Staying up-to-date on industry trends and offering the best experience in the biz are two of the best ways to stay relevant in an ever-evolving nightlife industry. Stay on top of these 5 hot summer trends to continually wow your guests.
1. Strategic crowd sourcing
Venues are beginning to realize the importance of having the right crowd in their doors. Several new articles have been written on the subject in the past few months with tips and tricks to help bars and nightclubs bring in the customers that align with their vibe. This all comes down to knowing who your target audience is, creating a brand, and providing messages to attract the customers you want and condition them to do exactly what you want (even if they don’t realize it). Having the right crowd enhances the overall guest experience, which in turns translates to bigger spending.
2. Hot summer jams
Electronic dance music (EDM) has had a large commercial appeal in the nightlife industry over the past couple years, and it’s counting to evolve into the relaxing summer months. This upbeat music style brings people into your venue who are looking to have a good time, and it can oftentimes be packaged together with other types of summertime music. Some clubs have even reported mixing slower EDM beats with classic relaxing summer jams for their early-evening crowd, proving to pique interests in patrons who would have otherwise never considered enjoying the EDM genre. Getting creative with summer dance music will allow you to reach a broader audience and connect with your most important guests all while boosting your bottom line.
3. Refreshing summer cocktails
Simplicity is out when it comes to cocktails and drinks, and during summer it’s all about complex refreshing cocktails. Take your standard mojito and spice it up with Malibu Island spiced rum, add a blood orange to your typical margarita to give it a bold flair, or offer a white fruit-infused sangria flora for that tropical burst. Also on trend this summer are the beer cocktails and sparkling wine cocktails. These cocktails are not only going to cool your guests off during the hot summer months, but will also be sure to wow them to want more.
4. Digital ticketing for summer events
Big name events are plentiful during the summer in the nightlife industry, and more and more venues are turning to digital ticketing systems to help them better manage and stay on track. Digital ticketing is an online platform that incorporates ticketing into the rest of your efforts, giving you that full 360-degree look at how your venue is performing. This platform enables you to:
• Create and manage an online event page
• Sell tickets to consumers right through the page via an e-commerce system
• Integrate the event with a mobile app for promoters to sell tickets directly from their devices
• Track ticket sales and results along the way
• See how often a certain individual buys your event tickets and for which shows
This type of platform syncs all promoters and marketing efforts together in one centralized spot to maximize ticket sales and revenue. What’s more is you own your ticketing data, allowing you to analyze results to better set yourself up for success in the future.
5. Increased use of technology
With summer parties and increased ticket sales, you can’t afford to slow down your operations. That’s why venues are turning technology solutions that offer the whole gamut in one spot, including guest list management, VIP reservation management, client relationship management, point of sale, ticketing, marketing solutions and, most importantly, analytics. Using this type of technology gives you better insight, increases efficiency and revenue, and ultimately leads to a better customer experience to keep them coming back for more.
Whitney Larson is the president and director of marketing at Vēmos. Contact her at whitney.larson@vemos.io or fill out the form below.
