Marketing Your Draught Beer Selection to Boost Pub Sales

How to Optimise Your Beer Menu

A beer offering is more than just a list of beers. In reality, it’s an important marketing tool on its own. Proper management of the beer list curation can be used as the main driver for your customers and other beer lovers to become regulars at your venue.  

Making a Menu That Looks Good

Developing a beer list and making it look good should be straightforward. A good idea could be to arrange the beers in this order: type (lagers, ales, stouts) or where they come from (local, international). Consider upselling some beers by marking them as ‘Staff Pick’ or ‘Customer’s Favourite’.

Correctly Describing Your Draught Beers

The creativity in description helps transform an average list into an interesting one. Your beer supplier should provide you with flavour profiles and tasting notes, so make sure these are featured on menus so your customers can see them. And don’t fail to describe some of the awards they may have won. Most people will be intrigued enough to try a cool or unusual-sounding beer. You could also offer advice on recommended pairings with food. 

Leveraging Social Media

In the modern age, with most traditional forms of advertising being expensive, social media is the easiest method to promote the draught beer range. Use Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter) to reach many customers and connect with them at any time.

Promote New Draught Beers

There are opportunities to create buzz whenever a new beer is introduced at your venue. Always consider reaching the broadest possible audience through social media by posting pictures or videos of its arrival, being poured, and being enjoyed by customers. You should consider activating a launch promotion for discounts or free beer when customers mention the new beer and tag your venue on their social media accounts.

Social Media Marketing Strategy

Use social media to announce happy hours or special promotions for your draught beers. Ask customers to take pictures of their drinks and tag your pub using customer-generated content. Run a monthly promo for the best photo, where the winner gets a free pint or meal. These activities will help keep your social media platforms active while generating word of mouth.

Hosting Beer Events

If you want to be recognised as the best beer destination in your area, staging beer events could be a game-changer that helps you to stand out from the competition.  They offer the opportunity to engage with your beer supplier for help and support and collaborate with local breweries to assist you with the logistics and cost. It can be a win-win situation where suppliers can showcase their beers, and you get an event that will drive sales and attract new customers.  

How to Host Beer Tasting Events

Beer tastings are a great way to promote new or seasonal draught beers to your customers. Contact your beer supplies network and ask them for exclusive, new, or local beers. If you are a Value for Venues customer, they can handle this for you and support you with tasting glassware, beer flights (3 x ⅓ pint glasses on a wooden paddle), and beer-tasting notes so that customers can appreciate the variety of beer styles on offer. They can also offer advice on the type of events that have been successful.

Seasonal Beer Marketing Strategies

The changes in season are a blueprint for marketing beer, creating opportunities to match beers to perennial events or seasonal occasions that your customers will be familiar with.  You can connect your seasonal beer sales to events such as Oktoberfest, Halloween and Christmas and identify the beers that suit the period.

For instance, customers may prefer to drink light and not-so-strong beers in the summer, so lighter ales like Old Golden Hen or Old Session Hen might be a good option. For the winter, put forward deep and warming stouts or darker ales such as Belhaven Black and Fireside Winter Ale. Selecting the suitable beers for the right season helps you maximise your sales throughout the year. 

For other ideas regarding your pub’s seasonal marketing calendar, check out this guide.

Cask Ales are a must to create a strong seasonal offering throughout the year. Value for Venues has an extensive range of limited-edition and seasonal beer releases yearly.  These include favourites like Bonkers Conkers, Old Spooky Hen for Halloween and Rocking Rudolph at Christmas. Contact your Sales Development Manager to learn more.

How to Engage Pub Customers Through Promotions

Promotions are a great way of getting customers to sample your draught beer range in the pub. But what kind of promotions will help grow sales?

Happy Hour Deals

Happy hour is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it continues to drive pub sales. Targeting the draught beer niche makes it all the more effective. Consider giving discounts on certain beer brands during quieter periods or late afternoon/early evening to woo customers at times when your sales could use a little boost. Please remember to refer to alcohol pricing legislation to ensure you stay legal!

Beer Loyalty Programmes

A loyalty programme for beer is geared towards giving benefits to loyal customers. Selling so many pints that customers receive a free one not only guarantees an increase in the number of customers who return but also assures that they will try various beers from your range. Paper stamp cards are a cost-effective way to activate this, and most suppliers will have off-the-shelf kits you can get with your order, so just ask your Sales Development Manager. 

Alternatively, you can search for online services offering mobile app-based solutions that can be used by QR code scanning.

Collaborations with Breweries 

Collaborating with local or established breweries can be mutually beneficial. Breweries get their beers in front of customers, and your pub has something exclusive that may not be available in other venues. 

Train Your Staff to Sell Your Draught Beer Selection

You need your staff to be knowledgeable about the beers you sell.  They can influence customers if they are well-trained and passionate about beer. Ensure that all personnel are familiar with the entire draught beer range available at the bar. Offer regular training sessions where staff can taste the beers and understand the different taste characteristics, brewing methods, and food pairings. 

This encourages customers to try new beers since staff’s advice on beer is taken more seriously. 

Upselling Techniques 

Upselling is another skill that the staff should master. For example, they might offer a pint of draught beer and recommend a light snack that goes well with that drink. This not only improves the customer experience but also increases sales.

The Importance of Consistent Branding 

Branding is an integral part of business if you want to create a specific image in the minds of your customers. Ensuring uniformity regarding the beer offered, promotions, and the whole experience can sustain a pub’s image and contribute to its customers’ loyalty.

Make Your Beer Selection As a Part of Your Pub’s Brand

Use the beer menu as a component of the pub’s identity. For example, if your pub is a modern rustic establishment, it could focus on craft ales and local drinks. If the place has a more contemporary and stylish look, it would be worth considering offering rare, expensive, and exotic draught beers that appeal to the more adventurous drinkers.

Conclusion

Proper marketing decisions regarding the promotion of draught beer selection can increase sales. There are endless possibilities, from optimising your beer menu and using social media effectively, hosting events and promotions for the seasons, to engaging more customers and improving their satisfaction. Staff training and consistent branding are the icing on the cake that will help raise your beer sales.