Pub social media ideas that get people through the door

The pub social media ideas that work best come from what's already going on in your building: what's on the bar, what's coming out of the kitchen, this week's events and matches, the people who work there, the building itself, the area around you and the time of year. Mix those across three to five posts a week, and make every post tell people when to come in.

#What should a pub post on social media?

Post anything that gives a local a reason to come in, with a time attached. "New pale on" is a reason. "New pale from Harbour Lane Brewery, on from 5pm tonight, 4.2% and far too easy to drink" is a reason with a time and a bit of personality, and that's the version that gets someone off the sofa on a wet Wednesday.

Most of your ideas will come from seven places. You won't use all of them every week (nobody does), but rotating through them stops the feed turning into the same photo of the same bar on repeat:

• What's on the bar and down in the cellar
• The food, the kitchen and the specials board
• Events and the big matches
• Your staff, your regulars and the pub dog
• The building itself, from the open fire to the beer garden
• The local area and the people who supply you
• The time of year

I'd take a slightly wonky phone photo of your own bar over a polished stock image every time, because regulars recognise their pub and a stock photo of somebody else's bar tells them nothing.

#Ideas from behind the bar

Your bar changes more often than you think, and every change is a post.

• A new guest ale or keg going on, with where it's from and what it tastes like
• The cask being tapped, or the lines being cleaned (people like seeing the care that goes in)
• A slow, close-up video of the perfect pour, sound left on
• The bar manager's pick of the week, with one honest line about why
• The cocktail or spritz of the month, made start to finish in about 20 seconds
• Your low and no-alcohol range, photographed as properly as the beer
• The bar snacks, from the scotch egg to the cheese board that nobody ever shares

Video works well here because it's quick to shoot and there's real movement in it. Instagram says it ranks Reels partly on how likely someone is to watch one all the way through, like it or reshare it (Instagram), so keep clips short and get to the pour in the first second or two. Nobody needs ten seconds of a glass sitting on a drip tray.

#Food ideas that make people hungry

Shoot the dish as it leaves the pass, close up, in daylight if you can get it, and say when it's on.

• The dish of the week, photographed before it goes out to the table
• The specials board, shot straight on so people can actually read it
• The Sunday roast being carved (five seconds of video does more than a still)
• Chef making something from scratch: pastry, gravy, proper chips
• The kids' menu and the dog biscuits, for families working out where to go
• A "new on the menu" post the day a dish launches, then a second one once the regulars have tried it

Timing matters more with food than almost anything else. A roast post at 9pm on Sunday is a photo of a dinner people have already eaten somewhere else, so I'd put it up on Saturday evening or Sunday morning while they're still deciding (there's more on this in the best time to post for pubs). If your food shots look flat or a bit yellow, the phone food photography guide covers light and angles.

#Event and match-day posts

Give every event at least three posts: one about a week before, one the day before and one on the day.

• Last week's winning quiz team, this week's jackpot and a sample question in Stories
• A short clip of the band or singer from a recent gig (ask them first), with the start time
• Kick-off time for the big match, which screens, sound on or off, and whether you take bookings
• A "tables still free tonight" post at about 4pm on the evenings that need it
• After the event, a photo of the room (with permission) and the date of the next one

On Facebook, set each one up as an event from your Page (Facebook Help Centre shows how), so people can share it into the group chat. There's a fuller walkthrough in how to promote pub events, and matches get their own guide on match-day posts, covering what to post before, during and after the game.

#People: your staff, regulars and the pub dog

People follow pubs for the people as much as the beer, I reckon, so get your team on the feed.

• One member of staff a week, with one photo and one line ("Jo's been behind this bar for nine years and still won't share her quiz answers")
• Staff picks, like their favourite pint or the thing they'd order on a night off
• Regulars' milestones, such as a 70th in the snug or the darts team winning the league (with their say-so)
• The pub dog, obviously (I'd bet it beats the specials board for likes)
• Your brewer, butcher or the band, posted together with them

Instagram's Collab feature makes that last one easy. It lets two accounts co-author one post, so it shows on both profiles and goes to both sets of followers (Gulf News, reporting Instagram's launch). A collab with the brewery whose beer you've just put on puts your pub in front of people who already like that beer.

Ask before you post anyone's face, staff included, and if someone asks you to take a photo down, do it the same day. With children, get a clear yes from the parent or leave them out of shot.

#The building, the local area and the seasons

Your building and your patch are things no chain can copy, so use them.

#The building

• The first fire of the autumn, posted the day you light it
• The beer garden opening up, or the heaters going on
• The snug or function room you hire out, with how many it seats and how to book
• Something odd about the place: the date carved over the door, the old brewery sign, the ghost the regulars swear by
• Repairs and refurbs, ideally with a before and after

#Local

• The farm, butcher or baker you buy from, with a name and a face
• A walk or cycle route that finishes at your door (dog walkers love these)
• What's on nearby, like the market, the 10k or the panto, and when your kitchen's open around it
• The local football team or school fair you sponsor

#Seasonal

The calendar hands you free reasons to post. Halloween 2026 is a Saturday (31 October) and Bonfire Night falls on Thursday 5 November. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, and the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December (GOV.UK). Looking further ahead, Good Friday 2027 is 26 March and Easter Monday is 29 March, from the same GOV.UK list.

If your Christmas 2026 menu isn't on your feed by mid-October, I'd get it up straight away. For the full year, with every date worth planning around, see the hospitality marketing calendar for 2027.

#A sample week of pub posts

Here's how a normal week might look for a pub that does food, runs a Thursday quiz and shows football.

The shape is deliberate. Monday and Tuesday are usually the quiet ones, so they get easy, friendly posts plus a reason to come in midweek. Thursday and Friday catch people making weekend plans. Saturday's match post goes up in the morning, and the roast goes out on Saturday evening so it's in front of people before they've booked somewhere else for Sunday.

That's five feed posts and a handful of Stories, which sounds like a lot until you notice most of them take two minutes. Shoot a dozen photos on a quiet afternoon, write the week's captions in one sitting, schedule them, and you're done until next Monday. If the planning is the part that never gets done, Venuesmith turns a sentence about what's coming up into an editable plan of up to six weeks of posts, and nothing goes out until you've approved it.

Ideas that worked are worth repeating, too. A good quiz post can run every week with a new photo and the new jackpot. Regulars won't mind, and most new followers will be seeing it for the first time anyway.