10 simple and effective pub advertisement ideas you can start doing today

This article explores effective pub advertisement ideas to help pubs increase their number of customers and prosper in times of uncertainty.

It’s been a difficult few years for pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and bars, but pubs especially.

Health kicks, the soaring prices of a pint down the local and now a worldwide coronavirus pandemic, more and more people are ditching the pub to bunker in, at least until the summer.

In desperate times, you have to use all of your wit and will to come out on top in pub advertisement – which is how you’ve arrived at one of our trusty blog posts.

Fortunately for you, there are plenty of great pub advertisement ideas, some of which we’ll run through below.

10 simple and effective pub advertisement ideas:

1. Social Media
2. Theme nights
3. Quiz nights
4. Poker nights
5. Live music
6. Sell unique drinks
7. Pay-per-view events
8. Initial impressions
9. Build an app
10. Bloc

1. Social media

Our first tip when it comes to pub advertisement is to start using social media to your advantage.

If you’re not maximising the number of views on your posts or follows on your account, you’re missing out. Here are just a few of the best ways to make the most of social media:

Post a wide variety of content. This could be anything from videos to pictures, discounts, infographics on relevant topics… Anything, or at least anything that can grab a reader’s attention.
Use keywords in your posts. These are terms like ‘pubs in London’ – which we are happily utilising in this blog post ourselves. They’re going to help your Google search ranking, which will mean more people find you and come to you instead of a competitor.
Run prize draws and bar tabs through social media to create a buzz around your pub, and get more people to follow or join your Facebook group.

Focus on just one or two platforms for the time being, and think of your audience when you’re considering which platforms to use. Facebook and Instagram are probably your best bet for now.

If you cater to a younger audience, choose Snapchat and TikTok. If you’re thinking of an older audience, go for Facebook and Twitter. Or just go with all of them – the only issue is finding enough time to manage them all!

2. Themed nights

When it comes to pub advertisement, this is the oldest trick in the scroll.

A classic idea that has been running since the dawn of time to get people through the doors, especially on quiet evenings, is throwing themed nights.

Having themed nights – whatever the theme might be – is going to put you on the radar of a whole host of new customers who might never have thought of visiting.

You have a choice when it comes to themed nights.

You can either focus on one, and be the karaoke bar or the singles bar.

Or you could have a rotating schedule, with Ladies Night on the first Friday of the month, and Karaoke on the second Friday of the month.

Both approaches can work, so there’s no problem with just jumping right in and setting one up as soon as possible.

Get this right and incorporate it into your pub advertisement mix.

3. Quiz nights

A quality quiz night will make your customers feel like it’s Saturday night, even on a Monday evening.

It keeps things interesting for regular punters and attracts new ones, too. Best of all, if you ask each team to throw in a couple of pounds, it pays for itself!

My favourite quiz nights have been held at the Cock Tavern in Fulham. Mainly because the quizzes are usually based on Friends or Harry Potter and I consider myself somewhat of an expert in each topic.

Come down and take me on next time if you dare!

4. Poker nights

Don’t worry, you won’t need to be at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas to get a poker evening going.

All you need to do is set up a few poker tables and rally the troops. This is pub advertisement 101.

Not only will the indelible offer of cash prizes attract punters, but it will keep them there for a while, too.

Before starting a poker night, ensure you are familiar with the Gambling Commission’s advice on allowing poker in alcohol licensed premises.

Bloc of course, encourages responsible gambling.

5. Live music

Here at Bloc, we love a bit of live music, and your pub advertisement strategy should definitely include it.

Bringing in a live band will spice up the weekdays and draw in extra punters during the busy weekends.

There’s no need to break the bank, either, local acts who are finding their feet are often low cost, plus it shows you support your local community.

6. Sell unique drinks

What you choose to sell is up to you. But the more unique your pub, the better.

The best way of making your establishment unique is by offering drinks that you can’t get anywhere else.

As a pub, stock a wide variety of beers, not just Heineken or Carling. Give a chance to some local microbreweries to showcase their unique ales at your pub.

A really cool pub in London I’ve been to is Mr Foggs Tavern. Their drinks take you back to the Victorian era!

7. Pay-per-view events

Our next pub advertisement idea is to promote pay-per-view events.

Not quite a theme night, but just as important, pay-per-view can make your pub a shedload of cash over the course of an hour or two.

The cost can be hefty – a couple of hundred pounds or more – but the money you’ll bring in will dwarf that.

Two names you want to look out for right now are Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua – the two best heavyweights in the world and, better yet, both are British.

Some pubs report double, triple and even quadruple their normal Saturday night takings. That’s nothing to sneeze at (no coronavirus pun intended).

The trick is to show fights (or whatever else might be on Pay-Per-View) regularly, rather than just as special one-off occasions. That way, people will know that your pub is the place to go whenever there’s a big sporting event.

8. Initial impressions

Again, this is something that’s so important, that pub owners just don’t think about.

Your signage is the public face of your pub. It’s the first thing that people see before they come in, and the last thing they see at night. It’s also the only impression that people get of your pub if they don’t come in

Pubs are, funnily enough, the best example out of any industry. So many pubs have old, creaky signs, maybe one or two boarded up broken windows, and a desperate need for a lick of paint or two. When somebody walks past your pub, well, let’s not publish what they’re probably thinking!

If you’re marketing your pub to a younger audience, it has to look good on the outside, well-lit and interesting. If you’re marketing to an older audience, they’re probably in the mood for a more easy-going time. Your ‘shop front’ can help you capture whichever market you prefer.

You can also lure people in from the streets with clever and witty pub advertisements in the form of a chalk board. If you’re lucky enough to get heavy footfall in your area then this can be very effective.

Coming up with funny and witty one-liners to put on the chalkboard is also a great way to keep your staff entertained and motivated by tasking them to come up with them. You could even get your patrons involved in the form of competitions.

9. Create your own app

I mean, we’ve created our own app, so we’re ultimately going to champion this.

Have you considered building your very own pub app? You probably haven’t; you’re busy enough as it is! But building an app has never been easier or cheaper. In fact, you can do it yourself online for free. Here’s how.

Free online drag and drop editors allow you to create custom-made designs from scratch, or use tempts ready-made for your industry.
You can choose your own colour scheme, upload your own logo, and choose which tabs/pages to include in your app.
Once you’ve outlined a design, you can fill in the content at your leisure. Or, if you would prefer, you can have both structure and content done for you by a professional at surprisingly low rates.

You can do so much with an app. You can have pages filled with all the information that your customer might need, from opening times to how to find you. And to get people coming back for more, you can run regular offers just for people who download it.

So, those are some of our top pub advertisement ideas. But we have saved the best until last.

10. Advertise your pub on Bloc

When it comes to pub advertisement, Bloc has you covered.

Did you know that we actually pay customers to visit your pub?

Here’s how it works:

We suggest pubs to our users based on their location + preferences.
These users check-in to the pub to say they are going.
When the user attends, they will be rewarded with our in-app currency (stars). These stars can be exchanged for real money.

Easy.

We’re literally paying your customers to increase your pub sales! And we’ll give you £150 worth of free ad credit to get you started.

Good luck with your pub advertisement strategy and before we let you get on with it, we’d really like it if you joined us on our brand new Bloc Social platform.

It’s an open forum, hosted by the founder, where our users/fans can discuss all things Bloc with us, and with each other. This includes feedback, support, updates and even complaints.

So don’t be shy, get involved and we look forward to hearing from you soon.