PR tips on a shoestring budget

The Publican's Morning Advertiser ​(PMA​) gives you five tips on how licensees can boost their pub's profile without breaking the bank.

1.    ​Create your own opportunities​

"Not many PR opportunities will come knocking on your door – it's down to you to go looking," says trade consultant and former licensee Ali Carter. "Look at Mickey Thompson, landlord at the Great Northern (in Keighley, Yorkshire), who ended up with a story in The Sunday Times​ after he banned MP Eric Pickles from his pub (even though he had never been in the pub) following a derogatory comment the Yorkshire MP made about his homeland on a radio programme.

"I made it into the nationals by jumping on the election bandwagon and carrying out a beer straw poll at a local pub to predict the mood of the voters. These days, it's much easier to do thanks to social media. Use Twitter hashtags to find what's trending locally and nationally to see which occurrences you might be able to piggyback."

Speaking at the PMA500 business club earlier this year, Castle Rock managing director Colin Wilde explained how the brewery had driven consumer interest by creating a new beer-wine hybrid that received national coverage and asking local celebrities to come in and brew beers. "'Brewery brews a beer' is not front page news," he said. "We've turned our beers into stories by creating beers with local celebrities and charities."

2. ​Be persistent​

Securing good media coverage can be a case of if you don't ask, you don't get. Pete Tiley, licensee at CAMRA national pub of the year 2014 winner the Salutation Inn, said sheer persistence helped him to get local and then national media coverage for the pub. "I wrote so many emails to the newspapers then to the BBC and also to local radio stations," he said. "I hounded Countryfile​ magazine and Cotswold Life​ until eventually they agreed to do a feature. Every time I won an award I'd make sure I wrote a press release and send it to as many people as I could. It was really just me saying 'this is a great pub', but then the papers would pick up on it and say this is a great pub, and people started coming to us."

Ray Thompson, who runs the Wrygarth Inn in Hull and recently won a national award for marketing, took a similar approach when promoting his Ale Trail. "I got local radio station BBC Radio Humberside involved by just walking in the front door and telling them what I was doing. At first, they looked at me like I had two heads, but then there was a lot of interest in the story and, eventually, one of the presenters actually did the Ale Trail live on the radio. That got us about 20 minutes of free publicity and attracted the interest of our local MP, who was listening."

However, it's important to bear in mind that contacting newspapers or magazines won't work unless you have a clear hook in mind. Think about what it is that makes you stand out and focus on that, whether it's a new menu or event or a more drastic decision like banning children or pets from the pub.

3. ​Think outside the box​

"Not all PR opportunities are obvious at first and many simply rely on creating great relationships," Carter said. "When I first moved to a pub in north Cornwall, we wanted to integrate with locals rather than be viewed as outsiders. A clever idea from my head chef turned out to be one of the best PR jobs we ever did. Without being asked, and totally free of charge, we supplied the beach life guards with chilled soft drinks taken to the beach in branded cool boxes every day. The cost price to us was approximately £30 a week but the positive exposure we received from the very appreciative lifeguards sent thousands flocking to our business when the lifeguards mentioned the pub's name over the Tannoy as they ended their shift."

She added that working with local charities can have the added benefit of boosting a business's profile, as well as helping good causes. "Hosting fundraising events in aid of local charities can have a hugely beneficial effect on the relationship between the local community and the licensee, as well as giving customers a fun experience and an opportunity to be 'newsworthy', whether it a welly boot throwing competition, world-record attempt at synchronised swimming, biggest paella – the list is endless."

Hosting events outside of the normal roster of curry nights and karaoke can also help to get people talking. Think about what you can do to get customers excited, whether it's an attempt to break a world record, a burger eating competition or a talk from a popular brewer.

4. ​Keep an eye on what's being said about you​

Every licensee knows that a pub can live or die by its reputation. What's said about your business online can be as important as what your customers are telling their friends. Setting up Google alerts can be useful tool for checking the internet for mentions of your pub. Negative stories about pubs, like poor hygiene ratings, are often picked up by the local press, as actor-turned-publican Neil Morrissey discovered when his pub, the Plume of Feathers in Barlaston, Stafford, received a rating of two out of five.

Responding quickly to a negative story and putting the pub's side across can stop a bad story from causing too much damage. The Plume of Feathers responded by promising an immediate review, changes in kitchen management and a reappraisal of procedures, as well as promoting its new summer menu and head chef

5. ​Enter industry awards​

Entering (and more importantly, winning) awards can help hundreds of potential customers hear about a pub they might not otherwise have known about. After winning the national pub of the year award, the Salutation Inn received national newspaper coverage leading to the pub being so busy customers were queuing out the door.

Tom Bowen, general manager of Great British Pub Awards winner the Wheatsheaf, Borough, London, said: "The first couple of nights after winning, we got a lot of people through the door who had read about the awards and said 'we definitely had to come to you', so we think the award boosted trade and it's a great accolade to have to when people visit the pub."

Finally, remember that a small budget doesn't need to be a barrier to successful PR. "If you don't have much to spend, take heart," says Carter. "There's no rule of thumb on how much cash you should allocate to your public relations efforts. Besides, you can more than make up for a shortage of money by promoting yourself creatively."