The ultimate event promotion and marketing checklist for bars, restaurants, and cafés

Hosting an event is one thing. Getting people to show up? That’s where event promotion comes in.

As a restaurant owner, the right event promotion can make or break attendance. The good news? You don’t need a huge marketing team or a big budget. You just need a smart plan, the right outreach, and tools that save you time.

Let’s clear something up first. What is event marketing? When corporate marketers say, event marketing, they mean using events, like trade shows or pop-ups, to promote their product or brand. But in this blog, we’re talking about marketing your event to get more people through the door. That’s event promotion: everything you do to raise awareness, drive RSVPs, and fill seats.

And it pays off—literally. In fact, 47% of event marketers say in-person events deliver the highest ROI of all their marketing efforts, according to NextGen Event Co. That’s reason enough to make your next event count.

We’ve pulled together a complete event promotion checklist for restaurants, cafés, bars, and nightclubs. From real-world tactics to digital outreach, you’ll find everything you need to run a successful event, without missing a beat. Let’s dive in!

Key takeaways

1. Create a plan

A solid plan is essential for effective event promotion. It helps you stay organized, ensure you don’t miss key opportunities, and maximize your event’s success. Without a plan, you risk wasting time and resources on ineffective tactics.

When marketing an event, clear strategy ensures that all your efforts, whether online or offline, are aligned and working towards the same goal. By setting your goals, budget, and marketing tactics upfront, you can avoid costly mistakes and make your event promotion more efficient.

Let’s break down the steps for creating your event promotion plan.

Set goals

Setting goals for your event is important because it gives you something to aim for. Think of it like a roadmap: it helps you know where you want to go and how to get there.

When setting goals, you should think about two types:

• General goals: These are bigger picture goals, like creating awareness for your bar event or increasing brand loyalty for your café.
• Numeric goals: These are specific, measurable targets, like setting a goal for the number of attendees or how much revenue you want to make. For example, you might set a goal of having 100 people attend your nightclub event or hitting $1,000 in ticket sales.

Identifying your audience is also key. Are you targeting your current customers? Or are you looking to attract new ones? Knowing this helps you create a clear plan for your event promotion and pick the right marketing methods, design, and budget.

Set budget, assess resources

Setting a budget is simple; it’s figuring out how much money you’re willing to spend on promoting your event.

But it’s not just about the cash. You also need to think about your resources—people, time, and effort. Do you have staff to help promote your event? How much time can you dedicate to event marketing? These factors influence your tactics.

Here’s a quick checklist to help you prioritize:

• Design: Invest in professional-looking visuals. Use free or affordable tools like PosterMyWall to create event flyers, social media posts, and digital signage without hiring a designer.
• Promotion channels: Focus on platforms where your audience already spends time: social media, email, or in-store.
• Incentives: Set aside a small budget for incentives like a free drink for the first 20 guests or a giveaway to boost RSVPs.
• Time: Budget your time, too. Only take on as much as you can handle. Assign tasks to your team or schedule content in advance to avoid having to do everything last minute.

By clearly assessing both your budget and available resources, you can choose the best event marketing strategies without overspending or burning out.

2. Create your design

Design is key to event promotion. It grabs attention, sets the tone, and makes your event memorable. A strong design gives your event a professional look and helps it stand out.

Your design communicates your event’s vibe and purpose. For example, nightclub promotion ideas might call for bold, edgy visuals, while a fine dining restaurant event might require a more elegant approach. Your design should speak to your target audience: if you’re targeting young professionals, you’ll want something trendy and modern, and if you’re focusing on family-friendly restaurant event ideas, a more inviting and casual design would work best. Similarly, bar marketing ideas should have a vibrant feel that matches the atmosphere of your venue.

Design tips for your event promotion:

• Consider demographics: Tailor your design to your audience’s age, interests, and lifestyle. Choose colors, fonts, and images that appeal to them.
• Keep it clear and simple: Highlight key details like date, time, and location. Avoid clutter to make the information easy to read and understand.
• Consider a unique logo or branding: For larger events or recurring ones, use a custom logo or event-specific branding to build recognition. For smaller events, a clean, bold text treatment works well. You can use PosterMyWall logo templates and Brand Kits to create a cohesive design.
• Make it consistent across platforms: Whether designing flyers, social media posts, or schedules, keep your design uniform across all platforms. PosterMyWall’s Resize tool lets you easily adjust your design for all platforms, ensuring consistency and saving time.

To streamline the design process, use PosterMyWall. With a huge library of customizable templates, it lets you easily create eye-catching event flyers, social media posts, and event schedules in minutes.

Bonus: PosterMyWall’s social media publishing suite lets you directly share your content on your favorite platforms, saving you time and effort while keeping your promotional efforts organized.

3. Select outreach tactics

There are plenty of event marketing best practices and tactics that you can use to promote your event. The right ones depend on your event’s scale, your audience, budget, and resources. You can keep things simple with a few basics or go all out with countdown campaigns, paid ads, and more. 

To make sure you’re on track, use an event marketing timeline to map out when each tactic should be implemented. Here’s a breakdown of the main outreach tactics, how they work, and when to use them.

The basics: In store and real-world:

These are all about creating buzz where your audience already is. Start by getting your staff involved, have them talk about the event while serving customers or before/after other events. Word-of-mouth can go a long way.

• Posters & table cards: Place them where your customers can see them, like on tables, walls, or counters.
• Flyers: Hand them out in the local area or place them where people will notice.
• Digital signage: If you have screens in your space, use them to promote the event.

Effective for: Engaging your regulars and locals for smaller, in-person events like happy hours or karaoke nights.

The basics: Digital outreach

Digital strategies help you reach a wider audience. Here are some key methods:

• Social media: Post about your event with engaging content. Design and share using PosterMyWall event social media post templates, go live with a staff member talking about the event, or share behind-the-scenes previews.
• Email: Send out a reminder or an invitation with key details and a CTA to RSVP. Use PosterMyWall event promotion email templates to streamline the process. With a wide selection of event schedule email templates, you can easily customize and send professional emails in no time.
• Event landing page: Have a dedicated page on an event promotion platform where people can learn more and sign up. With PosterMyWall events, you can instantly create eye-catching event pages, share them everywhere, send email invites, and manage RSVPs—all in one place. No extra tools, no stress!
• Post to local event sites: List your event on local event websites to get more exposure.
• SMS: Text reminders or exclusive event details to your audience.

Effective for: Reaching a broad online audience for larger events like festivals or special promotions.

Build more buzz

• Countdown campaign: Start counting down to your event to build excitement. This could be through social media posts or emails.
• Contest or ticket giveaway: Run a contest where participants have to promote your event on social media to win tickets. This can spread the word quickly.
• User-generated content: Encourage attendees to share their own content related to your event. Re-share their posts to show social proof.
• Teaser videos & behind-the-scenes content: Share sneak peeks or exclusive looks at your event to create anticipation.
• Event hashtag: Create a unique hashtag to track all event-related posts and encourage attendees to use it.

Effective for: Large events like festivals or grand openings where building excitement is key.

Collaborations and partnerships

• Cross-promote with local influencers or community groups: Partner with local influencers or community organizations to help spread the word.
• Sponsorships: Partner with a sponsor who can help promote your event and offset costs.

Effective for: Large-scale events needing more exposure or to maximize reach through partnerships.

Paid media

• Press release: Share a press release with local media outlets to get coverage of your event.
• Paid ads: Use paid ads on social media or search engines to target your audience with event details.

Effective for: Large, ticketed events or those that need to reach a specific audience beyond your local area.

Contests

• Time-sensitive incentives: Offer limited-time perks like free drinks or t-shirts to early registrants.
• Online polls or surveys: Run polls to engage your audience and gather insights before the event.

Effective for: Boosting registrations and excitement in the lead-up to your event.

At the event

• Capture photos & videos: Take high-quality photos and videos of your event to use in future event promotion.
• Photo booth or selfie stations: Set up a photo booth or a selfie station with fun props that guests can use to take pictures and share them on social media.
• Real-time social media engagements: Post live updates, stories, and go live to capture the event’s energy.
• Guest interviews: Interview guests or performers for engaging content that adds a personal touch.

Effective for: Large events with lots of activities, or smaller events where you want to build a personal connection.

Post-event outreach

• Recap/thank you campaign: Send out a thank-you email or post-event social media message to show your appreciation and remind attendees of the great time they had.
• Highlight reel: Create a short, exciting video summarizing the event’s best moments. This can include crowd reactions, performances, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage to share on social media or your website.
• Post event survey: Gather feedback from attendees to improve future events.
• Share testimonials & success stories: Post attendee testimonials, share success stories from the event, or highlight any positive outcomes or achievements.
• Post recap: Highlight key moments from the event, show off photos and videos, and note whether you achieved your goals.

Effective for: Building lasting relationships with attendees and keeping your event top-of-mind after it ends.

4. Create a schedule

Once you’ve chosen your tactics, it’s time to map them out on a schedule. This way, you’ll know exactly what needs to be done and when, keeping everything on track.

To make it easier for you, we’ve put together a downloadable schedule to help you stay organized and get things done quickly.

Once your schedule is done, you’re all set to run your campaign. This is where everything comes together. You know exactly what to do, when to do it, and how each tactic contributes to your overall goals. The schedule keeps you on track, so nothing falls through the cracks, and you can stay organized throughout the event promotion process.

Conclusion

By now, you’ve learned how to plan and execute an effective event promotion strategy. You’ll be able to create clear goals, set your budget, design your event materials, choose the right tactics, and follow a schedule to ensure everything runs smoothly. Whether it’s a small gathering or a large event, you have the tools and knowledge to drive awareness, increase RSVPs, and fill your venue. Now, it’s time to bring your plan to life and watch your event succeed!

FAQs

1) What tools does PosterMyWall offer for event marketing?

PosterMyWall provides an easy-to-use platform to design event flyers, emails, social media posts, and schedules. You can also resize your designs for different platforms and share them directly through social media, saving time and ensuring your content is consistent. And soon, you’ll be able to create and promote full events with PosterMyWall Events—all from one simple dashboard.

2) How can I effectively promote a small event on a limited budget?

For smaller events, focus on in-store promotions, social media, and email marketing. Utilize low-cost tactics like word-of-mouth, creating shareable content, and using tools like PosterMyWall to design high-quality flyers and social media posts that can be easily resized and shared.

3) Can I customize my designs for different types of events?

PosterMyWall offers thousands of customizable templates for all kinds of events—from corporate conferences and fundraisers to birthday parties and concerts. You can change text, colors, images, and fonts to match your event’s tone and audience.

4) Can I use PosterMyWall for social media promotions?

PosterMyWall lets you create social media posts tailored to each platform’s specifications. Whether it’s for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you can design eye-catching posts and directly share them, helping you drive awareness and engagement.

5) Can PosterMyWall help me with email marketing?

Yes! PosterMyWall offers customizable email templates specifically for event promotion. You can create and send professional event invites and reminders, keeping your audience engaged and reminding them to RSVP. Plus, with the AI Writer feature, you can easily generate catchy subject lines, engaging email copy, and even personalized messages to ensure your event stands out and gets the attention it deserves.