I’ve been very fortunate to have Bar Business Magazine ask me to write several articles for them which I was excited to do.  See my published articles on bar and restaurant marketing here.  -Erik Shellenberger

Bar Biz Mag
Jump out of the Fishbowl and into the Ocean of customers looking for your restaurant or bar

Check out my article on the importance of leveraging Google and online review sites like Yelp.  These days Facebook is all but dead unless you pay for each post.  Instagram is still effective but social media is a “fishbowl” and a finite number of customers who have opted in to see your content.  Google and review sites are the OCEAN of people who have probably never heard of your restaurant or bar.

Especially if you are in a tourist market, you are INSANE if you aren’t leveraging search engines and review sites.  Read the article by clicking the magazine cover.

Bar Biz Mag Sept 2018 Bar Marketing Basics
Don’t make your website the prettiest thing no one’s ever seen

 

Your bar or restaurant’s website is made for one thing – making you money.  The more often you’re found in an online search the more money you make.  Yet most restaurant owners are obsessed with how the website looks with little to no regard of how many customer’s eyeballs actually see it.  Being found in a Google search or a voice command search via Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant or the GPS systems in the newer cars is absolutely crucial to success.

Don’t create a stunning looking website that can’t be found online.  Spend your money in getting found and making MONEY!

Bar Biz Mag July 2018
Leverage the customers already sitting in your restaurant or bar with wifi marketing

Since email blasts are pretty much a thing of the past, start trading free wifi access in exchange for your customer’s email address or phone number. When Smart emails are used, you can often get around spam filters because you have a legit message tailored to the one person it goes to.

Also you can now use text message auto-responders to sell in-house promotions that will always be 1000% more effective than your staff remembering to tell the customer. (Because they won’t) Not everyone reads emails, especially promotional types of emails but everyone reads their texts. Just keep it short and offer something of value.

Restaurant Marketing Articles
Here are the most effective marketing tools I’ve seen lately

 

I’ll take a meeting with anyone who asks. Some are a total waste of time but once in a while I stumble upon a great piece of new technology and highly effective marketing tools. These are my top picks of 2018 for tools that drive business and put butts in seats. From new tricks to market to your captive audience to wifi marketing routers that send messages to your actual, real clients, here is what works.

I’ve weeded out the valuable tools form the snake oil for you. My new list of tools to pay attention to in 2019 coming soon!

Bar Business Magazine
It’s not your father’s social media!  How the power of social media has diminished over the years.

The power of social media has been reduced to almost nothing over the years.  Twitter is worthless for us and Facebook is quickly joining them in the irrelevant zone.  In 2018 “social media” means “Instagram” when referring to bars and restaurants.  Your content is only seen by a finite amount of followers who are being more and more restricted by Instagram’s algorithm.

Here is the info the “social media experts” won’t tell you (or may not even know themselves).  Don’t expect Instagram to be a magic wand to bring in customers by the droves.  Those days are far behind us.

Bar Biz Mag July 2019 BarMarketingBasics
The do’s and don’ts of online review response.  The only thing worse than a 1-star review is a 1-way conversation.

 

Responding to online reviews is the art of saying the same thing in 1000 different ways. The last thing you want is to come across insincere and robotic. Make sure ALL reviews are responded to, not just the negatives. Thanking your 5-star fans is one of the most important parts. Chances are your competition is ignoring them as well so now’s your chance to shine.

If you don’t have time for this, I get it. Professional review response is one of the services Bar Marketing Basics offers.