School’s Out For Summer – How Family Entertainment Venues Can Capitalise
Depending where in the world you are, it’s either already the summer break for schools, or they’re rapidly approaching, so now is the perfect time to begin planning how you can drive footfall to your venues over the next few months.
We’ve put together a list of 7 ideas that venues in the family entertainment space, from trampoline parks to laser tag venues, can use to make sure summer 2024 is a massive success.
Host Special Events and Themed Days
Few things are more effective at driving excitement and footfall than special events, and days with a theme – here are just a few:
Summer kick off party
What better way to announce the start of a big summer than a party? Have music, giveaways and games if you can accommodate them to really kick things off with a bang!
Themed Days
Depending on your venue and audience type, you can have specific themed days that will make the day even more exciting for customers – here are just a few ideas:
- Superhero Day
Capitalise on the excitement of Marvel and DC and get some mini Ironmen and Wonder women through your door! - Neon Night
Stay open late and have a neon night, perfect for trampoline parks and adventure golf venues! - Competition Days
Bring out everyone’s competitive nature by hosting in house competitions, for example who can get the highest score on axe throwing or virtual darts for multi-activity venues, or the highest “kill” streak at laser tag for the day… And winners get prizes of course!!
Summer Camp Programs
You could consider launching a summer camp program that packs out activities across a week for a group of children. For example, if you’re a trampoline park you could you can have a day that focuses on teaching children a number of different skills or tricks on the trampolines one day, and then another day that focuses on the physiological and fitness benefits of bouncing to provide educational value.
Partner with Local Schools and Organisations
Collaborating with schools, community venues and youth organisations can be a great way to increase visibility and subsequently footfall in your local area.
You can work with these organisations to offer exclusive discounts for summer for them to share with members, as well as give back to the community by hosting fundraising events at your venues.
Promotions and Discounts
Having summertime promotions or discounts can be a fantastic way to bring in new guests and welcome back both previous customers and existing members.
For example, some you could set up are:
Family Packages
With parents looking for somewhere to take their children through the summer break, having a discounted package geared towards a parent/parents and their children is a simple, yet effective incentive.
Season Passes
Sell a summer pass, or three month membership, to guarantee a larger amount of up front revenue for guests.
Member exclusive promotions
If you have a membership scheme in place, you can offer exclusive discounts and offers to your members on additional expenditure items, such as food and drink.
Enhance Customer Experience
This isn’t something to focus on just for the summer, as it should be something to focus on year round but seeing as it’s one of the peak seasons, it should be something to give a little more focus on.
A couple of key areas to focus on could be:
Safety and Cleanliness
Maintain high standards of safety and cleanliness, it helps to leave a lasting impression of high standards and quality to customers.
Customer Service
Whilst customer service should be a priority, you can also make sure you have tipping functionality to further incentivise staff to provide a flawless experience.
Facility Upgrades
Introduce new attractions or upgrade existing facilities to keep the experience fresh and exciting, especially if you’re a multi-activity venue!
Effective Use of Social Media and Online Marketing
A good online and social media presence is essential to ensure you’re getting your messaging in front of the right people, at the right time. Here are a couple of ways to ensure you’re doing this, pushing more towards digital marketing are more likely to be on mobile devices if they’re off work looking after children.
User Generated Content
Nothing is more valuable for generating a strong sense of validation about your venues than sharing user generated content, so encourage users to share their experiences and have recognisable areas or props which can be utilised for social stories.
Targeted Ads
Using paid advertising on your most applicable audience members at the right type, particularly on social media channels like Instagram where the algorithm is often criticised as a “pay to play” platform. This can produce a great ROI if you convert with your audience by hitting them at the right time.
Community Social Media Pages
You’ve probably seen the abundance of local community Facebook pages, this can be a quick and easy way to get your summer promotions in front of your target audience.
Utilise Traditional Advertising
Don’t overlook the more traditional advertising routes to get your messaging out to your target audience, some of the channels you may want to consider are below:
Marketing collateral in local businesses
Think where your target audience are likely to congregate during summer, for example if you run a soft play venue then the parents you’re trying to appeal to are likely regulars at local coffee shops – speak with management and see if you can leave some flyers and banners in their venue.
Local Radio
Often overlooked, but local radio stations can be an easy in to get your messaging directly into your target audience’s ears at the right time – the benefits of radio advertising can be demonstrated by the fact it offers a 670% ROI on average.
Community Newspapers
Place ads or articles in community newspapers and magazines to get striking adverts and imagery in front of your target audience, and if you’re a multi-venue business with venues across the country you could also use a national newspaper for the same impact.
By employing these strategies, venues in the leisure and entertainment space can significantly boost footfall during the summer holidays, ensuring a fun and memorable experience for visitors while maximising the ROI of your marketing campaigns.
Take a product tour by completing the form below to find out more about how BookNow Software can power your business to new heights this summer.
Complete the form below to take an interactive product tour through BookNow Software