Marketing for independent hospitality.
From the first booking to the regulars.
I pulled my first pints in a Young’s pub, ran marketing for a pub group, and built a brewery taproom’s events and private hire from scratch. I know what a venue’s week looks like, and how little of it is left for marketing.
Sound familiar?
- Costs keep climbing, so every cover has to work harder.
- People are going out less, and choosing more carefully when they do.
- You’ve thought about closing early in the week, because it’s cheaper than filling it.
- There’s no one doing the marketing, so it falls to whoever has a spare minute.
- Your team would post more if they had the photos, the templates and the go-ahead.
- You have a marketing person, but you’re not sure how to lead them or help them grow.
If two or more ring true, it’s time someone owned your marketing.
Your marketing, owned.
Someone owns your marketing, and it isn’t you.
You get your time back, and you can leave it with someone who’s done it before.
A place people come back to.
A plan led by your guests and your numbers, where brand, menu, price and the room all pull together, so you’re a local, not a door you open and hope for the best.
Your team, on board.
I lead your marketing person, in-house or freelance, and mentor them so they grow in the role. Where it helps, I train someone in each venue to run its social, with branded templates and real photos, or I bring in specialists I trust and look after them.
Where I help
Strategy and plans
Where the business is going and how marketing gets it there. Commercial goals, a marketing plan and a budget, and a calendar built around your seasons, from summer festivals to Christmas.
Brand
Why guests pick you over the place next door. Identity, tone of voice and menus people can read, plus a group brand that still lets each venue keep its own personality.
Bookings, events and private hire
Pre-booked parties, events menus and private hire packages that fill the diary, especially the quiet nights. Christmas planned before anyone else has started.
CRM, reviews and loyalty
Turn first visits into regulars. Wifi sign-ups into an email list, email flows and campaigns, loyalty, and your Google and Tripadvisor reviews read and answered in one place. I’m a Klaviyo partner.
See some of the email work: Brewser · East Pizzas
How we’d work together
It starts with a free 30-minute call. You tell me what’s going on in the business, and I come back with an accurate quote. Then take one, or a mix of all three, shaped around you.
Someone to own the marketing
We set the commercial goals together, then I build the strategy and the plan, lead the work and your team, and bring in the specialists you need.
Clear direction, for you to run
A two-hour strategy session with a written plan in your inbox within 48 hours, or a marketing audit of everything a guest meets, from finding you online to the bill. I hand it over, train the team and stay on hand for questions.
The hands-on build
Websites, Klaviyo flows and campaigns that run without you, wifi sign-ups, loyalty and retention.
Because I’m fractional, I can scale up when there’s a launch or a lot to build, and back down as things settle.
The work
Cityglen Pub Co.I ran marketing for a pub group
Four London pubs, just refurbished and moving from wet-led to premium gastro. One shared marketing plan across all four, and each one kept its own identity and community.
Read more →
Moonwake Beer Co.I was the first hire at a brewery
Two brewers, a building site and no beer yet. Building the brand and the customer base from nothing, and getting it into the taproom, the shelf and the trade.
BrewserI grew a beer subscription
A craft beer box that had nailed the beer geek and wanted to be approachable. Fixing the website, the process and the reasons people were leaving, before spending anything.
Read more →Also worked with Young’s Pubs, Black Dog Beer House and The Dodo Micropub.
In numbers
Moonwake Beer Co.
Young’s Pubs
Behind the bar
- Pulled my first pints at a Young’s pub, then joined its sales and marketing team across premium pubs, boutique hotels and wedding venues.
- Senior bartender at Black Dog Beer House from before it opened. I helped paint the loos.
- Group marketing manager for Cityglen Pub Co., four London pubs moving from wet-led to premium gastro.
- First hire at Moonwake Beer Co., where I shaped the taproom from concept and built its events and private hire.
- Judge for SIBA’s Indie Beer Awards.
“Sarah is brilliant and her work has shown measurable ROI.”
“Sarah’s creation of a referral system led to a significant increase in revenue, and we likely wouldn’t have achieved our commercial goals without Sarah driving this scheme from idea to execution.”
Start with a chat.
If you’re running somewhere good and you’re not sure what to do next, or whether what you’re doing is working, get in touch and we’ll work it out.