Five top tips for #TryJanuary to avoid a new year slump

In its second year the campaign aims to get people out and about trying new drinks and dishes for a month.

Healthy living advocates at Club Soda have embraced #TryJanuary, and encouraged pubs to get on board.

Co-founder of Club Soda Laura Willoughby said: “Whether people are drinking alcohol or not there are many ways to can entice your customer through the door for #TryJanuary . We hope pubs and bars will rise to the challenge and use January to test and promote some new brands.”

Pubs taking part in #TryJanuary are encouraged to tweet pictures of their experimentation at pubs using the hashtag.

“Local craft soda producers and quality 0% beers. Lots of the new drinks contain much less sugar, so make sure your staff know how to up-sell the product to your customers on their January health kick," Willoughby added.

Club Soda gave the following top tips for pubs to take advantage of #TryJanuary:​

It’s almost dry January, again, and many of your customers will soon be avoiding the pub in pursuit of their New Year’s resolutions and other health goals. It can be a difficult time of year for the pub trade.

But with over two million people going sober in the first month of the year, is there a way to turn this to your advantage? Club Soda think so. After testing ideas with venues and customers, we have come up with five top tips for getting ahead this New Year.

1. January is the ideas test-bed for the rest of 2016​

If you can get them through your door and upsell in January then you can do anything! Your staff are your secret weapon, involve them in brainstorming ideas and making the best ideas happen in January and seeing what works for your pub and customers. Maybe a drink and food offer, upsell a local craft soda, or do a 0% beer promotion? And don’t forget to work out how you will decide whether your experiment has been a success too.

2. Try a 0% beer​

How about getting some non-alcoholic beer in? With #TryJanuary it’s a great time to get in some new options for the dry January crowd. If you’ve not tasted any 0% beers recently, you might be surprised. The quality and taste of the best brands has increased enormously (though to be fair there are still some very dodgy ones out there too!). You can choose from a range of German pilsners and wheat beers, or go for a craft ale. Why not run tastings through the month, and promise to stock the winning one all year? See here for a list of great suggestions​.

3. Upgrade your offer with craft soda or a local cordial​

Take a good look at your fridge. How are the soft drink choices looking? Plenty of grown-up brands and interesting flavours for your customers to choose from? If not, now’s the perfect time for a refresh, and to test some new brands. Are there any local craft soda producers you could stock alongside your locally sourced food? Try some fancy cordials, so people can ‘pimp’ their soda water with something more luxurious than lime. Many new producers are using far less sugar, so make sure your staff know how to upsell the product to your health conscious customers. Here are some of our favourite craft pop producers​ to give you some ideas.

4. Run a mocktail making night​

If you have a good range of ingredients for cocktails, then you have most of what you need for mocktails too. Non-alcoholic cocktail recipes are far more sophisticated than before. Paired with food this makes a great night out for those who need a bit of jollying along during January. A Virgin Hugo​ is easy to do.

5. Be loud and proud​

Soft drinks tend to be relegated to the bottom left hand corner of your most distant fridge. Bring them into view, and get your staff to offer premium softies first, rather than the cheap cola and lemonade on the pump. Don’t forget to promote your goodies on social media.

Some customers won’t come into the pub at all when they’re doing a dry January. But if they walk past and see something exciting on a chalkboard you might just tempt them to pop in. A great way to reward your customers halfway through a dry January is a meal out and a voyage of discovery into your new soft drink options.