So, you’re now at a point where you’ve worked extremely hard to build your mobile bar.
Maybe you’ve transformed a vintage camper into a mobile cocktail bar or maybe you’ve converted an old horse trailer into an outdoor wine bar.
Now it’s time to release your creation into the world and start securing bookings!
But spreading the word as a fledgling enterprise can be hard.
We’ve put together the best ways for you to market your mobile bar business and get people talking about your new venture.
It sounds obvious but first things first, you need to be where your potential customers gather.
If you can access those places for free, then even better!
Enter social media, probably the easiest, fastest, and cheapest method to speak directly to your potential clients.
As of July 2022, the hashtag #mobilebar had close to 500,000 posts on Instagram!
That means a whole bunch of people are talking about the industry, and you need to be a part of that conversation.
Setting up an Instagram account takes just a couple of minutes.
From there, you can instantly begin to follow other mobile bar accounts, search through posts for inspiration and start displaying your own photos.
The added bonus to setting up an Instagram account is being able to seamlessly post to Facebook (the most popular social media site around with over 2 billion monthly users) every time you publish a photo.
Just link your Instagram and Facebook accounts and voila, at the touch of a button you can easily post on both social media platforms at the same time, giving you even more chance of your mobile bar being seen.
Pinterest has over 400 million active monthly users. As well as the potential audience reach being huge, Pinterest is a highly visual social media platform, making it another perfect place to share your mobile bar and event photos.
Here, users can create single ‘pins’ or add groups of pins to ‘boards’.
The payoff might take a little longer but it’s a great way for someone to save your photos and come back to your mobile bar when the time is right.
TikTok has rapidly become the Generation Z social media platform of choice.
Whilst TikTok trends, dances and jargon can seem difficult to digest and decipher, there’s no doubting the platform’s popularity with 1 billion people using the video posting platform every month globally.
Around 80 million of those live in the United States.
On this platform, you can get creative with short, easy to digest videos of your events, your mobile bar build or your daily business routines.
With the platform’s access to a younger audience, it may also open up different event opportunities for your mobile bar.
Weddings might be your thing right now but why not diversify with birthdays, graduation parties, college cookouts etc.?
Did you know that YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google?
With 3 billion searches per month, YouTube's search volume is larger than that of Bing, Yahoo, AOL and Ask.com combined.
That makes it a highly valuable place to showcase your mobile bar.
YouTube lends itself to longer forms of video where you can be instructional, answer questions, and get more in-depth with your mobile bar business.
Building a subscriber count on YouTube can be a really powerful way to market your mobile bar business.
The obvious place to start is with event photos. And don’t worry, they don’t all have to be professional level images.
Behind the scenes footage snapped on your mobile phone can provide people with plenty of insight to what your bar looks like, who your staff are and provide a good feel as to the service you offer.
Remember to take some snaps/video content before, during and after the event.
And if you spot an official photographer, don’t forget to take down their contact details and follow up to see what the images they captured of your bar.
But what about if you haven’t worked any events yet?
Another quick win is to document your mobile bar build from start to finish.
Show people how your trailer came to look as it does now and they will be invested in your journey.
So much so that when your conversion is finished, they may even want to book you. Pre-launch bookings for the win!
Introduce yourself! You are the face of your business and potential customers love seeing the person behind the brand.
Let people know your story, your experiences, the challenges you’ve overcome and what you can uniquely offer them.
People buy from people so make sure that you are telling those people who you are!
And lastly - if in doubt, publish!
It can seem scary documenting your build progress or putting your business out there but the more you publish the faster you will find your online voice and the faster you will build community.
If you don’t publish, people will find it harder to find you and you will only be doing yourself and your business a disservice.
Put your social media account names (don't forget to include your @'s) on your bar, signage and business cards so that people can follow you during or after an event.
It’s also a great way for people to find you when they review their photos post-event. (Not to mention if people spot you driving down the highway or parked out in the wild!)
Do your event organizers have their own hashtag?
Make sure that you’re using it when posting your event photos.
This way guests can see you all over again when they look through event photos.
Paid advertising on social media channels can be tricky and expensive.
Start off by building your own community for free before jumping into paid channels.
That way you’ll know what works and what doesn’t, which audience segments are the most engaged with your content and you’ll be more confident in your own social media style before spending some of your marketing budget.
If starting social media accounts for your business sounds daunting, try not to worry about it too much.
The mobile bar community is very well connected, helpful, and above all a positive bunch.
You’ll find plenty of support from other mobile bar owners who are usually more than happy to answer questions and provide encouragement!
Again, always go where your customers gather!
Search though Reddit threads on weddings, bridal showers, event planning, and other associated industries.
Remember to be as helpful as possible as forums are first and foremost a space to help and be helped.
Answer people’s questions with genuine information that will help them before advertising your own services.
Join similar Facebook groups on food and wine festivals, outdoor markets or wedding planners in your area.
These are a great way to gain localized coverage and to get your mobile bar in front of your local community.
Again, be helpful, provide useful information, and when the time is right, let group members know about your business.
Events such as wedding fairs can be time consuming, and they can be expensive, but they can also be a great way of kick-starting your mobile bar business bookings.
They are a direct ticket to getting in front of eager customers who you know are actively planning their big day.
Food truck meets, food and wine events, outdoor markets and festivals are another great way to gain exposure.
You may have to pay for entry, and even give away your time/products for free but you can be sure that you’ll be in front of lots of potential customers.
Playing the long game online.
This section of marketing deserves a blog post all to itself but as a small business it’s important that you get the basics of SEO correct as it can be a cheap and powerful way to advertise your business.
That basically means ranking higher on google and more people finding your website.
As a minimum, your website should have a proper structure, heading tags in place, include industry keywords, have plenty of backlinks, and ideally be publishing good quality, regular content.
Starting a blog and producing an SEO friendly blog post after each event is a great way to do this.
Not too sure where to start with SEO?
All Roll To profiles and blog posts are SEO friendly and structured to help you be found online by interested customers.
We produce regular content for members looking to stay on top of their online presence.
Cold outreach is hard but could be worth looking at if you’re in search of specific customers or partnerships (although bear in mind that this avenue can be time intensive).
Dedicate a day or a weekend to building a list of your ideal venues, event planners, brands, breweries, vineyards, or anyone else that you might like to partner with.
Create an email template that you can lightly personalize with a first name and message (hint: compliments work well here!).
Introduce yourself, let the recipient know what your mobile bar business consists of and propose some areas in which you might be able to partner.
Want to take email marketing to the next level? Start your own e-mail newsletter.
Add a signup page or form to your website and begin to gather email addresses.
Try to write to your list at least once a month to let them know about any updates around your business, special offers and your availability.
That potential customer on your email list may not be in a position to book you right now but by staying at the forefront of their mind you will hopefully be the first mobile bar that they think of when they are ready.
Roll To vendors are included on a regular newsletter sent to groups such as those mentioned above.
We are always trying to put your business in front of potential clients.
You’ve done the hard part and started to get the event booking wheel spinning.
Of course, it goes without saying that you want to be on your absolute A game at events.
A good impression with your clients and their guests could mean at worst a positive online review (very valuable), and at best, many more bookings from those in attendance (super valuable!).
Where possible, speak with every customer you serve, go above and beyond and serve with a smile! Remember, in the events industry, everyone you speak to is a potential client.
If you have the time, take down phone numbers and email addresses and hand out business cards.
Be sure to follow up with your event hosts with a thank you message, a personal story or highlight from the event and request a review/testimonial that your client would be happy for you to use online.
Be sure to create a listing on event vendor directories such as Yelp, The Knot, Zola. Most offer free tiers to get started with and these websites see a lot of online traffic.
Unfortunately, you can get buried within these mammoth platforms.
Here at Roll To we’re trying to solve that problem by building a marketplace that showcases mobile bars and mobile bars only.
Visitors to our site can then refine their search by location, category or event type.
Setting up a Roll To profile is super easy.
We’ll then work with you one-on-one to ensure that you are receiving maximum value from the platform.
Employing a PR agency can be an expensive business but why not create your own positive press?
A lot of local magazines, newspapers, niche blogs, YouTube channels and other media outlets are on the hunt for fresh content and love to feature new businesses or local entrepreneurs.
Reach out to them and let them know that you’d be interested in being featured.
This can be great press for your local area and drive traffic to your website or social media channels.
Are you a budding writer yourself?
Produce your own blog and event recaps so that visitors to your site can see behind the scenes and just how valuable your mobile bar was to your client’s big day.
Check out the Roll To blog for inspiration.
Become a preferred supplier for event planners and venues.
Repeat customers in the wedding industry are hard – hopefully couples will only need to get married once!
But working with event planners can mean repeat bookings all year round.
Planners will be inclined to recommend you to their clients and showcase your business on their own social media accounts and websites.
Plus event planners aren’t restricted to just weddings and can help you diversify your event portfolio with birthdays, graduation parties and showers.
Similarly, lots of event venues are happy to list recommended clients in order to help their clients have the very best event.
This is a great way to receive recurring bookings for a specific location.
You can also look to partner with other vendors and businesses such as photographers, florists, furniture suppliers, bakers, models and more who are also trying to showcase their talents.
Work together and you can create some awesome content to help customer visualize what you can do for them.
In short, look to create relationships and take part in anything that allows you to get your mobile bar on the road, making connections and working events.
The sheer extent of marketing options can seem scary and a little overwhelming, but you don’t have to go all in on every one of the channels laid out above.
Try a few, see what works and what doesn’t work for you and then double down on those that do.
Repeat the process and you’ll soon end up with a few marketing exercises that are reaping rewards for you to really hone in on (extra points if they are tasks that you enjoy carrying out and get your creative juices flowing).
Here at Roll To, we take away a lot of the stress of marketing your mobile bar business.
All mobile bar profiles are SEO friendly, we promote mobile bars on our social media channels, our email newsletter is sent to a growing list of event planners, venues, brands and other potential clients, we endorse bars on our blog and we love showcasing your business.
And if you’d like to speak further about how to market your mobile bar business, please do reach out as we would love to help!