Digital Marketing Strategies for Family Entertainment Centers
As a Family Entertainment Center owner, you create a physical journey for your guests.
Your visitors step into your center and a unique attraction mix is waiting for them to make new memories. If they have a good time, they will recommend your FEC and word-of-mouth will bring you new customers and a better return on investment. To increase sales for your attractions, you need to get as many people through the door as possible and offer them the best experience.
But, hey, approximately 63% of the world’s total population uses the Internet.
Don’t you want to reach new customers faster? A digital marketing strategy for your FEC enables you to reach a larger audience than you could through traditional methods, and target the people who match your demographics.
It’s often more cost-effective than traditional advertising and allows you to measure success. Sounds good?
Read the article below to learn simple steps to building an online journey for your guests and strengthening your FEC promotion strategy.
First things first! How easy can guests find your FEC online?
If you want to increase sales for your attractions, people should be able to easily find you when they search for terms like “family entertainment center near me“, “birthday party location” or “play VR near me“.
Here you have a list of the basics for online visibility:
The Google My Business account is a must!
▪️ Free and highly visible.
▪️ A sales booster that allows your FEC to appear in Google Maps and Google Local Pack Listings.
▪️ Communication channel with customers – it allows guests to leave reviews of your FEC. Yes, you can have the best of both worlds: word-of-mouth advertising can also be digital.
Short checklist for your Google My Business profile – the ball is in your court:
Business Name
The official name of your FEC, not “Adventure time – the best fun area”, keep your creativity for later 🙂
Address
Full and accurate address of your FEC, not a general one.
Phone number
Show Google you’re local: add a number with a local area code is recommended. Make sure the number you use for your Google My Business listing it’s on your website also.
Categories
Choose a suitable category as primary (e.g. Amusement center, Amusement park, Theme Park, Children’s amusement center etc) and add additional ones (Event venue, Restaurant, Bowling alley, Video arcade, Laser tag center, Escape room center etc) to help Google decide which searches your local listing belongs to.
Website
Your website URL. If you don’t have one you can use Google’s Business Site.
Appointments
If you have a booking system, add the URL here.
Business Hours of Operation
The hours your FEC is open. Set special hours for days when you have unusual working times, like holidays or special events.
Description
Attractions that guests can find, unique info about your FEC. The allowable limit is 750 characters. Keep in mind that only the first 250 characters show up in the Knowledge Panel, so prioritize your information. Add keywords and avoid links or HTML.
Photos/ video
Showcase real photos or videos with people having fun at your FEC in specific attractions. You can even create a 360-view virtual tour of your FEC. According to Google, listings that have a virtual tour and photos generate twice as much interest as those without.
Services
Add all your services (eg Events & parties, VR Arcade, Go-karts, etc).
Highlights/Attributes
You can include things like a kid’s menu, wifi, outdoor seating, or wheelchair accessibility.
Reviews
Encourage guests to post reviews and respond to them.
Posts
Make announcements, create events, highlight attractions and services, and run promotions.
Also, remember to:
▪️ Fill Out Menu/Booking Items
▪️ Enable The Messaging Feature
▪️ Showcase Your Opening Date
Tip:
You’ll have to verify your business page with a code sent by Google and that may take a couple of days.
You can read more about how to optimize your Google My Business account here:
? How to use GMB to Get More Customers
Score with your website
The website is the front door of your FEC. It can welcome people inside or make them think twice about entering or not.
These are our top tips for a welcoming website that can be part of your FEC promotion strategy:
→ Build it easy to navigate:
Don’t let visitors get lost on your website as you don’t let them get lost in your FEC!
▪️ Clean your website menu so they can find your anchor attractions or party and events packages in less than 3 clicks. You can plan the navigation with a sitemap.
▪️ Utilize an online booking system, and you won’t lose any interested visitors.
▪️ Make your contact information visible and easy to use (e.g. an active button for “call now”).
▪️ Use a clear call to action (e.g. Book a party).
→ Make your target audience feel like you’re talking to them:
Let’s say that moms are your target audience:
▪️ Add pictures with kids having fun in your FEC.
▪️ Post testimonials from moms.
▪️ Show with your tone and language that you will be responsible and caring for their children.
▪️ Use friendly shapes and colors.
RELATED: How Choosing The Right Demographics Can Help You Grow Your FEC
→ Show Google that your website is active:
Developing a website can sound intimidating, but it’s not rocket science if you use a website builder like ? Wix or WordPress.
You can follow their blogs for more tips and tricks that will help you.
▪️ Update information when you change something, especially contact information
▪️ Communicate with your visitors: Use a live chat app or invite people to give you their emails for a registration bonus or coupons.
▪️ Add content about your new attractions, testimonials, or articles.
▪️ Insert keywords in your content, especially in titles and headlines.
Run paid campaigns and stay ahead of the game
On Google or Social Media.
But let’s start with Google and we will tackle Social Media in the next article.
The right content on your website and Google My Business page will push you up organically when people search for what you offer.
But the industry of entertainment is full of competition, right?
? Google Ads can be part of your digital marketing strategy and help you boost the number of website visitors, get more calls and increase the number of guests to your location, and, as a result, increase sales for your attractions.
Read more about Google Ads here: ? Google Ads
A digital marketing strategy is also about keeping in touch with your guests
How would you stay in touch with your guests if your most used and followed social media platform would be shut down tomorrow?
Via email, of course! Develop your email database and secure your FEC promotion strategy.
? Email marketing helps you build a relationship with past or potential guests.
Compared with other forms of digital marketing, email marketing is more personal. Sure, you can use automation tools and send a mass-market email, but if you respect the good case practices and send email only to those who subscribed voluntarily, there is a high chance that they will show interest and take action.
? You can start by offering a registration bonus or coupons to website visitors in exchange for their emails.
Stay in touch with them through newsletters that show them your FEC’s new attractions, updates on promotions or events, or other pieces of information that could spark their interest and get them back to your location.
Read the email marketing best practices from Hubspot, a CRM easy to use: ? Generate more leads with email marketing
Stay up-to-date with all digital trends and increase sales for your attractions
And one last word! Regularly analyze your digital marketing strategy’s performance so you can predict trends and understand your good or bad practices.
? The best part of digital marketing is that you can collect data, analyze it and improve your strategy for more conversions and sales.
Here you have a free course about Google Analytics: ? Google Analytics Course
Digital marketing can be a blessing in disguise. It seems hard to keep up to date because it’s evolving, but the results are a game changer.
A good digital marketing strategy can help you scale your FEC fast.
What about Social Media FEC promotion strategy?
We know! This is an important part of your digital marketing strategy. But we have so many tips and tricks, so stay tuned for a future article that will tackle this subject.
And finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
As a Family Entertainment Center owner, who is 150% involved in business, sometimes it’s hard to keep up to date with all the news in digital marketing, right?
We got you!
Yes, you can reach your target demographics online. Otherwise, it's frustrating. You use so many resources, but without a strategy, it seems useless. Download this free online marketing guide for your Entertainment Venues!
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