The restaurant, bar and food service sectors have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic. Shutdowns, crowd limitations, mask mandates and fear of getting sick were all factors in the reduction of paying customers entering those establishments.
However, it's not all Zoom and gloom. Google search trends, analytical data and a slew of recent polls and studies are showing that people want to get back out there. Pent up demand is a very real thing and customers are ready to meet up with friends, spend a night on the town and most importantly SPEND SOME MONEY at your establishment!
So, now that we've determined the people are chomping at the bit to go out, how do you get them to come to your venue, as opposed to the other nearby places? We believe the key is to provide great sources of entertainment for your customers – the kind of entertainment that is engaging and fun and gets them out to your place on a regular basis.
That being said, we've compiled a list of the 5 best ways to GET THEM BACK, KEEP THEM, and have them COMING BACK REGULARLY. Without further ado, let's get started.
We are a trivia company, so it may seem a little self serving to put this at the top of the list, but that's not the reason it's there. It's at the top of the list because it is the number one way to get customers back into your establishment and keep them coming back for more.
Trivia has become immensely popular, and the number of people who play trivia continues to grow with no end in sight. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. Experts say trivia provides a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without any negative effects. Trivia nights also gives customers a chance to connect with people, socialize, compete, and show off their mental prowess. People become motivated to acquire new knowledge and build on their existing knowledge base. Trivia nights are a way to provide for your customers a thoroughly entertaining and engaging night of fun and laughs with friends. Honestly, I wish I had a dime for every time a bar owner told me trivia nights are their most popular nights. In many venues where our trivia is played, it's standing room only, and that's often on normally slow nights like Monday and Tuesday!
For more tips on starting your own trivia night, check out our blog:
One way to ensure that the same customers continue to return is to set up a trivia league at your establishment. You can have seasons, such as an 8-week season in which the same teams come back to compete for a season championship. The team with the most points at the end of the season gets bragging rights and a grand prize of your choice.
For more information on how to run a trivia night, visit here.
And now for a quick sales pitch - visit Quizrunners to get everything you need to run a totally entertaining, well balanced and thoroughly successful trivia night!
Feud Time is a game we developed in the same vein as Family Feud, that asks 100 survey participants questions of varying topics. Players might be asked questions such as "Name a holiday that people hate" or "Name something people are afraid of". Players must guess which are the most popular answers to those questions. There are various bonus rounds included which shake things up as the game progresses. The game can be presented on the big screen and is very entertaining and engaging.
Feud Time creates a fun and lively atmosphere - so many laughs - and gives the non trivia players a chance to participate and even beat out those smug trivia night buffs. It's a great team game and is an excellent way to get customers coming back for more. Feud Time can also be played by individual players who are at your bar and want a night of entertainment. Feud Time packages include everything you need to run an entertaining Feud Time game including the quiz itself which comes in Word, PDF and PowerPoint, a step-by-step guide and some slick answer sheets for the participating teams.
People love to sing. Some are good at it, and some, not so much. Whatever the case, Karaoke nights are entertaining, very social and often hilarious. Studies show there are many benefits from singing. Singing helps stimulate the pleasure center of the brain. It can release endorphins which offer a host of benefits including improved mood and a reduction in pain and discomfort. Believe it or not, it can even help improve breathing. Singing offers a chance for performers to showcase their talents and provide an avenue to express feelings through the eloquent art of song.
Having a weekly scheduled Karaoke night can get a regular group of singers/customers into your establishment who will want to keep coming back for more. If you plan on running the karaoke night yourself, you can purchase karaoke machines which can range in price and quality.
We've used this Karaoke machine with a lot of success:
If you'd rather let someone else handle the karaoke night, there are many DJs available to handle that duty. To search for DJs in your area, just hop on Google or any other search engine and type in “DJs for hire in (your town)”.
Some bars are finding success running game nights at their establishments. People love playing games, and if they're given a chance to play games among friends at a place where they can order a plate of wings while sipping on a cold one, you can count them in! There are many game fanatics out there, and they aren't that hard to find. If you do some advertising, you will start to see the attendance on game night continually improve. Figuring out which games to offer is just a matter of keeping track of which games are the most popular.
You can conduct a poll at your bar and see where their interests lie. The age demographics of your customers should help you figure out which games would go over well. Game night can come in many forms including board games, pool, darts, murder mystery, shuffleboard, pinball, video games etc.. Games night can include multiple games and tournaments as well. You can have each tournament player rotate through 5 or 10 gaming events, keeping score the whole time. The person with the most points wins the tournament as well as some type of reward.
Providing live music is a time-tested strategy for getting people into your establishment. Of course, this option depends on the setup of your venue and whether it has the space to host a band, or solo live performer. If you do have the space, having a live show can attract a very good crowd. Having live music promotes socialization, helps attract new customers, creates a lively atmosphere, supports the local music scene, and gives the customers a reason to stay longer and spend more money at your establishment. You can have a steady rotation of different musicians play shows, or you can have the same musicians at your bar playing every week, which helps to create a good following of steady customers. Hiring musicians can be rather costly, so you'll want to do it on a night where the most people are expected to come, such as Friday and Saturday nights.
You can also do things like have an open mic night, which costs nothing, and gives local amateurs a chance to display their talents on your stage. If you have a piano or keyboard, it is fun to ask someone to lead a singalong; to get everyone involved. If there are music groups in your town (eg. guitar or ukulele groups), offer a room to one of them for a monthly jam – a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Well, I hope this article helps you decide how to get those customers flooding back into your establishment. I’d recommend trying as many as you can to see which ones are the most popular, and which ones work for your particular location, crowd and demographic.
Thank you for reading and if you have any other ideas or comments you’d like to make, feel free to add them below.
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