Star Pubs Launches Free AI Social Media Training and Shares it with BII Membership

With licensees increasingly seeking to understand how AI can maximise their social media and save them time, Star Pubs has launched a new online course, AI for Publicans. The company has also gifted the material to the BII membership, along with access to its social media training website, The Star Social Collective.

Star Pubs employed external social media experts to produce the £45,000 training package.

AI for Publicans demystifies AI marketing and teaches everything from how to write social media posts in seconds to which free or low-cost AI tools are best. It also includes an AI-powered content calendar tool to address what many publicans cite as two of their biggest social media challenges – knowing what to post and finding time to plan it.

The Star Social Collective is a one-stop shop for publicans and pub staff of all skill levels wanting social media training. Created specifically for pubs, it incorporates 115 bite-sized videos – equating to 11 hours of content – covering all major channels, with topics spanning influencer marketing to managing TripAdvisor reviews. The training can be completed on any device, including mobile phones, making it ideal for staff to undertake during quieter moments. A search function and AI chatbot take users straight to the training they need.

Star Pubs Head of Training, Tracy Bickerdike, said:

"AI has emerged as a new hot topic at our licensee forums over the last year. Publicans are incredibly busy and grappling with high overheads, so they're keen to learn how AI can streamline back-office operations and help them work smarter. AI can feel daunting for many small businesses, but the key is simply to start experimenting with it. This training is designed to support licensees in adopting AI. Pubs that embrace it early will have a significant competitive advantage. Social media marketing is a natural place to start, as AI can produce great content quickly and with less effort, while AI assistants handle routine tasks and free up publicans to focus on other areas of the business.

"A pub's online presence is now the first port of call for the majority of people when deciding where to go out, making it essential to business success. We're therefore pleased to be sharing our training resources with the industry as part of our commitment to keeping the great British local relevant and attractive to consumers. Both AI and social media are evolving extremely rapidly, so all the training material we're donating has been fully reviewed to ensure it's completely up to date."

BII Head of Communications, Molly Davis, said:

"Today's publicans need to leverage every tool available to support the growth and diversification of their businesses. Star Pubs sharing The Star Social Collective – a really valuable resource for the modern world of marketing – with all of our members is a brilliant example of the collaboration that makes our industry so unique."