What does this mean for your happy hours and drink specials?
Customers will decide where to go based on the specifics of a happy hour deal
The specifics of your happy hour deal didn’t use to matter as much. Customers would pick an after work spot because they knew the bar offered some kind of deal, was close to the office, had a fun lively vibe at that hour, etc. The purpose of the discount itself however was mainly to keep customers buzzed, happy and up for another drink.
These days, a different bar special is just a SpotHopper swipe or Facebook scroll away. If you’re offering $1 off taps and the customer doesn’t like beer?… swipe, swipe, swipe.. until they find that ½ off wine they’re truly seeking. In this way, the internet has made things more competitive, but it also presents an even greater opportunity: new customers.
No matter how good a discount is, it’s not going to bring in new customers sitting on the chalkboard in your bar, or even worse, in the minds of your staff. The internet takes your special and puts it in front of thousands of potential new customers when they’re deciding where to stop by after work. The value of these new customers is huge. Furthermore, if done right, you will be attracting the right kind of customers, the ones who will never give you a poor, undeserving, one star review. Here are our tips for catching their eyes and their wallets:
1. Post about it more often than you think you should
This one seems obvious, but in the internet age where everything is scheduled, recorded, saved, you can’t expect customers to remember anything. If you’re not posting, tweeting or updating your specials everyday, you won't be showing up in their news feed and you’re missing out.
The average lifespan of a Facebook post is less than 1 day. Over 95% of twitter likes and retweets occur within the first hour. This means, if you’re not posting about your happy hour right before and during the actual special, people aren’t going to see it. Finally, only about 3-5% of your fans and followers will see each post. And if you are worried about inadvertently "spamming" your customers by posting too much, don't be. It's almost impossible to spam them. Facebook and Twitter have built in algorithms to prevent that from happening, even if you tried.
The good news is, you don't have to spend a lot of time on this. New technologies like SpotHopper takes care of all of this for you, automatically posting and tweeting your special an hour before it begins. Your SpotHopper powered posts are totally personalized (no robo-language) and use great photos and links to all of your specials. Learn how to enable specials posting here.
2. Rethink your discounts for the digital age
Attracting new customers is crucial for growth, and it's never been easier. It’s absolutely worth sacrificing an extra dollar on your margin to bring in a group of people who may not only become life long customers, but also tell 100s of their friends about your awesome happy hour with shares and check-ins.
3. Give deals on food
On SpotHopper we see a lot of specials, and less than 20% of bars or restaurants have good food special. That extra little discount on a calamari or flat breads can be the thing that makes the difference, especially if the post displays a mouth watering high resolution image showing everybody how great your food is. "Food Porn" works. And with just one click your customers can share it with 100s of their friends.
4. Pick a different time that stands out
Without the internet customers were accustomed to happy hour deals at a certain time. If you ran a special late at night, or early on a weekend, unless it was a crazy deal, nobody would really notice. But in a world where 20 bars in a .5 mile radius all offer 5-7pm specials, you can really stand out by offering a discount at a different time as well. Some of the most popular specials we see are unique to a certain night, like the less busy Monday - Wednesdays.
5. Try an impromptu special
Before the internet, creating a new special on the fly was tantamount to handing out dollar bills to everyone in your bar. Nobody else knew about it besides the customers who were already there. Now you can create a new special for the night, and within seconds it’s on SpotHopper, Twitter, Facebook, your website, etc. Thousands of people nearby will see it, allowing you to easily experiment and find out which deals work and which don’t.
6. Don't be afraid to get crazy
Why does a special have to be a simple discount on a drink? Is that really like or share worthy? Is it going to get people talking? There are all kinds of creative special ideas you could try to stand out. For example, you could dedicate one night a week to a "secret" special. Some nights it might be BOGO or $2 off, but other nights it might be something crazy like a free pitcher if the Yankees win, or a free 6 oz tasting of any craft beer. Execute it correctly and curious customers will do your marketing for you, discovering the secret special and blasting it all over social media every week.
Want more creative ideas? After working with thousands of bars and restaurants, we have a bunch.
