Advertising for bars and clubs

Nightlife decisions happen fast, in groups, on phones, and usually within three hours of the visit. The advertising has to work at that moment.

Make yourself the easy answer

A group deciding where to go needs one person to propose something and the others to agree. Everything you publish should be easy to send.

That means: a clear image, the date and time legible at thumbnail size, and no requirement to open an application or read a paragraph.

Weekly rhythm beats occasional spectacle

A predictable programme creates habit, which is the only durable asset in this business.

Regulars are worth many times the occasional visitor, because they bring others and they come without being reminded.

Timing the message

Reach the audience when the decision is being made, not three days before.

Practical scheduling: Wednesday for the weekend, so plans form; Friday and Saturday from six in the evening for the same night; and Sunday for the following week's programme if there is one.

Advertising a Saturday event on Monday reaches people who will have forgotten by Thursday.

The photographs must show people

An empty room photographs as an empty room, whatever the lighting. Images of a full venue with people enjoying themselves are the entire proposition.

Take them, with consent, and use them within days. Photographs from two years ago are visible as such.

Reputation is set at the door

No campaign survives an aggressive door policy, a long unexplained queue or inconsistent pricing. Those experiences become reviews and word of mouth, and both outrank advertising.

Where a policy exists, publish it. Ambiguity at the door creates more resentment than a clear rule.

Music and programme information is searchable

People search for what is on tonight in a town. A page listing the programme as readable text, updated weekly, captures that search and is almost never done.

Add the practical details people actually look for: opening hours, entry price, whether there is a cloakroom, and how late the kitchen serves.

The legal frame

Alcohol advertising is regulated, and the rules typically restrict targeting minors, promoting excessive consumption and certain pricing promotions. Check the local position before running any offer built around volume or speed of drinking.