3 Reasons To Have A Virtual Cocktail Workshop For Your Clients in 2022

As a business leader, you know that engaging and captivating your customers is key to success. And, with so many distractions available online

these days, it’s more important than ever to keep your customers engaged and entertained. That’s where virtual cocktail workshops come in!

Virtual cocktail workshops are a great way to increase engagement and have fun at the same time. They also take the work off of your team, which is a huge benefit. Finally, branded cocktail kits are a great way to give your customers value and show them that you appreciate their time.

Read on to learn the top 3 reasons why your company should consider hosting a virtual cocktail workshop for your clients this year!

Increase Engagement

According to studies by the IMEX Group: “One-third of all marketers believe that a lack of meaningful interaction is the biggest barrier to engagement.” And, “ Nearly half of consumers (47%) say that they would feel more comfortable buying from a business if the company had an a-la-

minute conversation with them.” In other words, customers want to feel like they’re being heard. And they want to be able to ask questions and interact with people in real life. Virtual cocktail workshops give your customers the opportunity to do both of these things.

Having a virtual cocktail workshop also increases engagement on social media. 78% of people say that they like to learn about new products and services from online conversations, but only 36% prefer to learn about them from social media posts. That’s because social media is all about real-time interactions. And, by creating an engaging virtual event, you can ensure that your customers interact with your brand in a meaningful way. This way, you’ll not only keep them engaged after the workshop ends, but you’ll also build brand loyalty and increase word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

Less Planning For Your Team

For at least two reasons, virtual cocktail workshops are a great way to offload some of the planning and organizing that your team would typically be tasked with during in-person events: - For example, you won’t have to worry about venue scouting or booking the event space because everything will be hosted virtually - With trusted partners like Happy Hour Academy, you can leave the branded cocktail kits, merchandise, swag and gift bag stuffing to our team of experts. That way, you can focus your efforts on other tasks that will help ensure the success of your event. Additionally, since you will no longer need to arrange for transportation to and from the event space, you can free up hours of your employees’ time to focus on other important tasks.

More Fun For Your Clients = $$$

According to the Incentive Research Foundation’s 2018 Motivation Gifts Trend Report, “one of the most popular incentive gifts included recreation experiences and events”. And, virtual cocktail workshops are no exception. In fact, a whopping 95% of people say that they’d be more likely to buy from a company if they enjoyed their interactions with that company. That means that hosting an event that keeps your guests engaged and having a great time will actually increase your sales!

When you combine the fun factor of a virtual cocktail workshop with the unique opportunity to gift branded cocktail kits to your clients, you’re setting yourself up for a win-win situation. Not only will your clients look forward to attending your events in the future, but they’re also going to be more likely to tell their friends about their positive experiences.

Bonus Reason: Data from Virtual Events is GOLD.

A virtual mixology workshop is a great way to gather data about your customers. In fact, Happy Hour Academy’s own CEO (the person writing this article... awk-ward!) says that the “most valuable part of our workshops is the feedback we receive from attendees”. And that’s because the data they collect from surveys provides invaluable insight into how to improve future events and make it even more fun and engaging for the guests.

At each of the happy hours your team hosts, y

ou’re collecting data about who has attended in the past, what products they’ve purchased, and what pain points they have that you can solve with your products and/or services.

In short, hosting a virtual cocktail workshop is a great way to increase engagement and generate revenue while taking a lot of the event planning work off of your team's shoulders. So, what are you waiting for?

Come find out why the most influential orga

nizations continue to trust Happy Hour Academy to deliver the best virtual cocktail, wine, and beer mixers in the industry!

Five Cocktail Trends for Summer 2021

Are you still in lockdown? Stuck at home? Ready to party? Don’t worry, we’ve got our ear to the ground on the latest trends to bring the cocktail bar to you, wherever you are.

To-go cocktails

While you might not be able to visit your favourite neighbourhood bartender for a tasty libation right now, some of the best bars in Canada have been working tirelessly to bring their signature cocktails into the homes of their fans. Toronto institution Civil Liberties from was among the first to adapt their entire business model to set up for take-home cocktails, with summer-ready options like their Coconut Milk Punch just waiting to be picked up for your next socially distanced gathering.

Seltzer madness

You get a seltzer, you get a seltzer, we all get seltzers! From White Claw, to Nutrl, to Bud Light, it seems like everybody’s getting into the hard soda game -- and that trend looks like it’s here to stay. Look for companies like Tromba to continue betting heavy on this beverage category’s expansion with their bubbly tequila-laced sodas offering a latin-american spin on the fizzness in 2021. What do you mean, ‘fizzness is not a word’?

Virtual Cocktail Workshops

Isn’t there an old saying about learning how to fish being better than having someone just give you one? Displaced cocktail professionals around the world are here to help future home bartenders get the basics on lock, with virtual cocktail workshops and experiences that offer a jumping-off point for learning how to make world-class tipples at home. We're obviously a little biased in writing this, but we're here to help grow the trend of home mixology with Happy Hour Academy, and don't plan on running away anytime soon.

Tropical all-the-things

Chili, mango, matcha, pineapple, more chili, let’s go.

As the pandemic ground the world to a screeching halt, wild and exotic combinations were already starting to have their moment. And then Starbucks came out of nowhere with their epic Iced Matcha Pineapple drink while most of us were bored-in-the-house.

Whether or not you’re in a place that allows for international travel, the rise of the tropical bar will be one of the great cocktail takeaways from the pandemic. This summer, rack up some travel points on your credit card at your local tropical institution with cocktails that smash up the heat of exotic chili and spices with quality caribbean rums, asian mango, pear, pineapple, watermelon, guava, tamarind, and more.

The Infinity Bottle

What if we told you that you could blend your own completely unique, tailored-to-you spirit, without having any knowledge of fermentation, distillation, and aging of booze? Infinity bottles make this all possible, and all you need to make one is a desire to try new spirits!

So, wait, what is an infinity bottle?

So glad you asked! An infinity bottle is a glass decanter or bottle that slowly becomes filled with the final 5-10% of that whiskey, rum, tequila, gin (or whatever else you can think of). Repeat this over time, and eventually, you’ve built up a spirit that’s inimitable -- and more often than not, outstanding. If you’re like a lot of us with a huge liquor cabinet with tons of nearly-empty items, give this a shot and let us know what you came up with.

Oh, also, best practices call for keeping the type of spirit in one infinity bottle (maybe don’t put gin in your bourbon bottle, for example).

Infinity bottles have been an IYKYK thing in the spirits world for a few years now, but it took the pandemic for the trend to start hitting mainstream.