“Yo, you goin’ out tonight?” says the typical club promoter, scouring the sands of South Beach looking for pretty ladies to fill up space in club X, Y, or Z. He hands his targets sweaty, wrinkled flyers which they promptly shove under their towels or beach chairs as they wait for the promoter to stop blocking their sun.
We don’t have any statistics on how effective this kind of marketing is, but we have our suspicions. The presentation is far from sexy… in fact, the word “desperate” seems more apt. No one wants to go to a desperate nightclub. So we have a few ideas on how nightlife promotion can be done better. Here they are.
While on vacation in Las Vegas, we had occasion to meet a few promoters who set themselves apart from some of the local color we know in Miami. They wore dress shirts and ties – not low-slung, baggy shorts, sweat-stained wife beaters and greasy hairstyles. And they didn’t stand on street corners calling out to no one in particular, waving beat-up flyers in the air. (Granted, it was 118 degrees outside – maybe they would have stood on street corners had it been a little cooler.) But instead, they approached us coolly and casually inside one of the large hotel-casinos, introduced themselves and offered handshakes (to the guys too), and then explained the special events happening at the nightclubs they were affiliated with that week. It was a welcome change, and it made it much easier to understand what the promoter was actually offering. We ended up taking these promoters up on two of their offers – something we definitely would not have done if their approach hadn’t been so down to earth.
Your flyers don’t have to be imprinted with gold leaf or accented with diamond dust, but a little extra care goes a long way. One easy, affordable way to infuse your flyers with class is to choose silk laminated flyers as your format. These flyers have a smooth, satiny appearance and feel thanks to their “silk” lamination. As you may have guessed, they’re not actually fused with silk, but rather a thin plastic film that gives them their awesome look and feel. Even better, this chemical bonding process renders the cards totally waterproof and tear-proof, so even if you insist on sending your promoters out on the beach – or out to the middle of a battlefield, for that matter – your flyers will stay in great shape.
So many times, we’ve received paraphernalia from nightclub promoters – flyers, wristbands, etc. – without actually understanding what kind of offer they were trying to make. “You’ll get in free before midnight,” a promoter might say to a bunch of beautiful women – which would be the case regardless of whether they had a flyer or a promoter’s name or if they walked up to the velvet ropes completely clueless. A good offer – an actual offer – would be to give the guys in their party – say, up to three of them – free entrance as well, and maybe even to hand out free drink cards to the entire party. (Free drink cards are easy and really cheap to print – simply use the business card form at Elite Flyers’ website and submit a design that advertises free drinks instead. Just be careful not to give out too many of them!) Another idea: offer 50 percent off VIP bottle service for up to two bottles (set limits as appropriate if you don’t want to lose a grand on a bottle of Dom, etc.) You can use the business card format to print cards for this offer as well. This is all made much better if there is actually something special happening in the club that night – make sure your promoters know something about the DJ who will be spinning, or if there will be a special guest hosting the party.
These are just a few promotion tips to increase your return on investment as a club owner or a club promoter. The key point of all of them is simply not to get complacent and lazy – no one else is going to believe your nightclub is special if you don’t!
About Jenny DixonJennifer has been apart of the EliteFlyers.com team for over 15 years. She brings a deep understanding of web marketing, thoughtful strategies, that she's able to design, manage, print, deliver multi-media campaigns to meet all client's goals. Her personal portfolio includes high-end design and printing of business cards, flyers, post cards for elite businesses and individuals from all over the world.
