Lesson 9: Sales and Marketing 9.10 Loyalty schemes (continued)
Loyalty coupons
Offered as a component of an overall reward scheme where customer is rewarded for dining and drinking in your bar or local establishment.
Encourages customers to become a VIP member to get valuable coupons, offers and event information delivered straight into their computer or mobile phone.
Customers either print a hard copy or to display a digital copy for presentation upon arrival at your bar to take up offers.
Livingston as cited in Anderson (2012) contends that ‘some businesses use them as a distraction from the fact they are not price competitive’
Loyalty Coupons – types and usage(chapter 9 – pp. 185-186)
Buy one get one free / Catalinas / Coupon insert / Double or triple coupons / Extra care bucks (ECBs) / Loss leader / Manufacturer’s coupon (MFC) /
Peelie / Store coupons / Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).
Top trends in loyalty schemes to consider: (chapter 9 – pp. 184-185)
Uniqueness is expected / APIs and easy connections are required / Develop your brand’s signature insight / Game
mechanics fuel today’s loyalty programs / Payments is the new PLCC / Invisible payments are replacing POS / Traffic is
everywhere / Real-time is the real deal.
Lesson 9: Sales and Marketing 9.11 Social media
Social Media: ‘Refers to a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations
of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content ‘(Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).
Social media depends on mobile and web based technologies to create highly creative platforms which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss and modify user generated content.
Differentiates from tradtional / industrial media such as quality, reach, frequency, usablity, immediacy and permanance.
One of the hottest marketing tools today for bar owners.
Attracting and retaining customers for your bar using social media
Geolocation platforms: lets customers use the GPS in their smartphones to ‘check in’ at your bar, customers can also check in on Facebook
or foursquare, when friends see where their friends are socialising it motivates them to join. Encourage customers to check in by offering promotions
and discounts (i.e. free drink, meal discount). Be creative: look for check in rewards that are likely to get shared.
Review sites: Monitor your reviews, check sites daily, respond quickly to negative reviews, personalize your comments whenever possible, ask
customers and reviewers if you can feature their review on your website or marketing materials. Reviews are a (free) opportunity to learn what
your bar’s services and products need to improve.
Social media sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest): attracting attention with their visually oriented focus, works well for your bar with
timely information (i.e lunch special tweet at 11am, 3.30pm tweet free happy hour appetizer. Pinterest uses mouthwatering photos of food and drink,
themed boards. Consider the following: Be visual / engage / have fun / track results / cross promote. Further information: Chapter 9 – pp. 187-
188.
Managing social media / Pros and Cons of usage: Third party apps and tools to simplify things include (NutshellMail –
monitors your bar’s Facebook and Twitter activity and emails you a summary of events and activities. Mediafeedia - for Facebook helps schedule
posts, manage multiple pages, get email notifications about page activity. Tweetdeck – for Twitter sorts incoming Twitter data, schedule tweets and
manage multiple Twitter accounts). Pros = marketing and sales tools are free, uniquely tap into the social nature of the bar experience. Cons you
have to invest time and money maybe hire (part-time) somebody with IT skills.
