketing for pubs is hard. The industry has long relied on word of mouth, which is great - it works after all. Provide great customer service along with good food, good drink, in a comfortable environment and it’s certainly a recipe to keep your customers coming back. But to be honest, you’re probably doing that already - that’s why you’re in the business.

But how do you communicate to your customers after their visit? Even your most loyal customers could do with some encouragement to come back more often, or attend that special even you’ve been planning.

Advertising can be a bit hit-and-miss. If you’ve ever tried advertising to promote an event, you’ll know how expensive it can be. Advertising is generally very untargeted too; a poster, flyer or newspaper ad will only ever be seen by a small percentage of your potential customers. That leads us to a problem, are you getting any return from your advertising spend? It’s likely you don’t know.

Let’s think about something else; what happens if one of your customers leaves unsatisfied? You’ll never know unless you maintain a relationship with them once they’re out the door! How much could that be worth to your business in the long run? 

Social media is great step, pubs are social after all. It’s free to have a Facebook page, Twitter account or for customers to ‘check-in’ to your pub on Foursquare. Social media is also personal; you can get your message directly to your customers wherever they are. The only drawback is that it’s difficult to get your customers to ‘follow you’ spontaneously whilst enjoying a beer, when they’re home they’re likely to have forgotten. Social media may not fit your demographic.

We often talk to landlords who collect business cards in fish bowls on the bar to collect email addresses, in return giving away a bottle of Champaign once a month to a lucky winner. Data capture is excellent; it can be very valuable if used effectively. The truth is most business cards don’t ever get entered into a system or if they do, they’re never or rarely contacted. This isn’t a surprise; it takes a lot of time and effort to run an email campaign. If you did have the time, do you have enough relevant content to fill an email newsletter regularly?

Wouldn’t it be great if your customers gave you their contact details voluntarily, that you could contact them whenever you like, with short, cheap messages instantly, with no wastage? This is where The Virtual Jukebox comes in. Not only is The Virtual Jukebox a music service, it collects customers phone numbers automatically when they make a request, and provides you with the ability to contact them by text message after their visit.

SMS Marketing is a cheap and effective way to get your message out to your customers and it really does work for pubs. Campaigns run by our customers show that well over 90% of people are happy to receive promotional text messages from their local. So next time you have a new menu, curry night or drinks offer to promote, think how you could benefit from SMS Marketing. 

The Virtual Jukebox really is an effective marketing tool designed for pubs, as well as a complete background music service - all for less than the cost of a bottle of Champaign.