Marketing Your Promotions In-House -- Hey! It’s FREE!!

Over the years, I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a club & asked staff members if any big promos were in the works only to be told by employees that they didn't know (or care)..... or if they did, that, yes, there was a promo in the works, ("...I think, but I'm not sure when or what it is...")

This is a detailed, "How To" exercise on getting more mileage out of promotions thru improved in-house marketing strategies.

You have hundreds, even thousands of people thru your doors over the course of a 30-day period. Let’s play “what if…” for a moment. Here's an example that you can adjust for your own plan using this same formula:

What if our club held 400 patrons. A general rule of thumb sez you’ll do at least twice your capacity on a Friday & a Saturday night, so that's 800 x 2 = 1600 on the week end & what... 3-400 each on Wednesday & Thursday? OK, let’s say 700 during the week & another 1600 on the week end for a total of 2300 patrons a week for our club that’s open 4 nights a week.

So, using this scenario, our club is going to attract over 9200 patrons a month. Further, let’s say that half of those 9200 are regulars, so discounting the repeats, the club actually attracts about 4500 people a month. OK?

Putting the formula to work - Now, you’re Creative Marketing Team is planning a big bikini contest for Wednesday night, Ladies Night. We’ve already established that Wednesdays & Thursdays are doing about 350 each night but the team wants to set 600 a night goal for the duration of the Wednesday bikini contest. That’s a 75% increase over average on Wednesdays. A hefty goal indeed.

What if…. over the course of a months time, (4 weeks) we could convince just 1 out of every 7 of our existing patrons to come in on Wednesday nights for the upcoming bikini contest. When we divide 4500 patrons by 7, we get 642. Wouldn’t 642 just be great for a Wednesday that’s only doing about 350 now? Wow!

But wait, it gets even better. If this works, I’m probably gonna almost double my sales on Wednesdays. 5-6 weeks of this contest, I’m gonna generate another $5-6000 in sales. All riiiight!

Reality check. Damn, I’ll have to use up most of that for advertising….. We’ve all sat thru this movie before, right? However, what if you had such a well-conceived plan for in-house promotion that you didn’t have to increase you’re advertising budget? Wouldn’t that be great?

What To Do:

1. Plan your promotions well in advance. Example: In September, aside from working on October’s promo calendar, begin now to plan for November & December. Give yourself enough lead-time to succeed.

2. Thoroughly convey all aspects of the promotion to your employees. Get them involved and excited. Word of mouth is still the best, and it's free! Remember this Universal Concept: "People Support What They Help To Create." Also, take a few moments to remind your bar & wait staff how their enthusiasm & support can lead directly to incresed tips for their efforts.

Editor's Note: This is another reason why I've always advocated creating what IBM calls a "Creative Marketing Team" made up of a cross section of your staff. This group, which always includes the DJs, meets on a regular basis & helps to actually assist in creating all promos & is kept in the loop to advise on marketing policy, how the promo will be advertised & marketed to the public.... both in-house & out-house.

3. One reason to include the DJ - He/She has a microphone in the booth.  Have him/her use it. When they talk, everyone in the club hears them. Make up some 3x5 cue cards for him/her to read or ad lib from every 20 minutes each night.

4. Make sure that your in-house graphics, i.e., posters, table tents, flyers, etc., all convey a similar overview of the promotion.

• Get the employees to talk up the current promo to all your guests. If your staff is enthused, pretty soon your patrons will become enthused.

• Each day before opening, place a fresh flyer on every table with more at 4 foot intervals on the bar.

• Create an “information center” near the front door. A place to display all your current activities.

• Another good idea that works… Put up a lighted reader board at the front door similar to a theater marquee. Change the message often, keep it up to date.

• On all high traffic nights, instruct a door host to stand at the front door from 11 PM to close and hand out a flyer to each person who leaves the club with a comment like, “…. Hey, thanks for coming out tonight… be sure & be here next (special day) for (our big promotion). Here, check it out.”

• How about a big red button on each employee that sez “Ask me about my bikini” or something to peak you guest’s curiosity. Promote “Bikini Power” just like the Spice Girls promoted “Girl Power.”

• Get the whole crew involved in recruiting girls for the contest. Set a goal of ‘X’ number of entries for each week, right from the start. Don’t set back & “wait for it to build.”

Remember:  Your graphics are a major part of your public image.  Strive always to present your guests with professional looking graphics.

Put a positive spin on your contest. Make it the “city-wide bikini contest” or better yet, “..we’re proud to announce that our club has been selected to host the area wide Build Your Own Bikini Contest..”

Add up all the cash & prizes. anymore, $50 or $100 buck each night is kind of chump change.... but money, merchandise & prizes that are totaled up for the duration of the contest might be $5-6000 or more. Now that’s a nice chunk of change to talk about. Now, it’s the “… Area-wide …. Contest with over $6000 in cash & prizes, blah, blah, blah..”