Promotions 

Beer Of The Month
Get your customers to try new products

Bingo
This applies mainly to clubs (courtesy of Shaun Whittaker). 
Does Bingo have to be played in the same room as the entertainment?

Can it be moved to a different room so that there is still a way to attract new visitors who do not like the game?

Can afternoon sessions be held to attract older people who do not feel safe leaving their homes at night?

This will free up your entertainment nights and change the atmosphere completely. 

This will hopefully entice younger ones in 20-40s, which will be needed to keep our clubs open.

Have a final game of bingo at the very end of the night? to keep people in.   

Grab The Sticker
If the bar staff member who is wearing the sticker when the bell or timer sounds, the customer they are serving receives a free or half price drink.

Childrens colouring pages
Download free colouring pages for children

Free Food
Encourage early drinkers to stay a bit longer by preparing hot food on the bar.

Gift Vouchers
Stuck for a birthday present? 

What if you could buy a gift voucher from your local club or pub. 

This is a great gift idea for people who can't think of anything else to buy for their friends and family. 

This also introduces new people to your venue and can also be used as prizes for your competitions and events.

Dual pricing
One local has cheaper beers and lagers till 6pm when the prices go up. 

This attracts the workingman and also the older man who may have retired. Good for daytime business. There are load of suppliers of tills that can be programmed instantly to change prices with very little staff training. These tills can be leased from as little as £10 per week. One such supplier is EPOS

Change The Barrel
If a barrel runs dry when a customer orders a pint they get it free.

This can be used to increase sales of draught beers and ales and also compensates the customer for time spent waiting for the barrel to be changed.

Loyalty Cards
A simple promotion that encourages customers to visit your pub or club more often. 

Stamp the customer's card each time they buy a drink and when the card is full, reward them with a prize (T-shirt, keyring, free drink).

You can keep it simple by just having cards printed that you punch yourself from Vistaprint

Online booking for venues that serve meals
Consider joining one of the online booking services, such as Top Table.  

This will bring you to the attention of travellers from other areas who might not otherwise find you, and you can also offer special deals through the site.  

This can be a two-edged sword though, as the site will also carry reviews by your diners – but if you offer high-quality service and excellent food, good reviews will boost your reputation.

See how many places are already using this service in your area.

Pick A Card
Let your customer choose a card when they buy a drink. If they pick a certain card they win a prize. This can be run at certain times (quieter periods) or on purchase of a particular type or brand of drink.

Profits from other sources
Nowadays, you are likely to get your largest profit margin from food rather than just drinks, but you can boost your takings in both areas:

Are You Making the Most of Non-Alcoholic Drinks?  With today’s strict drink drive laws, more and more of your customers will be looking for interesting and unusual non-alcoholic drinks.  

Consider “inventing” some alcohol-free cocktails to appeal to the adult drinker and promoting them with a “menu” and posters.  There are all the staples (e.g. Virgin Mary – a Bloody Mary without the vodka), but you can experiment with mixtures of fruit juices, cordials and sparkling minerals.  Search the Internet for inspiring ideas, and name the cocktails after local places or people.

Sunday late Afternoon Entertainment
Entertainment is proving to be very popular at this time, as many people prefer this as they can wake up with a clear head on Monday morning. 

Most venues put entertainment on between approx 5pm and 7pm. 

It can even attract a new group of customers with your regulars arriving at their usual time later in the evening.

Target Quiet Spots
One of our clients, for example identified 2 timeslots that they most want to effect and focused on those. 

If, for example, your Tues 12-5 slot is the quietest of the week, could you approach your local history group and suggest that they meet in your pub for a meeting at 1pm every Tues- people will generally arrive early and may stay after, and it may bring in people who've not been before. 

You could offer them free use of the room and free tea/coffee or something to get them in. 

You could also look at other groups for things like this - Women's Institute, PTA, Residents Association etc (Residents is great because every licensee needs good relationships with them).