Why Pubs Need to Go Digital and Be More Social
Over the last few years we’ve seen a massive increase in pubs, bars and social clubs using social media as away of interacting with existing and potential customers.
Many venues are using Facebook and Twitter to keep their customers updated and to build up a following. It can take time but it is well worth it to have the potential to inform your customers of what’s on in the venue – whether it be special offers, live sporting events, meal deals or guest beers.
Social media is a brilliant way to promote your business for free as the information is not just picked up by your followers, but by their friends and followers as well.
Social media is also a very effective way to let people know when a pub has been taken over by new people. This is what happened with the Eldon Arms – a hidden gem of a pub, tucked away in lovely back street, a short walk from Reading town centre.
The previous owner had been there for over 20 years but now Adam and Hailey have come in with a fresh approach. They had viewed a number of pubs but could see right away that this place had massive potential. They had never run a pub before but were determined to make it a success.
Adam had previously worked at Michelin starred restaurants and Hailey had some bar work experience – so they had plenty of relevant experience. They worked day and night to make a success of the pub some days doing 18-hour shifts. They made sure that they let their followers on Facebook and Twitter know what was going on at the pub and this helped to attract people back to the pub, who had drifted away over the years.
The couple introduced food into the lounge area, but also maintained the traditional pub element by promoting a good range of beers, installing Sky TV, pool table and a digital jukebox.
Hailey said “I’ve worked in pubs where the jukebox has been really successful. So one of our first tasks was to find a digital jukebox supplier.”
Hire Jukebox installed a touch screen digital jukebox at the Eldon Arms. The jukebox has over 30,000 songs including every UK Top 40 chart release since 1952.
Customers can easily find the music they like by entering either the artist, song title or date. Or for further inspiration, they simply browse through the music category section including 50’s 60’s 70’s etc as well as popular genres such as Rock, Irish, Pop and Blues.
In a similar way to Twitter and Facebook site owners can use the jukebox screen to help promote the business and interact with the customers. The ‘Attract Mode’ feature can be used to upload jpeg images, such as posters to advertise special offers or the latest beer on tap. The ‘What’s on’ feature allows the venue to promote upcoming events, such as bands or comedy. The ‘Sporting events’ feature also allows the venue owners to advertise the tie and date of those fixtures that are of interest to customers. In fact, the jukebox is the perfect free advertising board.
Hire Jukebox set up two different music zones at The Eldon Arms to allow the site to control the music volume separately in different areas of the room – bar and pool area. We installed high quality Wharfedale speakers to ensure good sound quality.
Adam and Hailey have already told us that people are staying longer with music being played, especially when it’s a group of friends using the jukebox. Adam explained “Once one person starts using the jukebox the others follow and they tend to stay on much longer as they want to hear their selected music – so we not only benefit from the jukebox income but also from what is spent at the bar.”
“With the help of Facebook and Twitter we are able to get people to come back to The Eldon Arms, in order to see all the changes we have made here. Now that we have the digital jukebox we are able to keep them here for longer. It’s a win win situation,” adds Hailey.
Follow both The Eldon Arms and Hire Jukebox for more information as follows:
Or you can find out more about jukebox hire for pubs here.