Family Entertainment Centers - IAAPA

PROMOTIONS
Marketing
Magic
FEC operators share their
budget-conscious and creative
tips on effective marketing
by Mike Bederka
YOU JUST SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on the
latest attractions and worked countless hours to make your
frontline employees super-staffers. Your facility should be
tokens above the competition. But when Saturday night rolls
around, the crowds are surprisingly light. What happened?
Sub-par or off-target marketing efforts may be to blame.
First Things First
Family entertainment centers can’t just rush their marketing
messages out there, says industry expert Scott Brown. Aimlessly
placing ads can waste buckets of money.
Owners and operators must first take a step back to examine
who makes up their audience and what they think about
the facility, notes Brown, author of “Who Cares? Creating a
Culture of Service in Your Business.”
He recommends a few easy, cheap ways to gauge customers.
Counter surveys typically only solicit the best and worst
comments. To help avoid an unfair representation, offer guests
a blank space to write down exactly what they thought about
an employee, the food, etc. In addition, with numeric scales,
use an even number of choices so people can’t choose an “average”
answer, and avoid giving customers too wide a spread.
“What’s the difference between a 7 and an 8?” Brown asks.
Brown prefers a scale from 1 to 6. It’s concise and helps to separate
the superior from the inferior.
He also suggests more focused follow-up phone calls to
guests. General questions elicit general responses.
Well-crafted directmail
messages can be
very effective marketing
tools
8 F U NW O R L D C O L L E C T I O N S n F E C E d i t i o n