6 Brewery Marketing and Event Ideas for Elevating the Customer Experience In Your Taproom

With nearly 10,000 breweries in the U.S. alone, competition in the industry can be stiff. If you want to stand out, brewing crowd-pleasing beers is only half the battle. To keep people coming back for more, you need to make your brewery an experience by organizing events, merchandise, and more. We’re sharing six brewery event ideas and marketing strategies that will help you do just that.

6 Brewery Marketing and Event Ideas

Implement one or all of these brewery marketing and event ideas to elevate your customer experience:

1. Introduce live entertainment
2. Host recurring events
3. Organize brewery tours
4. Plan food pop-ups
5. Embrace patio season
6. Allow pets and kids

1. Introduce Live Entertainment

Turn your brewery into a must-visit venue by offering live entertainment. Give local musicians, comedians, and other performers (drag night, anyone?) a platform for sharing their art.

Take inspiration from Working Hands Fermentation in Hood River, OR, which has live music multiple times a week. Post a schedule of performances on your website and promote them via your email newsletter and social media to encourage crowds. 

As your taproom fills up with people and music, equip your brewery with technology that will help customers get their drinks faster–and encourage them to order more–without taking a break from the fun. Instead of making guests wait at the bar, let them open tabs and order from anywhere with QR code ordering. Equip servers with a mobile POS to let them input orders from the taproom floor, instead of at a stationary POS.

2. Host Recurring Events

Engage customers and give them a reason to come back every week by hosting regular events at your brewery. Popular brewery event ideas include trivia, bingo, karaoke, and pitch-a-friend dating night.

Need even more ideas? Icicle Brewing Company of Leavenworth, WA organizes a ping pong tournament and Zambaldi Beer, located near Green Bay, WI, has a monthly beer and yoga class.

Not only do events elevate the customer experience, but they also help build brand loyalty. For example, a gift card prize for trivia incentivizes participants to come back and spend the gift card another time. Prizes like branded merch keep your brewery top of mind when customers slip on your brewery’s t-shirt or use your koozie. Recurring events, like a yoga class, give regulars something to look forward to. 

3. Organize Brewery Tours

Turn a visit to your brewery into an educational experience with behind-the-scenes tours. Show visitors around your facilities and teach them how their favorite brews are made. Offer tastings and sell beers for enjoyment in the taproom or to go. 

Selling tickets for tours and products during the experience creates a new revenue stream for your business. And, if you set up an online store, out-of-town visitors can reorder their favorites when they get home. 

Check out Oklahoma City’s Prairie Artisan Ales’ beer finder and online store for inspiration. Through the product finder, fans can see where they can find Prairie Artisan Ales near home. If visitors want the brewery’s branded graphic t-shirts and pickleball paddles, they can order them via the merch store.

4. Plan Food Pop-Ups

If you don’t already serve food but want to, why not partner with a local restaurant, caterer, or food truck for a pop-up or seasonal residency? Serving food helps customers stay longer because they won’t leave when they’re hungry. 

Hosting a food pop-up is a win-win for your brewery and your food partner because you can cross-promote each other on social media, in your newsletters, and through your other marketing channels.

Dry Falls Brewing Co. of Hendersonville, NC has a food truck parked outside of its taproom every day. Customers can look up food options on the brewery’s calendar before they arrive. From tacos and barbecue, to lobster and Caribbean delights, the brewery keeps things interesting through variety.

5. Embrace Patio Season

If your space and climate allow for it, create outdoor seating at your brewery to expand your capacity. In the colder months, add heaters and fire pits and sell s’mores kits. In the summer, set up cornhole and other lawn games to give people an excuse to linger–and keep ordering.

With QR code ordering, customers can order from anywhere on-premises. By serving themselves, they won’t have to leave the fun to go inside and wait at the bar to replenish their drinks. 

Icicle Brewing Company, whose outdoor space spills into the streets of Leavenworth, WA during summer months, optimized its service model and increased beer sales by 25% by equipping its taproom and patio with QR code ordering.

Another example of patio season done right is Nashville’s Diskin Cider. The venue has great outdoor seating, which allows locals and visitors to enjoy the city’s warm weather. A dog-friendly patio with various seating configurations make the cidery the perfect place to gather.

6. Allow Pets and Kids

If you don’t do so already, consider welcoming dogs and children to your taproom. Make sure to check your local laws first so you don’t get in trouble! Allowing these special guests can make your space more inclusive and expand your customer base to people who may otherwise have to find pet or child care to visit your brewery.

If you don’t want to allow two- and four-legged children at all times, you could welcome them during designated times. Take inspiration from Lost Boy Cider of Alexandria, VA, which has a yappy hour for dogs. Check your POS reports to optimize timing for an event like this. Schedule a stroller social or yappy hour when business is otherwise slow to boost sales. 

Wrapping Up: Embrace These Brewery Event Ideas for a Holistic Taproom Experience

Going to a brewery is no longer just about drinking beer. After all, your customers could drink beer at their local bar or at home. Instead, people seek out your brewery because they want to create memories. 

Turn your taproom into a full-fledged experience by hosting events and implementing our other brewery marketing ideas. While you’re at it, consider how technology can improve your taproom experience. 

With Arryved OpenTab, customers can help themselves. With a product finder and online merch shop built by Arryved, you can let out-of-town guests enjoy your brews in their neck of the woods. And with reporting from Arryved POS, you can see the data you need to plan promotions and events that will keep customers coming back for more. 
Want to learn more about Arryved? Request a demo today.