The most effective strategy in nightclub promotion is creating hype about your brand. 

As long as it’s there, you will see your nightclub flooded and the key to long-term success is to maintain that hype by implementing nightclub promotion ideas.

But how do you do that?

Check out these 6 ways for nightclub promotion which are proven to be effective, cost-friendly and easy to implement: 

#1. Pay attention to your drinks 

If you want an edge over your competitors, you need to offer a unique and personalised experience, and as a nightclub, your drinks are a big part of that. 

The first thing you need to focus on is the names of your drinks. 

Naming them after regular customers is a great tactic to improve customer loyalty (according to HubSpot, 69% of American customers spend more on a company with good customer service). 

Apart from that, the names of your drinks should be exotic. 

Name them after travel destinations, theme parks and anything special that your customers can relate to. 

Next, you need to make sure that your drinks look good. 

Preparation and presentation is the key to making your drinks look tempting.

Plus, you have the added benefit of customers sharing pictures of these on social media, automatically generating brand awareness for you. 

Experiment with different types of ice – dry, cubes, spheres, clear etc. and see which goes well with which drink. 

To get a better idea of how to use ice, Check out Tasting Table’s guide to ice on how it not only chills a drink but also creates an aesthetic flavour.

Nitrogen infused drinks are also customer favorites. 

Also, no matter where your nightclub is situated, there are some classic drinks that you need to offer. 

Check out the 10 most popular bar drinks, and if you haven’t already added them to your menu, it’s never too late to add them now! 

#2. Host the best events 

As I said, you have to create and maintain hype about your nightclub if you want to remain profitable. 

Events are the perfect way to do this, but only if you pull it off right. 

If you’re hosting an event, you need to go big for which you’ll obviously need financing. 

Instead of investing profits, use a ticket system to raise funds from each entry, plus sponsors that can offer free food, drinks, songs and services in exchange for their brand promotion. 

The best place to sell tickets these days is online, because printed tickets are not only an added cost but it is also a nuisance for your customers to keep track of their tickets and remember to show up with them. 

Check out SitePro’s guide on the 10 best ticket apps you can use to sell tickets for your nightclub events. 

Then comes your guest list. 

As a nightclub, you want your event to be as exclusive as possible in order to create a hype about it.

Think about it, you’ve seen advertisements of gigs, musical festivals etc. but never a nightclub event.

This is because if it’s hard to get in, people will want to get in more.

You can either do this by charging a premium entry fee or by allowing a limited number of people inside the club. 

The sight of long lines outside the club creates the illusion that your nightclub must be very popular.

However, for the latter you need to make it worthwhile for your target audience. Why should they choose your nightclub event over another? 

Invite a list of VIP personalities. 

This could include local celebrities, influencers etc. 

Again, choose wisely because the category that your VIP list falls into will attract a similar crowd. 

Lastly, you need to put effort into each and every detail of your event to make sure that it is perfect and customers want to visit again. 

#3. Choose a theme and design your nightclub accordingly

The theme that you choose depends upon your target audience. 

If you’re targeting young adults, opt for a trendy look. 

On the other hand, if your target audience consists of individuals above 30 then its best to opt for a classy theme. 

Your stage, seating area and bar all need to be incorporated into a theme and look aesthetically pleasing so that people walking in are instantly attracted. 

If you can’t afford a professional interior designer, get creative with mood boards and think out of the box. 

You can always go for a unique look for your nightclub instead of the regular, dimly-lit blackish interiors:

The question is, what makes your theme so important?

As a nightclub, you need to create an experience for your customers. 

Every little thing down to the comfort level of your chairs and the intensity of lighting matters because you need to create a mood to which people will dance to. 

Your seating arrangement can determine how new people meet and so on. 

If you haven’t done this already, now is the perfect time because nightclubs are still shut down in some states which gives you ample time to redecorate and find new items on discounted prices. 

#4. Nightclub promotion through sponsorships 

Normally, as I mentioned, exclusive nightclubs are the best and don’t need to be marketed as such.

However, it is still important to have a presence to create subtle brand awareness and sponsorships are a great way to do that. 

Sponsorships are expensive and to achieve maximum ROI on your investment, you need to ensure you invest in the right place. 

Is your nightclub targeted towards young individuals? 

If so, you need to sponsor music festivals like Coachella, MusikFest etc. but you can also go for smaller gigs depending upon your budget. Get a nightclub promotion proposal template and start sending out requests.

Similarly, you can also sponsor galas and classier events when targeting an older crowd. 

In fact, if you really want to boost brand awareness, you can even set up your own drinks table at festivals and events that you sponsor.  

This acts as physical proof that potential customers can try and then visit your nightclub if they like it. 

Make sure you sponsor events in your locality since nightclubs are restricted to physical locations and your potential customers will be living close by.

Get a nightclub promotion proposal template and start sending out requests.  

#5. Invest in your performers 

The core difference between a nightclub and a bar is the live music and upscale feel that you get. Bars are more trendy whereas nightclubs tend to be formal. 

To ensure you uphold that formal vibe, you need to hire the right performers. 

Your entertainment will determine the mood and experience of customers so if you have to invest a big chunk of your profits in your performers, it may be a good idea to consider because they are likely to generate a high Return on Investment.

However, you can still hire performers that are cost effective. 

Keep a lookout for performers that are new in the industry but have promising talent.

You can offer gigs to participants and winners of shows like The Voice. 

At the start of their career, these individuals will not cost you too much and a long term contract can ensure that you won’t have to pay hefty prices.

These days, some nightclubs are also hosting events with Zen Art performers: 

This is another great investment because it is different from the norm which is exactly what millennials are into. 

If you have a dance floor, you can utilise it for different performers on event nights because it adds a lot of space.  

#6. Use social media to the fullest 

This one of the best nightclub promotion ideas you can opt for.

There is one rule that applies to all businesses when it comes to social media: no business needs to be active on all social media channels. 

It is a waste of time and resources. The best nightclub promotion strategy you can opt for is to create a profile on 2-3 platforms. 

Here’s where you need the help of your R&D team. 

Find out which platforms your users are most active on. Usually for nightclubs, it is Facebook and Instagram. 

If your potential customers use Snapchat, you can go for that as well. 

By focusing on limited platforms, your social media managers will find it easier to focus and come up with creative content. 

Plus, consumers are demanding a very high level of customer service and interaction which involves quick responses to queries, replies to each individual comment on posts and generally helping out customers with whatever they need. 

Due to all that, it becomes almost impossible to manage so many accounts; thus, deeming profitable to maintain a few but properly.

After you’ve chosen your platforms, you need to grow your customer base by increasing brand awareness. 

You can do this faster by creating a nightclub promotion video and boosting your posts:

This way, your reach will be much higher. 

However, this is only effective if the right people see your post. 

When you click on ‘boost my post’, you will be asked to specify categories such as age, gender, location etc. 

Defining these demographics will help you to target the right people e.g. you can limit the location to people who live near your club up to a specific capacity.

For age, you will be targeting individuals from 18-50 or an age group even narrower if your nightclub is focused towards a specific segment. 

All of this will ensure that you reach the right people so that your nightclub sees an influx of visitors regularly.  You can consider nightclub promotion companies to help out in getting the best results.

How COVID-19 impacts nightclub promotion

With COVID-19, despite smart lockdowns, we’re all stuck in our homes. 

Instead of waiting for it to end, we’ve begun to adjust to this lifestyle to make the most out of it and that’s what you need to do for your nightclub. 

All your promotional efforts should shift online because it is one of the best night club promotions that can get you the desired result during this period.

If you’re renting a billboard or handing out brochures, you’ll be getting less than half your expected reach currently so it’s best to pull out of any traditional marketing efforts. 

Instead, hire a good graphic designing studio to promote your brand digitally on the platforms that we discussed. 

The second and most important thing that COVID-19 has changed is how your business operates. 

You need to change everything – from your hygiene levels to seating capacity and how you serve customers. 

This can be especially difficult for nightclubs considering it is the one place that individuals come to de-stress and enjoy. 

This was highlighted by The Independent, who reported that the police believed intoxicated people were incapable of social distancing because in that state of mind they cannot make the right decisions: 

Unfortunately, if they cannot maintain distances, nightclubs and bars will be forced to shut down again. 

The bottomline is, as a nightclub, you will have to ensure that you follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) otherwise you will face the risk of being shut down. 

Plus, responsible individuals will feel safer if you take precautionary measures and in the long run, you will get your customer base back. 

Again, you need to promote all of this on social media. 

Communication is the key to brand awareness and customer loyalty these days, so you need to share everything with your followers on social media. 

Post stories and live videos on the measures that you are taking to ensure a safe environment for your customers and employees. 

At the end of the day, if your customers come out to enjoy and end up getting infected, doesn’t that mean it’s not worth it?

Educate your customers that it is a joint responsibility and both you and them have to take measures to protect themselves from COVID-19 so that going out is normalised faster. 

Conclusion

So that sums up nightclub promotion in 2020 and how it has changed due to COVID-19. 

Due to the virus, things will work this way for a while until the world population develops immunity or a sustainable treatment is found. 

Thus, it’s best to adapt and become a first mover in implementing change so that individuals see your brand as a leader and not a follower.