INTRODUCTION
In-house TVs can not only be used entertain your guests or draw sports fans to your restaurant or bar, but they can also be leveraged to promote your specials, new menu items, special events, gift cards or private event space.
Companies like TrueSync Media, TAIV and Barcast offer in-house TV solutions tailored to restaurants, bars and hospitality businesses. While their features may vary, these types of companies can help you turn your TVs into powerful marketing outputs that generate repeat business for your restaurant.
Following are some ways your restaurant can use its in-house TVs for promotions.
EDUCATE PATRONS ABOUT YOUR RESTAURANT’S EVERGREEN OFFERINGS
Drive repeat business from your guests by educating them, or reminding them, about what your restaurant has to offer. For instance, you could showcase your event space to generate bookings for private parties or highlight your daily food and drink specials to give them a reason to return on specific days.
Promote other revenue sources, such as gift cards or merchandise, to increase sales in those departments as well.
Create a robust rotation of these types of evergreen, or non-expiring, ads so your restaurant is always visible on your in-house TVs. This will keep your brand front and center, and the variety will ensure patrons aren’t seeing the same promotion too frequently.
Aim to keep your videos or stationary digital ads at 15-30 sec. and include the main takeaway early to retain viewers’ attention. When applicable, you should also add QR codes embedded with tracking to help measure your efforts and assess the efficacy of your in-house TV media service.
USE YOUR IN-HOUSE TVS TO UPSELL
Some in-house TV media companies allow you to add promotional banners or tickers, as well as control your content from a real-time dashboard. These features can be helpful for upselling. For example, you could promote a bar special that is only valid of the next hour or a “today only” add-on for an entree.
You could also showcase your call and first shelf bar options in the regular commercial line-up to encourage higher bar sales.
TEASE SPECIAL EVENTS OR NEW MENU ITEMS
Generate hype for your upcoming beer or wine dinners, special events or new or seasonal food and drink items with timely in-house TV campaigns. Be as visual as possible by showing images or videos (e.g., from past events) to give viewers a reason to be excited. You also should include pertinent information up front, such as dates, times or costs.
Develop a plan for launching these commercials to make sure they align with your other marketing efforts and to ensure your team is ready to talk about them with guests. You also should set an appropriate expiration date to avoid showing outdated content to your patrons.
Finally, add trackable QR codes for events that require RSVPS or link to a webpage with more information.
PROMOTE YOUR OTHER MARKETING CHANNELS
Use in-house TV promotions to support your other marketing initiatives. For instance, create a “get social” ad to gain followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or your other active social media accounts. You also can encourage patrons to leave a Google review or sign up for your newsletter.
Create timely commercials around specific activities on those channels to inspire immediate action. For example, you could promote a social media contest or giveaway or tease a special offer that will only be released in the next newsletter.
By promoting these other types of marketing channels, you can amplify your efforts by creating additional external touchpoints with customers.