The world of liquor store advertising can be intimidating. You might feel like you need a massive budget, a marketing degree, and a legal consultant just to launch a successful campaign that doesn’t violate any liquor laws.
Fortunately, attracting and retaining customers doesn’t have to be this complicated.
In this blog, we’ll explore eight simple yet effective liquor store advertising ideas you can start using today.
Cheers to more foot traffic, higher customer retention, and bigger sales!
Before we dive into specific liquor store advertising ideas, let’s cover the basics. Here are four best practices to keep in mind as you build your marketing plan:
Ready to get started? Here are our eight favorite liquor store marketing tactics — plus practical tips to help you implement them.
Did you know that it’s five to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one? That’s why our top marketing tip for liquor store owners is to nurture customer loyalty.
A liquor store loyalty program is one of the most effective ways to boost customer retention and increase your average sales volume.
With a loyalty program, customers earn points for every dollar they spend. Once they earn enough points, they can exchange them for rewards, ranging from discounts on their go-to bottles or opportunities to buy rare, luxury spirits like Pappy Van Winkle.
A loyalty program encourages customers to choose your liquor store for all their beverage needs, plus incentivizes them to spend more money to unlock their next reward.
Managing customer records, tracking rewards points, and applying discounts is nearly impossible without the right tools, so make sure your liquor store POS solution includes customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
A built-in customer loyalty program simplifies the new member sign-up process and ensures customers always earn points on their purchases. Plus, it gives you access to valuable data about your most loyal shoppers, including how often they visit, how much they spend during each shopping trip, and which bottles are their favorites.
Related Read: Why Loyalty Programs Fail (and What Works for Liquor Stores)
Want to bring new customers through your door? Invite them to can’t-miss events.
In-store events are an excellent way to connect with your community, engage your existing customer base, highlight your product selection, and boost sales. Here are a few ideas to inspire you:
Fun, educational events like these give customers a reason to visit your liquor store — and stick around to explore your offerings.
When it comes to events, your main challenge is to turn attendees into paying customers. Here are a few tips:
Don’t forget to measure the impact of your efforts! Use your POS system to track sales and loyalty program enrollment during and after your event.
You’re offering a huge discount on your bestselling bottles — but no one is taking advantage of it.
What’s the problem? You’re waiting for customers to stop by your store instead of proactively reaching out to them.
Instead, be more proactive by using email and SMS marketing to send messages right to your customers’ inboxes. You can use these channels to:
In short, starting an email or SMS newsletter is an excellent way to build stronger customer relationships and spread the word about everything happening in your liquor store.
Let’s cover the essential tools and must-know best practices for email and SMS marketing:
These tips will help you build stronger customer relationships and make the most of your promotions and in-store events.
Don’t overlook your in-store merchandising and advertising approach. Well-designed liquor displays guide customers to your most popular (and most profitable) products.
For example, you might earn a 25% margin on your well tequila brands versus a 30% margin on your premium brands. To encourage customers to purchase premium bottles over well, you might use floating island displays, eye-level placement, or colorful signage to guide their browsing.
You can also use smart merchandising strategies to increase impulse purchases, cross-sell related products, or upsell customers on your most expensive bottles.
Let’s cover a few retail merchandising best practices to increase your liquor store’s sales:
Done right, your store’s layout and displays can give your revenue a significant boost.
Related Read: 7 Liquor Display Ideas To Maximize Liquor Store Sales
Does your liquor store's advertising approach stay the same year-round? It shouldn’t!
Your customers’ product preferences and shopping behaviors change with the seasons, so your marketing strategy should, too.
For example, you might see busier foot traffic and higher beer sales in the warmer months, but during the holiday season, you’ll notice lower foot traffic but higher sales volume of high-margin products like fine wines and champagnes.
Understanding these trends and tailoring your marketing approach is essential for steady success.
Your POS system’s sales reports are the best way to learn about your liquor store’s seasonal trends. This data helps you identify how your foot traffic, sales volume, and most popular products change over time.
From there, you can make more data-driven decisions about which bottles to stock and which ones to discount during different times of year.
For instance, you might launch a buy one, get one (BOGO) 25% off promotion on fall beers as the weather chills, and place a purchase order for sparkling wines and gift-worthy spirits as the holidays approach.
Facebook and Instagram have strict rules about how liquor retailers can advertise on their platforms — but don’t let this scare you away.
Posting on social media is a great way to build brand awareness, connect with tech-savvy customers, and build community around your liquor store.
You might feel tempted to spend hundreds of dollars each month on paid advertisements, but we recommend starting with organic (nonpaid) posts. Posting high-quality content regularly can help you show up in potential customers’ feeds and even drive foot traffic to your store.
Let’s look at five steps to create an effective liquor store social media marketing plan:
You don’t have to be a social media guru to use this strategy — you just have to stay committed to posting engaging content that your customers actually want to see.
Modern customers won’t walk into your store by chance. Instead, they rely on the internet to scout out new stores and explore their offerings well before they decide to make the trip.
That’s why it’s so important to build an online presence for your liquor store.
Selling online helps these tech-savvy customers learn about your product selection and experience the vibe of your store — and gives you a huge boost in sales from convenient online order pickups and deliveries.
Getting your liquor store online might seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are three simple ways to build your web presence:
E-commerce is an essential ingredient for ongoing liquor store success, so don’t wait to embrace this marketing trend.
Related Read: How Delivery Apps Are Changing Liquor Retail (and How To Take Advantage)
Stocking and promoting the right products is crucial — especially if you want to attract the newest generation of shoppers.
Stay updated on the latest liquor store industry trends, and make sure you carry the products today’s customers are most interested in. For example, ready-to-drink (RTD) options like canned cocktails, nonalcoholic (NA) beers and wines, and functional beverages like hard kombucha are on the rise.
Adding these popular products to your shelves can help you become your neighborhood’s hottest liquor store.
Wondering what’s trending among your customers? Your POS system’s sales reports can tell you.
Keep an eye out for shifts in your customers’ shopping behaviors. If they’re purchasing lower-ABV beers than usual, experiment with adding NA beers like Athletic Brewing to your offerings. Make sure to advertise these new arrivals on your social media platforms, website, and email/SMS newsletters!
From there, you can monitor whether they collect dust or fly off the shelves.
You’ve got several liquor store advertising ideas to try — now it’s time to implement them!
Let’s make sure your POS system is up to the task. Along with critical features like secure payment processing, scanner-powered age verification, and liquor inventory management, look for one that includes:
Bottle POS has all these features and more! See how our powerful liquor store POS system can transform your marketing strategy by scheduling your live, personalized demo today.
Bottle POS was designed to be smart and simple. Instead of having hundreds of features that liquor store owners won't use, we concentrate on the features that really make a difference.
