Top Tips for Promoting your Venue

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE BRAVO Awards IN 2025

At Restaurants Brighton, we know all about making an impact. We’re a small local company with just six people on our core team, yet we’ve learned how to create enough (good) noise online to rival multinationals like Tripadvisor, DesignMyNight, and Time Out. This proves it’s not about size—it’s about working smart.

The BRAVO Awards are a fantastic opportunity to spotlight your venue. Whether you win or place in the Top 20, the recognition can make a real difference to your business. It’s all about encouraging more votes, and more votes mean better results.

Winning or being placed in the Top 20 isn’t just an accolade—it’s a chance to amplify your venue’s reputation and connect with your community. With the right approach, the BRAVOs can make a difference to your business.

Let’s make this year one to remember!

BRAVO Cards and Customised Marketing for 2025

This year, we’re making a big change—we won’t be distributing BRAVO cards. While we know many of you loved them, we also recognise that a large number went unused. By skipping the printing and distribution of 70,000 cards, we’re giving you more freedom to customise your marketing.

You can now create your own print materials with your unique QR code and branding, helping you better target your audience. Plus, you’ll still have access to the full range of BRAVO branding assets we provide each year.

Keep an eye on our BRAVO newsletters for top tips and explore our FAQ page for more guidance.

Tailored promotions with print lord

This year, we’re excited to partner with Brighton-based printer Jim Cunliffe, who is offering all hospitality venues a range of customisable promotional items.

From tailored posters to promotional menus, flyers, and much more, Jim provides everything you need to showcase your venue to voters in your own unique way.

Simply choose the items that work best for your venue, and organise them directly with Jim.

This approach ensures you’re fully equipped to promote your venue in a way that aligns with your style and goals.

1. Make a Plan

Identify the BRAVO categories you think your venue can win and then go for it with a consistent campaign to encourage your voters. In 2025 you can be nominated in 4 categories.

Your plan should include elements, or all of the following activities:

Ask your customers to vote for you when you see them at your venue over the 6 week voting period. Display the QR code for your venue prominently whether on posters, menus, your website, your tablet or mobile phone.
Posting about the BRAVOs to your social media accounts daily to encourage your customers to vote for you. this includes Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter – whichever accounts you use.
Send news of the BRAVOs amongst the content in your email newsletter.

Your venue can only be nominated in five categories, but we recommend going for 3 categories then it means you can be sure to direct your voters to a few categories, rather than spreading the votes across a number of categories.

2. Use the marketing material we provide.

It is down to you and your team to organise yourself during the 6 week voting window, so you are best positioned to use the resources available.

Here are all the online marketing material assets you will require:

Icons for all categories
Artwork (for social media/ website) for all 18 categories so you can
The BRAVO logo
Bravo animations
posters to pin up at your venue

Use the posters we have dropped off to venues, or download and print one here.

Consistently give out the small BRAVO cards we have dropped off for you and encourage customers to vote for you. You must vote too, and your team, and your friends, and your family, so tell everyone!

You can use your unique voting page URL to send your customers directly to vote for you. This can be via your newsletter, a direct email, or via a social media platform. Find your voting URL by searching for your venue here. If you need a hand at any stage with this then email the BRAVO team.

Make sure you’re using strong Calls To Action (CTAs) that tell your customers what to do and why they should do it. A strong CTA looks like this: “Vote for us in the BRAVOs and you could win £200!”

Keep CTA’s simple. People don’t like to have too many actions!

>Here’s a link to your free marketing material once again.

3. Post to social media frequently.

Can you remember a social media post you saw a week ago? Two days ago? This morning? If your post doesn’t get an instant response it will get forgotten, so you need to make sure your message is being repeated. Set yourself a minimum number of posts per week and vary the messages (calls to action) and images so it isn’t spammy.

Maybe you could post about the BRAVOs 3 times a week, for 6 weeks. That is 18 posts in total. Make a plan, put it in your diary so you remember to consistently organise these posts.

Here is a link to new marketing material for this year. Here you will find category icons, BRAVO logos, BRAGo animation files, posters and much more.

If there is anything you would like us to help with, then let us know.

Instagram Reels

Embrace the instagram upward curve and try making short videos, edit them on Instagram and then post to your profile. If you can’t make reels, then this is an opportunity that could encourage you to learn how to do it; otherwise give the responsibility to someone else.

> Watch our guide to taking food photos with a smartphone for better social media posts

4. Engage with your customers.

Your front of house staff should be your greatest asset.

It’s the interactions that your team create which will determine whether your customers have had an okay time or a great time and you will know which customers will be happy to vote for you.

Make sure they’re telling your customers about the BRAVOs and how they’re excited to be nominated. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

> Read how the BRAVOs support your business

5.Stay focused.

Pick one, two or three categories to focus your votes and tell your customers how you’d like to be voted for. Remember, it’s not how big you are, it’s how clever you work.

Which categories do you think you can win, remember anyone can win, it’s down to the public to decide!

View all the 18 BRAVO categories for 2024.
If you’d like to change some of your nominations, get in touch at hello@restaurantsbrighton.co.uk

6.The hare and the tortoise.

You’re probably familiar with the story of the hare and the tortoise who have a race. Hare zooms off from the starting line at speeds Tortoise can’t dream to achieve. Pleased with his progress and confident he’ll win, Hare stops for a rest in the sun. Meanwhile, Tortoise slowly and steadily continues on his way crossing the finish line while Hare is still sleeping.

Be the tortoise, not the hare – you only cross the finish line if you stay in the race!

With six weeks of voting there are lots of customers to convert into voters.

Committing to push your BRAVO nominations to the very end with these simple steps is what will get you on a top-20 list.

7.Use the #BRAVO2025 Hashtag

Whenever you post to social media, please remember to use the #BRAVO2024 hashtag, and this means that the BRAVO team can discover your posts, which means we can share your content wherever possible.