RMD Group is a nightlife and restaurant development, management and consulting company based out of San Diego. The group has won both national and local awards and accolades. And during the 2016 Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas the director of VIP services, Jason Mitchell, director of operations, Pablo Aguilar, and creative director, Erick Diaz, took part in a marketing panel. Wayne Partello, CMO for the San Diego Padres, and Jamie Sigler, founding partner of J Public Relations, were also on the panel to offer operators insight into becoming more effective marketers.
There are, Aguilar explained, 1.6 million apps for Android devices and 1.5 million apps for Apple. Obviously only a minute number of apps are relevant to your business and will help you engage with your guests, so how can you utilize apps to drive efficiency, as well as acquire and create loyal customers? You’ll want to look at apps that are popular, help you to attract customers, and can offer you analytical information. One such app is Foursquare, one of the (if not the) most widely used location-based discovery and awards apps.
With a focus on social media (read: engagement), Foursquare encourages businesses to claim their listings. Bar and nightclub operators should be aware that if they haven’t created a listing for the venue, their customers almost certainly have. Ownership of a listing gives operators a chance to check it for accuracy, update it if need be, and also access to free analytics tools. It also allows you to attract new customers by setting up check-in specials. Loyal customers can also be rewarded through rewards they receive by checking in to your bar or nightclub. Engagement and reward are two incredibly effective ways to acquire and create loyal customers, and analytics help you to remain efficient.
We live in an era of a shift in marketing. The days of accumulating basic demographic information and mass marketing to multiple markets are essentially over. We now operate in a complex marketing environment and effective marketers need to provide insights. This is where insight marketing comes in. According to Sigler, insight marketing can best be described as identifying the aspirations and motivations of customers, and using that data to market to them better. Knowing the ages and genders of your target customers is good, but knowing what drives them will make your promotions, events and PR strategies great. Consider the average Millennial and their lack of interest (borderline disdain) for mainstream beers, wines and spirits. This demographic wants what is local, sustainable, and unique. What, do you think, that speaks to in terms of their motivations and aspirations? Being able to answer that question will help you to market to them much more effectively, including engaging with them in an authentic way online.
As of Q3 in 2015, there were 7.3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. Of that 7.3 billion, 87 million were new subscriptions. Nearly two-thirds of Americans have a smartphone. Eventually the entire population will have a smartphone, and with mobile subscriptions growing 5% annually, Partello wants you to become a better mobile marketer. How does an operator accomplish this goal? Through a convenient, relevant and consistent mobile experience that offers your customers choice and flexibility. Operators must make certain that their websites and apps are mobile friendly. They must also be location based, as a study conducted by the National Restaurant Organization found that Millennials are 53% more likely to walk to a restaurant than drive to it. Location-based functionality can help you to capture this valuable foot traffic. Effective mobile marketing also requires personalization, such as personalized displays and messages, and they should also have SMS and in-app notification capabilities. Social sharing function is also crucial, as users enjoy sharing what they’re doing. Finally, mobile payments are the future so mobile wallet functionality is of vital importance. Apple Pay, Android Pay and PayPal are already on their way to becoming standard forms of payment.
Mastering these marketing mechanisms should be a priority for every operator. Commit to achieving these goals in order to improve your marketing efforts:
- Increased brand exposure and awareness.
- Deeper reach through marketing platforms.
- Greater customer engagement.
- Acquire a more loyal customer base.
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Results-driven communication with customers.