Now that the leaves are starting to change and sweater weather is upon us, you may find that your brewery or winery sees a dip in sales as folks leave patios for cozy living rooms. Here are more than 25 ideas to incorporate into your fall and winter marketing plans to keep your regulars returning and new customers finally giving you a try.

Events to Draw In Off-Season Crowds

Host events on evenings you are typically slower like Mondays and Tuesdays. These can include trivia, bingo, puzzle races, and scavenger hunts. Here on the Pastimes team, Jess goes to as many puzzle races as she can in our state and they are always sold out. If you haven’t tried it, ask your peers how successful it was for them.

Other event ideas include more casual events less focused on competition like board games, movie nights, and stitch and crochet hangs.

Live music from local up-and-coming artists may also bring in small crowds. While you’ll need to pay the musician for their talent, they’ll likely cross-promote the event and get more folks than usual in your space.

Food, snack, candy, cheese, or cookie pairings are always a hit for folks looking to try new flavors. Have we been to all of these? Yes! 

Speaking of pairings, cuffing season is in full swing so hosting a singles meet-up could be fun for everyone. Or, simply a girls’ night out.

Pumpkin carving and costume contests usually draw excitement in the fall. Perhaps try combining that with a singalong night. For example, you could play the music from Sweeney Todd or Rocky Horror Picture Show and give prizes to the folks with the best on-theme costumes.

Costume parties are fun all winter long too with a Santa suit or ugly sweater party.

Embrace the chill with fun wintery activities like curling, ice skating, ice sculpting, sledding, or snowman-building contests depending on your space.

Teach a new skill. That can mean inviting an outside expert to teach a painting or drawing class, or a comprehensive sour beer school or wine blending course.

You probably already offer tours of your winery or brewery, but you could offer something more in-depth or behind the scenes or focus on a particular topic or style. “Meet the brewer or winemaker” dinners are also popular.

Host a release party for your new winter product lines. Offer specialty flights of these items and discounts to purchase cans, bottles, or gift sets.

You can host Friendsgiving, a tree lighting ceremony, or an unveiling of your elaborate seasonal decor with photo opportunities. 

Run Seasonal Specials To Reward Regulars

Of course, the events will keep you busy but how do you get the folks who came in once to keep coming back all season long? 

Offer a loyalty program like a winter warmer tasting trail or teacher and nurse specials.

You could also lean into the bit if you are located in an area that gets snow days. Consider selling take-out Snow Day Preparation Kits with a bottle of wine or six-pack the night before a big storm in anticipation of staying home with the kiddos the next day. 

Connect With Customers In Other Ways

Demonstrate your values by supporting a local cause together. That could be a local children’s theater, a food bank, climate change initiatives, or election parties.

Encourage folks to come in and watch interesting sports like ESPN8 or the Winter Olympics next year. Women’s sports are huge these days, so make sure you have those games on the TVs as well.

Cozy up your space. Is there an opportunity for a fire pit or igloos in addition to your awesome seasonal decor inside your space?

Consider how you can collaborate with other local businesses like bookstores or gyms which may be more popular during your off-season. 

Refresh your merch with warmer options like beanies, hoodies, and blankets.

Host influencers in your spaces so they might post and their followers will check out your space based on their recommendations.

Host a giveaway or photo contest on social media. And of course, don’t forget to post all of the above on your website and social media with plenty of advance notice and share photos afterward.

This can be a lot of work while you’re busy prepping for next season, so we’d love to help you promote some of these marketing tactics. Reach out to start a conversation about it.