The post-pandemic world has reshaped many aspects of our lives, including the way we socialize at bars. Feelings of isolation during lockdowns have ignited a renewed desire to connect, leading to a surge in social gaming and innovative bar experiences. Gone are the days of simple wining and dining; today's bars are embracing trends that cater to millennials and younger generations hungry for connection and fun. But what does this mean for bar owners and patrons?
How can you make your bar stand out in this new landscape? In this article, we'll explore the latest trends, creative ideas, and strategies to attract and retain customers in the ever-evolving bar scene.
Understanding the Modern Bar Scene
Wondering where to begin in the ever-changing world of bars? The key to success lies in two main objectives:
Attracting Customers: Create enticing and creative promotions that set your bar apart as trendy and inviting. The goal is not just to get customers through the door but to make them feel like they've discovered the place to be.
Retaining Interest: Once the crowd is in, the challenge shifts to keeping them entertained and satisfied. A fun and engaging atmosphere encourages customers to stay, enjoy their time with friends, and most importantly, spread the word about your bar through natural word-of-mouth marketing.
By focusing on these two objectives, you can craft a bar experience that resonates with today's patrons, turning casual visitors into loyal customers.
Creative Bar Specials to Attract Customers
To draw their attention, you need to get your creative juices going!
Here is a list of creative bar specials to pique their interest and draw them in:
1. Happy Hour Promotions
While happy hour promotions for bars per se have been around for a while, you can always put a unique spin to this promotion, such as:
Mix and matching: Have additional discounts if they order drinks from list A with drinks from list B
Incremental discounts: Instead of a fixed discount, the discount increases as they order more drinks
Have special drinks or food specifically themed for this happy hour promotion, such as a special cocktail or a certain food that’s exclusive during this time
2. Ladies’ Night Special
The premise of Ladies’ night special is simple, when you have more ladies going to bars, that will naturally have a positive draw-in effect for men once they see bars crowded with ladies. Marketing efforts should concentrate on making it appealing for the ladies to have a night of fun out.
3. Themed Nights
This is where you can really stand out from the crowd, as the themes could be endless. Here are some possible themes and you can choose which ones can be best integrated with your bar:
Holiday themes
Dress code themes
Movie or TV series theme
Singles/Couples/Networking themes
Game night
4. Interactive Competitions
Everyone loves a nice friendly competition. It brings out the competitive juices in everyone and makes drinking even more fun. The following competitions can be deployed:
Card games
Charades
Drinking games
And of course, darts
5. Seasonal Specials
Depending on the climate of where your bar is, there could be seasonal themes:
Tropical drinks tailor-made for the summer season
Fun social events for strangers or match-making events so they can ‘break the ice’ during the winter or having ‘Santa Crawl’ as a bar crawl event
Spring break events designed for college students or hosting bar hop events like ‘bunny hop’ for Easter
6. Food & Drink Pairings
This will depend on the variation of food served at your bar, but it would be great to design food and drink pairings to optimize and bring out the best flavor from the food and drinks. Often, there could be a pleasant interaction effect in an ideal pairing.
7. Loyalty Program
Retaining old customers is always easier than acquiring new ones so ensure you have a loyal customer following as base, which means you’d want a well-thought-out loyalty program to reward the patrons that continue to come back. The easier it is for them to accumulate their rewards, such as through phones and sms messaging systems to alert promotions, the more friendly it’d be for them to engage.
8. Live Music Performances
For those with musical tastes, there’s nothing better than some live music performances to liven up the atmosphere and spice things up. If you host events integrating live music performances of bands and singers, it will surely draw in some crowds and diversify your clientele.
9. Partner/Affiliate/Influencer Marketing
This is an emerging trend and one that can put you ahead of the curve if you tap into it. If you co-operate with influencers, micro-influencers, and KOL (key opinion leaders) you are working toward a win-win where you’re trying to access their pool of followers. However, make sure you pick the right one that profiles well and is consistent with your brand.
10. Bar Crawls/Hops
This is a good opportunity to work with other bars and build an alliance, especially with bars that are different from yours and can give the consumer a different vibe. This is also the perfect opportunity to really publicize on social media expand beyond your existing customers and target a younger audience.
As social gaming is creating a more fun and enjoyable experience at the bar scene, let’s look at how darts, and specifically, how EDARTS can be a perfect complement to your bar.
Implementing Your Bar Ideas with EDARTS for A Night of Fun
EDARTS can be part of the wide assortment of ideas to make your bar stand out, applied in these events:
Darting competitions for happy hour specials
Gender battle darting competitions for Ladies’ Night or mixed pairing for couples/singles night
Challenging influencers on nights where you host influencer/micro-influencer, KOL
Dart challenge as a theme for bar crawls and bar hops
Use darts as a drinking game to determine how much to drink
The possibilities are endless as you could integrate EDARTS to any event that you see fit. The benefits of having an EDARTS machine at your establishment are manifold:
Customized to blend in perfectly with the decor and brand color of the bar and deepen the overall brand experience of the bar
Playing on EDARTS is a great secondary source of income for the bar
Advertise on EDARTS to generate an additional revenue stream
Fun game to liven up the bar scene and make it more fun and enjoyable, associating your bar with a time well spent
To wrap up, how to transcend the overall experience of your bar beyond that of just another bar is pivotal in drawing in new customers and retaining loyal existing customers. This requires creativity and useful tools to augment your operation. EDARTS can complement your bar aesthetically and equip you with additional revenue streams as sources of passive income to make your initial investment worthwhile. So get in contact with us, and find out how you can customize your EDARTS and seamlessly integrate it into your bar operation, making it stand out and be the focal talk of bar patrons in your city.
Are you ready to make your bar stand out and be the focal talk of bar patrons in your city? Here's how you can take action:
Explore Our Products: Discover the perfect EDARTS machine that blends seamlessly with your bar's decor and brand. Visit our EDARTS Shop to browse our selection and find the right fit for your establishment.
Get in Touch with Us: Have questions or need assistance in customizing your EDARTS? Our team is here to help you integrate our products into your bar operation smoothly. Contact us today and let's make your bar the go-to destination in town.
Your success in the competitive bar industry starts with innovation and a unique customer experience. Don't miss the opportunity to elevate your bar to new heights. Implement these strategies, invest in EDARTS, and watch your business thrive!