Business booster
Business booster: event and promotional ideas for your pub
Hosted by Great Inns of Britain, a UK-wide collection of 17 independent, luxury inns
Twitter: @TheGreatInns
The idea: To celebrate ‘the very British obsession with silly knitwear at Christmas’, the Great Inns of Britain ran a digital competition to find the Christmas jumper ‘king or queen’ among its customers.
How it works: Entrants posted photos of themselves wearing their winter woollies with the hashtag #GreatInnsGiveaway on the Great Inns’ Facebook and Twitter pages to win £150 worth of Great Inns gift vouchers to spend at any member inn.
Marketing: Photographs of Great Inns owners wearing Christmas jumpers and holding gift vouchers launched the month-long marketing campaign and provided good content for the Great Inns website, social media, e-shots and regional PR. The competition, driven by social media engagement and sharing, culminated just before Christmas.
Pay-off: Strong audience engagement including 32,300 website impressions, 282 engagements on Twitter and 319 on Facebook; increased website visits; fun for customers. Winner Maggie Fawcett added sunglasses and a pink wig to her Christmas outfit.
Key benefit: Boosting the brand’s digital presence.
Advice: Generate ideas that capture the spirit of the moment and generate a genuine wish to engage.
Best outcome: The organisation’s social media audience grew by 8% in December.
Free lunch for the self-employedWhere: Millbrook Inn, South Pool, Kingsbridge, Devon
Website: www.millbrookinnsouthpool.co.uk
Twitter: @southpoolducks
The idea: Complimentary three-course, traditional Christmas lunch offered at the pub to the self-employed and sole traders.
How it works: Now in its eighth year, the lunch is held on the last Friday before Christmas between lunchtime and evening service.
Marketing: The much-anticipated lunch is advertised via the pub’s noticeboard and has the fastest sign-up of any of its events!
Be prepared: Local suppliers and farmers are approached to secure contributions of produce for the meal. The pub’s dining room is crammed with tables to accommodate as many guests as possible.
Pay-off: Benefits local customers and suppliers, many of whom are self-employed; sign up is beyond the pub’s maximum dining capacity each year; provides a Christmas celebration for those not benefitting from a corporate event.
Key benefits: Generates customer goodwill; drives repeat business; large increase in drink sales; entwines the pub with its local community.
Advice: Owner of the freehold pub, Ian Dent, says: “Don’t be too rigid about eligibility but encourage people to feel integrated with the pub by visiting to sign up. The concept will work best in rural communities.”
Best outcome: Drink sales on the day increased by 400%
