In the 20+ years that we have managed sports-themed restaurants & bars, we have learned a few absolutes in marketing. The most potent of these is, when marketing your restaurant or bar, “13” is a magic number. Any promotion worth doing is best done for a 13-week period.
Let’s use NCAA Basketball as an example. The season truly begins in earnest on or about the 1st of the year and ends conveniently at the end of March. This is a perfect promotion period for the sports cycle and offers enormous opportunity to be creative and aggressive.
Of course the rub is that you have to be planning for this promotion cycle a minimum of 6 months in advance in order to best execute and leverage its potential. By looking 6 months out you can identify the programs that best fit your locations character and guest needs. The more time you allow yourself, the more partners you can get to participate in your marketing.
If you approach your beer, wine & spirit vendors with a marketing plan that is 6 months out, they too can better plan for how to support your programs. Their participation along with any cross marketing partners is the key to bringing promotions that offer real value to your guests and that will drive traffic.
The most important thing that we want to convey is you are part of a very special community. The sports-themed operator is the most accomplished of restaurant managers. Not only do you have to operate your businesses for success, but you have to be expert marketers with a special eye on what’s next. We hope that our service provides you the resources to stay ahead of the competition.
Image by Melanie Cook.