Quick answer: Offer the venue something useful instead of asking it to advertise for you. Supply quality coasters free of charge, print your business on one side and the venue’s own message or specials on the other, and start with a handful of local pubs and clubs where you already have a connection. Then keep the busy ones stocked.
How do you convince a pub or club to actually use your coasters in their venue?
Custom coasters aren’t just for hospitality businesses. We’re seeing more tradies and local businesses using branded coasters as a simple way to put their business in front of potential customers.
But there’s an obvious question:
How do you convince a pub or club to actually use them?
The answer is to make it worthwhile for the venue too.
How Do You Get a Venue to Use Your Coasters?
Don’t approach the venue asking them to advertise your business.
Instead, offer them something useful:
“We’ve had some professional drink coasters printed for our business and we’d be happy to supply your venue with a few hundred completely free of charge.”
The venue gets quality coasters it can use on its tables and bar. You get your business in front of local customers.
Start with venues where you already have some connection — your local pub, sporting club, bowls club, golf club, RSL or a hospitality business you’ve previously worked for.
What can you offer a venue in return?
Here’s where you can make the proposition even stronger.
Use one side of the coaster to advertise your business and the other side to promote the venue.
For example:
SIDE 1 – YOUR BUSINESS
Smithy’s Plumbing
Blocked drain? We’re here to help.
Phone + QR code
SIDE 2 – THE VENUE
Proud to support our local pub
Ask about today’s lunch specials.
Now the venue isn’t simply displaying somebody else’s advertising — they’re getting their own promotional message as well.
What Should You Say to the Venue?
Hi, I’m a local [plumber/electrician/builder] and I’ve had some professional coasters printed for my business. I’d be happy to supply your venue with 500 coasters free of charge if you’d like to use them. We can even put your venue’s message or promotion on the reverse. Can I drop in a sample for you to have a look at?
How many venues should you start with?
You don’t need your coasters in 50 pubs.
For a local business, a handful of well-chosen venues in your service area could be much more valuable than distributing them everywhere.
Start with perhaps three to five local venues. Supply a manageable quantity, keep in touch and replenish the venues where they’re being used.
You could even create slightly different designs for different areas or venues and use unique QR codes to see which locations generate the most interest.
Ready to Create Your Own Advertising Coasters?
At Custom Coasters Australia, we print professional custom beer coasters for businesses throughout Australia, with short runs available from 500 coasters.
Whether you’re a plumber, electrician, builder, landscaper or local business looking for a different way to get noticed, we can help you create a coaster that’s designed to work as an advertising tool.
Have an idea but aren’t sure what to put on your coaster?
Receive Pricing and Options
Fast, no-obligation pricing for your custom coaster campaign.
How much does a pub and club coaster campaign cost?
A local trade campaign only needs a short run. Our minimum is 500 coasters, there are no setup fees, and every price below is ex GST, with delivery quoted per order.
| Quantity | Shape | One side (365gsm) | Both sides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | Round or square | $150 + GST | $160 + GST |
| 1,000 | Square | $150 + GST | $375 + GST (390gsm) |
| 1,000 | Round | $195 + GST | $390 + GST (390gsm) |
Two lines in that table matter for a pub campaign. First, 1,000 square coasters printed on one side cost the same as 500, so if you are supplying more than one venue, the bigger run makes sense. Second, if you want the venue’s specials or a thank you message on the back, double sided on a run of 500 costs very little more than single sided.
Both quantities are printed digitally and dispatched within 48 hours, so a venue that says yes isn’t kept waiting. If you have no artwork, design costs nothing for simple layouts or for new customers, and complex graphics are $90 + GST.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start where you already have a connection: your local pub, your sporting or bowls club, the golf club, the RSL, or a venue you have done work for. A manager who knows you is far more likely to say yes, and those venues tend to sit inside your service area anyway.
Our minimum run of 500 is a sensible amount per venue and an easy number to offer a publican. If you print one side only, 1,000 square coasters cost the same $150 + GST as 500, which covers two venues for the price of one. Top up the venues where the coasters actually get used.
Keeping it short and friendly. Your business name, one line on what you fix or build, a phone number and a QR code is plenty. A tidy design sits better with a publican than a hard sell, and crowded small text won’t be read across a table anyway.
Give each venue its own QR code, or a slightly different design, so every scan or call can be traced back to where the coaster sat. A separate landing page or offer code per venue does the same job. Over time you will see which pubs to restock and which to drop.
Yes, with the venue’s permission. Ask the manager for their logo file and the message they want, such as lunch specials or a line about supporting locals, and put it on the reverse side. Send them the proof before printing so they can sign it off. Double sided runs of 500 cost $160 + GST.
Keep reading
- More Hospitality Marketing guides
- Beer Coaster Marketing Ideas: How to Promote Your Business with Creative Coasters
- Custom Coasters for Sports Clubs and Game Day Events in Australia
- Beer Coasters for Tradies: The Cheapest Marketing Tool You’re Not Using
Before you knock on the publican’s door, find your trade in our coaster range by industry so you arrive with a sample worth leaving behind.
