Coming up with bar marketing ideas for your business may seem like a never ending job.

Your goal is to get potential customers to consistently choose your bar over every other business on the block.

Here are our top bar marketing ideas that will help turn your online followers into a loyal customer base.

1. SEO

When brainstorming for your bar marketing ideas attracting the attention of locals should be number one on your to do list. One way you can do this is to make sure you’re on the map.

When someone searches in Google for nearby bars, only three will appear on the map. These three have several components:

1. Their websites have been optimized.
2. They have Google My Business accounts.
3. They probably have a ton of online reviews.

Optimise your website with keywords that make sense for your business. You will want to do some research to find out what locals are searching when they want to find a bar in their area. Use what you find in your research to optimise your site with these words and phrases.

2. Reviews

Let’s talk about why reviews are so important. Google has recently rolled out an update that lets users search by using filters like ratings, hours and price.

So how can you get good reviews so that your restaurant shows up first on the map? Encourage your customers to write 5 star reviews. You can ask via social media, emails or even in person at your bar.

Get creative and be transparent with what you want and you will see great results

3. Google My Business

Once you optimize your site you can sign up for a free Google My Business account that gets your business listed on the web. It displays your hours, website, address, reviews, and even photos for potential customers to see.

Without a Google My Business, it will take a huge amount of optimizing your site to get it to rank on the first page of search results. This account and other online listings like Yelp, Angie’s List, and Better Business Bureau can help your business gain recognition online.

4. Website

Any restaurant or bar should have a website even if it’s simple. Without a website, it’s almost impossible to rank in search. Your site should include things like your hours, menu, photos, and a little bit about your bar. Tell customers what makes you unique or the story behind your business. You can also include an event calendar, links to your social media, photos from Instagram, or an online booking form.

Make sure you are staying up to date with the current design trends. Just like low-quality photos, poor design can turn customers off as well. Good website design means that your users can easily navigate your site and find everything they are looking for no matter what device they use. This bar uses some pretty cool elements in their website design like parallax scrolling. But at the same time, they keep it simple with their philosophy, menu, reservations, and hours.