Nightclub & Bar 2015, the 30th anniversary of the convention and trade show, was the perfect time to experiment with a new series of seminars for an established segment of the industry: gentlemen’s clubs. To discuss promotions for adult entertainment venues, David Boehm of Club Consultant Pro 2.0 was the best choice. He has decades of experience in the industry, recalling a long-forgotten era when club owners and managers hired dancers as employees and actually handed them paychecks.
The first step to successful promotions is to understand your demographic. Ask yourself, “Who is coming into your club seven days a week?” Walk your club. Take in your guests. Make certain you understand your guests to target them effectively. Another key to successful promotion is employing a staff that’s actually willing to put in the work to make your business thrive.
A promotion doesn’t only translate to advertising. David advises that gentlemen’s clubs have one person greeting guests as they arrive and one person thanking them and telling them to come back. ‘Guests’ is another important point. “I hate the phrase customer. Customers go to Target and Walmart,” said David, “We deal with guests.” Treat the people coming into your venue as guests, not just customers. Avoid daily promotions and instead, learn what promotions actually work for your venue and stick with those. As you’ll likely need to spend money to promote effectively, bring your liquor reps in and ask them what they’re willing and able to do for you.
A couple more valuable tools are come-see-me cards and the utilization of concierges. David prefers to canvas a 20-mile radius of hotels, hand the cards to concierges and offer them $2 for each one that comes back through the doors of the club.
Of course, social media is a critical to success. Require your entire staff to check in when they arrive at work and post a set minimum times per day. To ensure this strategy’s effectiveness, designate an employee as the social media monitor. Finally, speak to your staff about what’s going on, what’s hot and create promotions based upon their feedback.