Given the increasingly crowded craft beer industry, it’s becoming harder and harder to expect days of double-digit growth rates to continue across every craft beer category. With that in mind, here’s a list of 7 ways to boost craft beer sales in your on-premise establishment.

Get the pricing right

One easy way to change the momentum around beer sales is by changing the price. And, no, this does not mean lowering the price and treating a carefully made, artisanal beer as a commodity. What it does mean, however, is figuring out if you have the optimal pricing structure in order to convince customers to order your beers. If in doubt, it might be worth conducting a survey of your customers to see what types of prices are most attractive to them.

And you can also use a bit of sales psychology as well. For example, one Cornell University study found that people were more likely to order more from a menu without dollar signs or double zeroes. Thus, if your brewery has a taproom, why not try putting this little trick to work, and simply list the price of a beer as “7” instead of “$7”? Also, other studies have shown that you should never list any product from least expensive to most expensive because that subconsciously encourages price comparison. So, wherever you can, list beers in any other order than price order!

Rotate beer menus quickly

Within the beer industry, you’ll often see the term “rotation nation” used to describe aspects of the same phenomenon – customers are rotating into and out of beers at a very rapid pace. This is good news for overall beer sales, but it’s not good news for customer loyalty. Even long-time customers might decide to leave if they decide that they are not being given enough access to new beer styles and beer brands.

The best possible solution here is to rotate beer menus quickly. This is particularly true if most of your customers are diehard craft beer fans. While it can be a bit head-spinning keeping up with constantly-changing menus, there is one silver lining in this cloud: you get to promote your newest and latest beers on social media. What could be better than a fantastic Instagram photo showcasing some of the newest beers on your menu?

Know your customer

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to segment your customer base beyond just age or gender. What this means in practical terms is coming up with a list of at least 2-3 different customer profiles that you think represent your biggest and best customers. For each of these “psychographic”  (as opposed to “demographic”) consumer profiles,  your job is to find a marketing message that will resonate with them.

For example, one classic customer profile is the “craft guru millennial” – the younger craft beer drinker who enjoys hanging out with friends to discuss new craft beers and post photos of them on social media. So you will definitely have to refine your sales and marketing message so that it emphasizes the authentic, local craft beer experience.

Most likely, you are already serving (or even super-serving) this valuable part of your customer base. But are there others that you may be having a harder time convincing to become a regular customer? For example, what about the standard lager or IPA drinker who isn’t so fond of funky sour beers or super-hoppy double IPA? You need to make sure that you have products that resonate with them as well, such as a craft American Lager.

Host innovative events

There are some events – like Happy Hours – that are so tried-and-true and traditional that they might not move the needle with craft beer drinkers. Even if you promote a fun new Happy Hour featuring new craft brews from local breweries, you might find that attendance is not nearly as high as you expected. So you’ll have to aim higher.

One idea that is catching on, for example, is known as the “Tap Takeover.” This is one night when an on-premise establishment invites a local craft brewer to take over the taps (literally), and turn the night into a combination of beer tasting and beer education night. Of course, these events go over best if the head brewmaster can attend, and add a bit of celebrity theatrical buzz to the whole event.

And, of course, you can simply host Beer Release parties. The most obvious candidate is the new release of a seasonal brew around Oktoberfest – a time when people are starting to get into the festive, holiday mood and are changing from lighter summertime craft brews to darker autumnal brews. You could just as easily host a Beer Release party in Spring or Summer, two other times when it feels right to celebrate the arrival of a special edition or limited release craft beer.

Encourage customer reviews on social media, review sites and apps

Craft breweries can play a role, too, by encouraging their fans and followers to post customer reviews all over social media. Beer review sites are also popular, and a great way to show your appreciation for a local craft brewery. And, given the ubiquity of digital devices in our daily lives, it’s also worthwhile to consider how you can generate word-of-mouth buzz on apps like Untappd or Taphunter, both places where beer fans can write, read and leave reviews.

Hold beer education events

It’s almost a cliché in the world of sales, but a well-educated consumer is a good consumer. If you are not doing so already, reinvest what you can in beer education and training events. If waitstaff members and bartenders know a lot about a specific beer or beer style, they will be a lot more willing to recommend it to patrons. And regular patrons who are invited to special VIP beer seminars on beermaking are going to be a lot more willing to purchase beers later down the road.

Hop aboard new trends

Finally, you have to be willing to jump aboard new trends. It can sometimes be difficult trying to separate the “signal” from the “noise,” but if you see a new beer style surging in popularity (such as New England IPA), then it’s worthwhile investigating whether you should be adding it to your bar or restaurant menu. At the very least, it’s worth trying to find out why a certain trend is popular and then inferring how customer tastes and preferences might be shifting.

Using these 7 steps above, you will have new ideas for boosting craft beer sales at your on-premise establishment. Best of all, all of these ideas offer superior bang-for-the-buck, ensuring that you can boost your margins at the same time as you are boosting your sales.