Marketing: Tap into mobile marketing
Former licensee Dan Brookman offers advice on how to market events through the mobile phone network.
Quiz nights, karaoke, happy hours, 2-4-1 offers, live sports, private parties... it all shows pubs and bars and clubs are fighting for a share of customers looking for an entertaining night out. So if you've got something going on at your venue, how do you let your customers know what's happening?
Traditionally the trade has relied on posters, chalkboards, advertising and flyers. But what about the people who already visit your pub? How can you make the most of them?
When an old school friend approached me in 1999 with the idea of using text messaging to advertise bands at the Deep End, my first venue, my initial question was how? And, typically of a publican, how much?
The Deep End had been building a customer database through a membership scheme for about six months and we had information on about 1,000 customers. We used it to send out a newsletter and also birthday and Christmas cards. The database was updated by a customer who came in a couple of days a week. It was quite an expensive exercise in paper alone.
When the opportunity arose to bulk text my customers I could think of nothing better - and the results from my first text-out were great. We did a simple message advertising a band that had been booked at the last minute and the door take was up 40 per cent on the previous week! We tested out different times and themes, from advertising the football and bands to keeping people up to date with drinks offers and food.
We reprinted the membership forms to include things like tastes and preferred nights out and marked the day the information had been collected so we knew what entertainment had attracted them.
The most successful use was texting people on their birthdays. The saving from not sending a card was massive and the response was just as good.
About three months later my friend returned to see how I was getting on - and PowerText was born.
There are three different ways to collect customer information. First, and more traditional, is in-house paper collection. Simply leave a clipboard with your staff on the bar and offer a £20 prize for the person who collects the most.
Unless they are really busy get your barstaff to fill out the form themselves as the handwriting will be more legible and you are more likely to get accurate info - no Mickey Mouses.
If you are in a business district, try putting a goldfish bowl on the bar and running a business card competition, but ensure that a sign nearby informs people they are joining your list by taking part.
The second way of collecting details is through your website. This is really good because the data is accurate and it means that the customer has web access so will be able to receive email, which - in most cases - is free to send. You should talk to your web designer about this.
PowerText offers a Link-IT! form that writes info directly back to your database. We also send a text message back to the customer immediately welcoming them to your list and giving opt-out information.
Thirdly, you can now collect data through mobile phones. Start using a number on your advertising that people can text to and you'll be surprised how many text requests you receive. Typically, a pay-as-you-go sim chip costs as little as £15.
Again we offer a service by which people can text you and you can send automated texts back with information.
Once you've got your data you need to store it. This can be done by using an online storage facility like Microsoft B-central, Barbox or it can be done locally on your computer on an Excel spreadsheet or Access database. The beauty of online storage is that often information can be directly written to your database from your website and data can be more easily accessed and maintained.
With regard to the Data Protection Act, if you're collecting a database to market your own events and promotions you don't need to register. I would advise, however, that it is incredibly important that you keep people's information confidential. Don't share it with anybody and if someone wants to unsubscribe from your database, let them.
The most important thing about contacting your customers, whether it's by post, email or text message, is not to swamp them and to offer easy opt-out facilities. If someone opts in, however, informing them of events and promotions is customer service, not marketing.
Mobile phone technology is changing all the time. New phones with extra features seem to be springing up on almost a weekly basis. This can only be a good thing for businesses. Certainly the only thing stopping us sending video and picture messages is the small number of users, and as this grows so will the possibilities.
Get the message right
When you come to send text messages or emails keep in mind the following:
- Send texts at a sensible time, ideally at lunchtime or teatime or after 11am on a weekend. DON'T send them late at night.
- Be precise - give times, dates, prices and make sure you include your venue name!
- Include unsubscribe information on every email
- It's good practice to offer opt-out info in every third text
- Don't send loads of text messages or emails every week
- Don't share data or buy a database, it simply doesn't work.
Dan Brookman was a bar owner and publican in Sheffield and is now one of the directors of www.PowerText.co.uk. If you've any questions regarding data collection or SMS marketing, you can email him at dan.brookman@powertext.co.uk.
