As a bar owner, you can use social media to connect with new patrons almost immediately. And you can keep the conversations going with customers in real time, turning them into regulars.
In case you're wondering, the term social media describes a set of Internet applications or websites that bring together a group of users who share common interests and interact with each other by sharing content and opinions.
A new bar owner needs to get on the following social media sites ASAP:
Facebook: Even if you don't set up a website immediately, get a Facebook page for your bar. You can easily post pics of your food and drinks, create events and invite patrons to them, and start spreading the word. You can encourage people to "like" your page and grow the number of people who see your posts quickly and easily.
Twitter: Setting up a Twitter account is a great way for you to let the world see your bar's personality, 140 characters at a time.
Sure, you want to alert followers about awesome stuff going on at your place, but Twitter is more of a place to share information and thoughts. So you definitely want to remind people that you're serving 2-for-1 drafts tonight, but you also can express your concern and outrage over a possible worldwide bacon shortage.
Yelp: Yelp is an online place where people search out nearby restaurants and bars, looking for qualitative information. So they want to see what's nearby, but more importantly, they want to see nearby places other users think are great.
Yelp sets up pages for bars and venues, and then bar owners claim them and get access to some fairly robust user data for free. You can use this data to direct your marketing messages more effectively.
Foursquare: Foursquare is similar to Yelp in that it's a location-based tool where users rate local bars and restaurants. Foursquare also sets up the bar's profile, and then you claim it as the owner. Additionally, you can keep tabs on how many users are checking in at your bar and even target specific offers to your most loyal customers.