Holiday Marketing
& Promo Ideas For December
 Christmas Season Party
Opportunities
Set Up A System To Sell Out New Years Eve
Sales & Promotions Manager Job Description
Christmas Recipes - Holiday Food Tips
Holiday Dance Floor Games
Scripting New Years Eve For More Impact, Success
New Years Eve Music Program Ideas
PLEASE NOTE: Although the promotions listed each month
on this page are designed primarily for a nightclub environment, they can be easily
modified so as to work in a bar/pub, restaurant, café or any business open to the
public.
The key here is to be organized, have a
game plan.
Promos are like little mini-stage productions: They need to be planned, budgeted, cast,
rehearsed, directed & marketed. Just like in pro sports, each member of your team
needs to know what his/her role is, what's expected of them. Together, you
all make the promo
succeed and, the cash register ring!!
Christmas
Season Party Opportunities
 Christmas Season Party Opportunities
Did you know that many savvy
operators double & some even triple their monthly sales each year in December over
November? Now is the time to begin to put some energy on the Christmas Season. Things to
consider:
1. Determine what
you have to offer. Example: You might have
club that seats 400, a small lounge/bar or
cyber cafe that seats
60 & a banquet room for 90 people or whatever.
2. Take each area
& break it down into day-parts i.e.,
11am - 2pm - lunch
2 - 4pm - mid-afternoon
4 -
7pm - happy hour
7 - 10 pm - early evening
10pm - close - late night.
WOW! That's 5 time periods per
room (area) per day.
3. Decide which
time periods per room (area) would be available to book for special parties, holiday
celebrations.
NOTE: Even in times when you're
open for business, you might have some capacity for special private parties in areas that
are open to the public.
4. Pick target days
from the month of December. Example: You target the
three wk. period, Dec. 3rd thru Dec. 22nd as your window of opportunity.
Let's say that for the 3 week period, you've
determined that you have three slots available daily Mon.-Fri.(15) & four each on
Sat.- Sun. (8) That's room for 23 potential parties per week. 23 x 3 = 69 possible
bookings.
5. Now for the fun stuff. Figure
how many people you can accommodate in each room (area) each day & multiply that
number by, say, a conservative $10 check average spent per person.
Use these figures in preparing a rate card for
groups who inquire or who you solicit for parties.
Also, these numbers can be the basis for creating
sales goals & projection for your team.
The bottom line: Using this formula, you
might be surprised to learn that the first three weeks of December offer a potential 5,
10, even 20 thousand dollars in potential sales OVER your normal sales for the period
depending on the size/capacity of your area.
The challenge then, is to figure out how to
capture a major portion of these potential sales.
6. Create the position of Sales & Promotions Manager in your organization. This
individual could be yourself, a current manager or department head who has the capacity to
take on more duties OR this could be a new job position for a full or part-time person who
works on a draw plus an earned commission based on bookings & sales.
Here is the job description/task checklist that we
developed for this purpose:
SALES & PROMOTIONS MANAGER JOB
DESCRIPTION
 Permanent member of staff
Creative Marketing Team
Participates in
all business renewal programs
Assists in the
creation of all traffic building promotions
Directs the
staging of all major event promotions:
Arranges
for/secures prizes for promotions
Coordinates contests
Liaison for co-sponsors
Works out event mechanics
with mgt.
Arranges for rehearsals
when needed
Deals with specials needs
for promos
Works with mgt.
on the creations of all unit graphics & advertising:
In-House graphics Invitations Flyers Posters External media ads -
print, radio & TV Direct mail programs - maintains active
mailing list
Coordinates
outside PR with management:
Employee PR teams, Party Patrol
Programs & S.W.A.T. Teams
(Searching For Women All The Time)
Solicits new
business - Makes cold calls weekly on new prospects
Exact number is determined by management
Responsible for creating
& distributing:
Banquet/Special Party promo packages
Rate card for various packages available
Books parties &
special events for the facility
Books group &
corporate parties
Special internal
catered events/meetings/parties
Facilitates
in-house happy Hour PR
Acts as personal
host for all promotional events
Greets guests
Seats, escorts parties to their seats
Personally sees to guests special requests
Pours Coffee
Conducts guided
tours of the facility
Coordinates
off-property promotional events
Outside catered events
Responsible for
VIP Card Sales
Follows up on all
VIP members inquiries
Deals with VIP
member requests for special events:
Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays Member parties
Responsible for
in-house newsletter for VIPs, members
Source: The
book: "101 Ways To Make The Cash Register Ring!" Bar/Nightclub Management & Marketing
Set Up A System To
Sell Out New Years Eve
New Years Eve Falls on a Monday night this
year. How will you need to modify your marketing
approach to effectively compete in your area while
promoting a major event on a Monday night?
Schedule a brainstorming session with your
key staff & Creative Marketing Team to plan out New Years Eve from A to Z. Then, make
a detailed to-do list & assign tasks to each member of the group complete with due
dates. Here are some items to cover:
1. Decorations -
Set a goal to have your full Christmas decorations up by November 30th. Put together a
decorating team....commit to a budget that will allow for enough goodies to make the place
sparkle.
Next, plan on a whole new set of
decorations for after Christmas & thru New Years Day. We recommend leaving the tree
& some of the traditional garb while replacing the rest with a New Years Eve theme of
black, white & silver. Adds a touch of class. Be sure to order enough balloons to
adequately cover the entire room. Get creative this year.
2. New Years Eve package -
Have package ready by Nov. 25th.
- Number of people you can accommodate comfortably.
Party favors - # per guest will determine the total
order.
Seating chart if you use one.
Types of packages you might offer:
Full package with dinner
Reserved seating
Walk-in/standing room only
Thought: Can you work a deal with a nearby
hotel to combine an overnight stay....possibly a New Years day brunch?
Type up a telephone fact sheet so
that no matter who answers, the details will be specific, clear & delivered in a
professional manner.
Get a standard reservation book
from any office supply store. Preferably one with a carbon so the copy can be sent as a
confirmation receipt.
Deposits cut down on no-shows.
Good idea to take credit cards. During business hours, designate area where people can
sign up. Make it convenient for all.
Brief the entire staff on EXACTLY
what the packages are, all details. Get them excited about the event.
PR opportunity - On New Years Eve,
have all staff address guests with reservations by name. This is a major opportunity to
make a strong, lasting impression.
-
Motivate your
guests to get involved, participate, have fun at your party!
Snow Throw Game - Object: throw a baseball-size Styrofoam
nerf ball thru
a hoop 10 feet away. Game also works with Velcro
covered balls & a dart board target.
All prizes are "gift wrapped" as presents.
Dance Floor Bingo - Use brightly colored 3-M plastic tape to make words
on the dance floor like:
RUDOLPH PARTY
YULE
CHEER
EGG NOG SANTA
GIFTS
HO-HO
Make letters approx. 4" high, 2" wide. Word will be about
4" x 12". Set words 4-5 feet apart around the dance floor.
During the night, DJ occasionally calls out over the music "Dance
Floor Bingo, who's dancing on _______?" Give a word.
Have the winner raise hand, come to the booth for a present,
recognition & round of applause. Then, "More presents tonight.... ....all you have to do to
win is be on the dance floor !!"
Scripting New Years
Eve For More Impact, Success
To insure that
your New Years Eve production will be the very best it can be, we recommend that you
prepare a script for the entire evening.....especially the critical time between 11:30 pm
& 12:30 am. What to do:
Adopt the attitude of a fine restaurant....the manager acts as a maitre
d', personally attending to the needs of each guest.
All reserved parties are greeted at the front door & escorted to
their tables.
New Years Eve is a night to reminisce, reflect back on past good
times....so the DJ program should consist of the 40 top dance hits of 2006 spiced with
nostalgia & classics.... automatic floor packers from the past 10 years.
NOTE: Our New Years Eve DJ playlist
is made up the hits of
2007. To take a look at this
excellent chart
here. (posted after Dec. 1st.)
And, for spice, program a
few of the all-time great dance hits from this list.....
The
Top 100 All Time Dance Floor Hits
Here's a timetable guideline you can follow listing the order
of events:
11:30 - Hat & horns - Pass out these goodies at this time to help
create excitement & anticipation just before midnight.
11:44 - DJ/MC has everyone "test" their noisemakers...... to
get some noise, energy building.
11:48 - Entire staff passes out plastic champagne glasses to each guest.
(Order them now)
11:50 - The management team personally pours champagne for each guest.
11:56 - Music stops. DJ/MC asks if everyone is ready, checks to see that
everyone has a glass & champagne.
11:59 - DJ: "1 Minute until Year 2008. Has everybody made their New
Years resolutions?"
11:59:30 - "Year 2008 is just 30 seconds away, gang. Get ready for
the countdown!"
11:59:45 - "15, 14. 13, 12.." on down to 1 second, then:
12:00 Midnight - DJ plays 60 seconds of Guy Lombardo,
(still the best) invites everyone to toast champagne, kiss their date, celebrate & get
crazy.
Alternative - In recent years, we have found that "Celebration"
by Kool & The Gang is also excellent for this time.
12:01 - DJ plays a 30 min. monster set of automatic dance music beginning
with the #1 song of 2007.
NOTE: 12:05 to 12:30 is the most critical time of the night.
Amazingly, that's when many folks make a decision to leave.
Knowing this, we recommend the midnight power set be pre-programmed
in advance to insure that it's the very best it possibly can be.
BE RESPONSIBLE:
ALWAYS PRACTICE ALCOHOL AWARENESS
More promo ideas....
We’ve just
scratched the surface here. If you want to
learn more, I’d like to invite you to read
more about "Success Management Systems"
by ordering our new book,
"Bar/Nightclub
Management & Marketing - 101 Ways To Make The Cash Register Ring."
It's a powerful tool for
creating traffic & increasing sales using proven marketing,
promotions & improved operations techniques.
Details here. |
