Social networking: Free for all
With few major towns and plenty of countryside you could be forgiven for thinking there's not much but fields, farms and cream teas beyond the western end of the M5. But a full hour's drive from Exeter, at the end of miles of country road, sits one of the best connected pubs in the UK.
The Pig's Nose Inn in East Prawle, Devon, may be the very definition of isolated but it still has a glowing Guardian review and has put on bands including the Boomtown Rats, The Animals and The Yardbirds.
This success is due, in part, to the pub's impressive online presence. The Pig's Nose's Facebook group has nearly 300 members, not counting its customer-made fan site. Every week the page is inundated by messages of praise from enthusiastic locals and one-off visitors. Effectively they have a visitor's book, but one that over 350 million Facebook users around the world can read.
Free marketing
So how has the internet changed marketing for your average pub? Richard Krueger, co-author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies, says it has cut out the middle man.
"Facebook represents a major shift in the way marketers and consumers interact," he says. "It turns traditional marketing on its head by changing the relationship so consumers have a direct dialogue with those businesses they identify with."
This makes marketing much easier for the smaller business, which has little or no advertising budget. The word of mouth that used to spread from person to person can now reach a national, online audience.
A simple Facebook page with photos, contact details, a short history and some customer testimonials takes minutes to do and requires very little upkeep. A Twitter feed, updated daily with promotions, events or just chat with other users, can give a friendly online face that can translate into customer loyalty.
Social media is not just about interacting, it's about getting drinkers through the door of your pub. With growing competition and smaller profit margins for many businesses, any edge that can be found is vital.
The Rose & Crown, a traditional pub in the centre of Oxford, is a case in point. Former lessees Andrew and Deborah Hall have run the pub for 25 years under a lease from Punch Taverns and have recently bought the freehold.
'The Rose and Crown (Oxford UK)' currently has 209 members on its Facebook page, which is updated regularly with offers, new cask ales and events, as well as services like obituaries, local news and information.
"I'm convinced that it's getting more people through the door," says Andrew. "It gets information out to those who want to know. If I have an offer, or a party happening, it goes straight on Facebook now."
Last February the licensees celebrated their 25th year at the pub with a party. Organised via Facebook, customers and old regulars were invited to come for a drink, with those unable to attend encouraged to pop in another time to celebrate. The night was a great success, according to Andrew, who said the pub was packed.
"The invitation raised the profile of the pub," he says. "We had lots of messages from people who couldn't make it congratulating us and promising to come in for drinks when they were in the area, which most did. In fact, some old regulars who moved to Melbourne a few years ago came in for a drink when they were visiting the UK."
As the pair are now going it alone, Andrew says that the Facebook exposure is more important than ever. "What's amazing is it's free of charge. If you advertise in a paper it can cost thousands of pounds to reach people who won't know or care who you are. On Facebook everyone I message knows, or wants to know, about the Rose & Crown," he says.
With very little effort, and in an immensely enjoyable way, the Rose and Crown is able to keep in touch with its customers and friends. For small pubs keeping a network is vital to business, and Facebook has allowed the pub to do this in a much quicker and more fulfilling way.
"There will undoubtedly be more websites that offer something different to pub owners, but Facebook is so immediate and so easy I'll always use it," asserts Mr Hall. "Keeping in touch with old customers is vital."
Lessons from the industry
Pubs can learn a lot from the models used by much larger corporations, who have to be quick to move on all networking opportunities. Brothers Cider spends a lot of time keeping in contact with drinkers through online marketing, most of which is done through sites like Twitter, Flickr and Facebook.
Matt Langley, marketing manager at Brothers, says: "It gives us direct contact with our consumers, and we can immediately act on things.
"We can announce competitions and drinks promotions in our outlets, we hear about stock issues and check them. Consumers always want to engage, so we're there to provide a way."
The way that consumers engage on social networks is of real use to businesses. They champion products, review events and pass on tips that lead to more sales and exposure. They generate the advertising content themselves. Reviews from real consumers always carry more weight than self-promotion.
When the 2006 Glastonbury Festival was cancelled, Brothers, which at the time was exclusively selling its cider at the festival, was left without an outlet. It set up an online campaign at www.efestivals.com to get the bottles in pub fridges and on supermarket shelves.
The company realised that the product had a market outside of Glastonbury, and since expanded throughout both the on and off-trades. With the internet constantly evolving there are more opportunities than ever to use social networking to reach the market.
Like choosing to advertise in any given place or media, picking the most relevant website is vital to success. Langley admits this is still not a science, but the consumers usually get there first anyway.
"Everyone is feeling their way still, there is a lot of trial and error. There is no book to read that tells you how to do it. We consider every new platform and if the consumer is talking about us there already then we try to get involved," he says.
Social media has the ability to create business, to save it, or simply to get the word out to those who matter. As a free medium it's an opportunity that publicans can't afford to miss.
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