Family Entertainment Center Marketing: Proven Strategies to Attract and Retain More Families

This blog post is written by PullingOffStrategies.com

When it comes to today’s market, Family Entertainment Centers (FECs) can be very competitive and this means keeping your marketing on point is essential in order to succeed, or at the very least stand a chance.

Drawing new customers and retaining existing ones is a tough act for many FEC owners.

The most successful family entertainment centers leverage a combination of digital marketing, partnering with local businesses, creating promotions and executing a customer loyalty program in order to grow the brand and their bottom-line.

These are proven techniques that make you different from your competition and allows you to develop lifelong relationships with the families in your community.

With the right marketing strategy, your FEC can evolve from one among many entertainment options, to the gathering place where people go for their birthday, day trips with the family and special occasions. The ones that you develop that work best for your audience and region will be the reasons you succeed in the long run.

Key Takeaways

• Social Media Engagement And A Powerful Local SEO Brings Customers In For Your Family Entertainment Center
• Smart local business partnerships and unique promotions can take you out of the realm of conventional advertising.
• Loyalty programs and discounts offer incentive for return visits and to turn one-time guests into regulars.

Leverage Social Media for Engagement

SOCIAL MEDIA PROVIDES DIRECT ACCESS TO PARENTS LOOKING FOR FAMILY FUN Family Entertainment Centers have access to parents seeking family entertainment more actively than ever with the use of social media. The trick is to deliver to the right audience and promote content inside parent communities, creating true connections and communities of parents.

1) Instagram ads

They are most effective if they feature real families enjoying time at your center. Employ video ads featuring kids laughing, parents smiling and the feeling of your space.

Try and get 25-45 year old parents within 15 miles of you. Set your interests to include “parenting,” “family activities” and “children’s entertainment.”

High-performing ad content includes:

• Before-and-after birthday party set-ups
• Timelapses of children playing games
• What parents are saying about Painless Party Planning
• A peek at what goes into installing new rides

Create ad copy that deals with those specific parent pain points. Rather than “Come have fun,” perhaps “A place where kids actually play safely and parents really do relax” would do the trick.

Make use of Instagram Stories ads with interactive features such as polls like “Pizza or hot dogs for your next party?” These on average produce much higher engagement than a static feed posting.

2) Utilize Parent Facebook Groups & Communities

Facebook groups for local parents are family entertainment centers’ gold mines. In these neighborhoods, parents are actively requesting birthday party venues, rainy day activities and weekend plans.

Join 5-10 local parenting groups in your area, which are active. Read each group’s rules carefully before sharing promotional posts.

Effective group engagement strategies:

• Respond to questions on party planning with tips
• Share pictures: When your parents tag your location
• Provide Group-Member Only Discounts During Lulls
• Post about the weather's effect – “Great indoor fun when it rains this Tuesday”
• Develop connections, then promote your business. Comment supportively on those posts of her kids’ activities, school events and family trials.

Start a Facebook group for your city for Family Fun and invite your customers to join. Share exclusive content and make early event announcements, and let parents connect with one another.

3) Collab with Local Influencers to Grow Your Business

Collaborate with family niche local influencers and local bloggers to to open up to new audience in an organic way. Seek out parents with 1,000 to 10,000 followers who post frequently, especially about local activities.

Locate micro-influencers by searching hashtags such as #[YourCity]Mom, #[YourCity]Family or #[YourCity]Kids. These are smaller yet high engagement accounts compared to those with the most followers.

Collaboration ideas that work:

• Family passes at no cost was received in exchange for an honest review
• Go to birthday party hosting for more long party planning articles
• New behind-the-scenes attraction previews
• Videos of your family challenges including your games and activities

Allow influencers creative freedom with structure to key talking points about cleanliness, safety and unique selling points. Real works better than scripted on promotional ads.

Use special promo codes for each influencer to track results. This enables you to determine which partnerships are actually driving customers as opposed to just views.

4) Launch Social Media Specific Deals

Offer value that no one else can access but your social media followers. This brings followers to your pages – and rewards some of your most active customers.

Platform-specific deal examples:

• 24-hour flash sales You might find a 24-hour flash sale on my Instagram Story.
• Discount codes exclusively for Facebook Live during virtual tours
• Participants in TikTok challenge win free game tokens
• LinkedIn offers focused on corporate event planners
• Post flash sale offers during parent peak social media hours: 9-10 AM and 7-9 PM (weekdays), 10 AM-2 PM (weekends).

Include countdown timers, and urgency language such as, “Only 48 hours left,” or, “First 20 families only.” This, in turn, prompts an immediate response from followers.

Need social media interaction for deal redemption. Encourage customers to tag three friends, share your post, use your branded hashtag to unlock a discount.

Local Offline Marketing Channels

Physical marketing venues generate personal touch points that you just cannot replicate online. In-person engagement through events, partnerships and local advertising will earn trust and get neighbors to act now.

1) Host Themed Events and Parties

Themed events turn your center into a place families are eager to visit. Parents of attendees are the best source of word-of-mouth referrals Children express party experiences to other potential paying customers – children at other birthday parties.

Host seasonal events, such as Halloween costume contests, summer camp programs or back-to-school parties. These are reasons for family visits beyond entertainment needs.

By putting corporate team-building activities on your schedule during daytime hours, you can fill those slower times, promote your center to working parents, and bring in a new revenue stream. Provide meeting rooms, food and team outings.

Connect with local influencers/mascots and get them to attend your grand opening/special events. Having them there generates crowds and buzz on social media that broadens your impact.

Keep an eye on what types of events are also generating the most participants and earnings. Concentrate your energy on your successful themes and drop the bad.

2) Partner with Local Schools & Community Organizations For Signs

Schools partnerships also offer direct reach to your core target group, families with children. Sponsor youth sports clubs, science fairs, or school fund-raisers to get your name in front of parents and kids.

Trade fun for learning and offer school trip packages. All teachers will love activities that correlate with standards and a naturally engaging component for students.

Develop fundraising efforts that return a percentage of sales from family visits back to schools. This type of offline marketing strategy helps to persuade parents to bring their children to your center instead of the competition’s.

Collaborate with youth organizations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, or church groups for badge achievements or group pricing. They are constantly in need of facilities to entertain members.

Build rapport with community centers, libraries, and parks and rec departments Community centers, libraries and parks and rec departments all offer free meeting space. Cross-promote events and services to attract more audience.

3) Utilize Billboards and Newspaper Ads

Place one on the way into the city along major commuting routes and watch up to thousands of potential customers pass by every day. Pick spots by schools, shopping centers or at freeway off-ramps to get the most exposure.

Create billboards that feature bright colors, large text, and direct calls-to-action such as "Family Fun Starts Here" or specific promotions. Highlight your address and phone number.

Family-focused local newspaper advertising connects with families who read about what's going on in town. Advertise in weekend family sections or next to event calendars where parents find things to do.

Consider these traditional advertising placements:

• Malls with directories people are already using in this way
• Hollywood-style movie theater lobby displays appealing to the entertainment-seeking crowd
• Restaurant placemats at family-friendly establishments
• 10 mile radius direct mail to home postcards

Business events often appear (for free) in newspaper event calendars. For added exposure and without advertising costs, send in your themed events, party packages and specials to be listed here and on our calendar.

Attract customers with discounts & offers

Incentive: High impact discounting and promotions to new families and existing customers keeping families coming back to your play centre.

When approached to build repeat business (and revenue) through birthday offers, family deals, rewards programs, free game play and bonus play programs.

1) Launch a birthday special campaign

The Birthday party business is one of the most profitable streams of income for family entertainment centers. Parents are looking for something special and memorable, and we are often it for their child's birthday.

Develop a birthday package with multiple price points and activities. Basic packages might offer you jump time, party room rental and paper goods. Mid-tier packages can include food, drinks and party favors.

The best packages could include longer times, their own party hosts, and add-on activities.

Effective birthday promotion strategies include:

• Discounts for early bookings 30+days in advance
• Free admission of the birthday child with purchase of party package
• Free cake cutting and clean up
• Email marketing birthday month cut-offs reached

Promote these specials with ads geotargeted in regional Facebook hyperlocal parent groups.

Work with schools and childcare facilities to hand out flyers in the high-months of baby’s birthday season.

Monitor booking trends to pinpoint your peak party times. Down time discounts to insure maximum use of facilities and revenue generation.

2) Create Attractive Family Packages

Family pack tier mothballs several elements for your experiences at a reduced cost: not only will you boost the average value of your sales, but will also give additional solid value to your customers. These packages promote a longer stay and experimentation with more attractions.

Design boxes based on natural family sizes, visit times etc. An average family of four package would include admission, game credits, mini-golf and food vouchers at a discount of 20% off single pricing.

Popular family package combinations:

• The Adventurer: Game of Laser Tag + Video Games + Pizza Meal
• Active Family Deal: Trampoline time + rock climbing + booze
• If It Rains, Say hello to: Indoor play + snacks + free play time
• Weekend Warrior: All attractions + meal + swag to take home

Tiered pricing to incentivize people to upgrade from the lowest entry point. When people find little extra spending worth much extra pleasure (or benefit) they go for the package.

Advertise these offers on your website, on social media, and at the register. Have employees trained to recommend good options for particular family sizes and interests.

3) Implement a Loyalty Program

So, reward loyalty programs that convert a casual customer into a frequent one by compensating dedications.

Family Entertainment Center Loyalty program that work are offer easy point reward or visit based reward on loyalty programs that family members comprehend and easily manage.

Have a roadmap of achievable targets for your program. Families need to receive their first reward within 2 or 3 visits in order to remain interested and involved.

Loyalty program reward ideas:

• Visits/Points
• Reward
• 3 visits
• Free small arcade game card
• 5 visits
• 50% off next admission
• 8 visits
• Free birthday party upgrade
• 10 visits
• VIP family fun night invitation

Provide instant sign-up rewards, such as a bonus points or a welcome discount. Enable fast signup in mobile apps, using QR codes or cashier-assisted at checkout.

Provide weekly program email communication featuring point balances, upcoming rewards and exclusive member offers. This helps you stay on the consumer’s mind, between visits.

4) Offer Daily Free Games

Free games promotions allow new customers to dip their toes in the water and to encourage guests to stay longer. These deals can especially be great during the off-season.

Develop routine daily specials that drive business on designated days. Monday could be free mini golf with admission. Or Tuesday might bring free arcade credits for first-timers.

Strategic daily free game schedule:

• Monday: Free game of laser tag with purchase of any package
• Wednesday : Free arcade tokens for children under 12
• Friday: Free bumper car ride with family meal purchase
• Sunday: Buy-one-get-one arcade game cards

Advertise your specials via social media and your website. Leverage these deals to hit specific customer segments such as young families or tweens.

No time-limit in-game promotions to generate urgency. A “first 50 families” promotion helps to drum up enthusiasm and induce early visits during traditionally slack periods.

5) Retain people with bonus plays

Bonus Play rewards customers’ loyalty, and gives them an immediate call to action for a second visit. Best of all, such promotions are most effective when they’re linked to specific spending levels or visitation frequency.

Use spend based bonus programs which allow customers extra play time or credits to play with for a fee. $25 might earn you 10 bonus arcade tokens, and $50 gets you a free attraction pass.

Effective bonus play strategies:

• Return visit coupons given at checkout for next week
• Shopper card special offers for loyalty program members on double points days
• Auto-load bonus credits on each of a dedicated group of reloadable game cards.
• Free play hours in other activities during offtimes for frequent visitors

Leverage targeted email marketing to send bonus play offers and reward visit history and preferences. The families who often play arcade games are awarded with arcade bonus credits and those who are active families receive attraction-based rewards.

Design for graduated bonus systems that grow bigger with each consecutive visit. This creates long-term engagement and Better Customer Relationships over time.

Focus Most on Website and Local SEO

The family entertainment center in today’s digital world has to have a powerful online presence that intertwines a user friendly website along and local search presence.

Creating high quality content, gaining backlinks, and optimizing Google My Business Profile, will help families find your business when they are looking for entertainment in your area.

1) Design Website with an appropriate Booking Systems

Your website is the online front door to your family entertainment center. Families should be able to simply book a party, reserve lanes, or buy tickets online without having to call your business.

Pick a booking software that can manage multiple activities at a time From one dashboard, your system is also required to handle events like birthday parties, arcade time, laser tag sessions and group events.

Key booking features you need:

• Real-time availability calendar
• Payment processing with deposit options
• Automatic confirmation emails
• Mobile-friendly interface
• Party package customization

Ensure your reservations system is connected to your point-of-sale system. This also prevents double booking and ensures your staff is always current with reservations.

Clearly display the price of the product for each booking page. Surprise fees annoy customers and cause people to abandon bookings. Make party packages, hourly rates, and add-on fees visible.

Test your booking system monthly. Book various things from your phone and computer or mobile site in test, so you can catch any kinks before your customers do.

2) Design, Optimize, and Publish content bringing in new customers

Content marketing allows parents to find your family entertainment center when they are searching for things to do. Concentrate on subjects that provide solutions to families who are planning an outing or a celebration.

Write about how to plan birthday parties, activities to do on a rainy day and games for different ages. It’s the kind of topics and questions parents are looking for all year long, especially before weekends and breaks.

Researching your keywords thoroughly will help you find the right topics. Target keywords like “indoor activities for kids” rather than general terms like “birthday party venues near me.”

Content types that work well:

• Birthday party planning guides
• Age-specific activity recommendations
• Seasonal event announcements
• Safety protocol explanations
• Group booking tips

Freshen up your site or app content and make it local. Write about the imminent school holidays, local weather patterns and community events that make families stay inside.

Keep keyword density between 1-3% to avoid the keyword stuffing penalty. In headings, include your main keywords naturally, but focus on helping families, not the algorithms of the search engines.

3) Build Backlinks to your content

When backlinks come from other websites, they tell Google your content offers value to families. Good backlinks boost your search rankings and bring direct traffic from relevant websites.

Collaborate with local parenting blogs, school websites and community groups. Propose to write guest posts about child development and playing or how to throw an awesome frequent birthday party.

Effective backlink strategies:

• Sponsor local youth sports teams
• Collaborate with schools at fundraising events
• Join your chamber of commerce
• Collaborate with other family businesses
• Host charity events

Guest posts works the best when you are bringing a lot of value for the audience of the host site. Write about things your readers care about, not just your services.

Don't purchase backlinks, nor exchange out of the site links. These maneuvers can result in damaging your search rankings and squandering your marketing budget.

Monitor your backlinks with Google Search Console. Track everywhere that links to you and the pages where you acquire the most links.

4) Set up your GBP

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is shown when families are looking for fun things to do near them. This is a free service that manages how your business appears on Google Maps and local search results.

Fill out your profile, including all sections, before you begin to date. Google rewards completions when it comes to business profiles in local search.

Essential GBP information:

• Accurate hours of operation per day
• Phone number that connects directly
• Complete address with parking details
• Website URL and booking links
• Business category selection
• Service region in case you host mobile parties

Post a selection of top view photos of your arcade, party rooms and attractions. Include images of children having fun, but obtain the proper consent from parents in advance.

Include your range of services and prices, if applicable. Families like to know what they will be charged before they visit or pick up the phone.

Reply to all customer reviews in 48 hours. Express appreciation to positive reviewers and respond to the criticisms of negative reviews in a professional manner.

5) Optimize your GBPs with the perfect keywords

Your Google Business Profile requires the correct keywords in order to appear when families are searching for attractions to visit. Use words that accurately describe your unique actions and whereabouts.

List your city and surrounding neighborhoods in your business description. Families frequently look up specific places when they’re planning outings.

Keywords to include:

The main thing to do (arcade and laser tag and mini golf)

Party related search terms (Birthday parties, group events)

What ages do you serve (children, teens, toddlers)

Your neighborhood or district name

Nearby landmarks or shopping centers

Write descriptions of your business for parents, not search engines. Describe what makes your center unique, and the ages you serve best.

Incorporate your Keywords in a natural way into your Google Posts. Use words like “a new game,” “special event” or “seasonal activities.”分享最新游戏、特别活动或季节性活动的信息,使用低俗家庭搜索的词。

Keep an eye on your GBPs insights to find out which keyword make people arrive to your profile. So, you had better fine-tune your SEO keywords according real search!

6) Add your business to local directories

Local directory listings help families discover your amusement center on any device. They also serve as backlinks which are beneficial to enhance your search rankings.

Begin with the well-known directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages and Foursquare. Make sure your name, address and phone number for your business are consistent everywhere.

Important directories for family businesses:

• TripAdvisor (for tourist families)
• Local chamber of commerce websites
• Parenting websites and apps
• School district community pages
• Neighborhood social networks like Nextdoor

Keep all of your listings uniform across all directories. Conflicting addresses and phone numbers both confuse your customers and search engines.

Update your listings if your hours change, new activities are added or special promotions are taking place. Dated information causes frustration to customers — and missed opportunities.

Keep an eye on review sites and address feedback. Parents frequently survey several locations that take their children.

Launch some unconventional campaigns

Diverging from traditional advertising practices can help your family entertainment center (FEC) shine in a saturated market. Email, SMS, personal mail, partnerships; direct marketing does all of this to put you in more conversations with families in your community.

1) Email marketing for local clients

Email marketing is still a great way to reach families in your area, and it can be done reasonably inexpensively.

You can assemble an audience you know to be interested by gathering addresses during visits, birthday parties, special occasion and promotions.

Segment your list for email personalization according to what your customers do & like. First-time visitors and return customers should receive different messages.

Parents signing up for birthday parties want to receive something different from families who come in for open play.

E-NEWSLETTER — Family entertainment centers In our business, I have found that signing people up for a weekly newsletter is fun for a family entertainment center. Announce upcoming, new attractions, or special deals. Use catchy, brief subject lines such as “This Week’s Family Fun” or “New Games Just Arrived.”

Time your emails strategically. Send weekend activity suggestions on a Thursday afternoon. Share school break promotions two weeks before parents’ planning begins.

Email sequences let you foster connections without having to do the work. Establish welcome emails for new subscribers, birthday reminders for children and post-visit emails that request reviews.

Monitor open rates, and click-through rates. For the most part; Family entertainment centers struggle to get 20-25% with their promotional emails. Dial back your send rate if anything dips below 15%.

2) Send out an SMS blast in your area

SMS marketing provides instant results for time-sensitive offers. More than 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes.

Grow your SMS list through opt-ins at your club. Provide immediate discounts or free game tokens in return for phone numbers. You must have explicit permission before adding someone to your list.

Keep messages short and direct. Add compelling calls to action with an expiration date. "Flash Sale! 50% off admission today only. Show this text at front desk. Expires 8pm."

Best practices for SMS marketing:

• Only contact them 2-4 times per month at the most
• Put your business name in all of your communications
• Always provide opt-out instructions
• Send during business hours only
• When in doubt, dial the local area code

Tailor your messaging to location, if your offer is valid in several communities. “People use to go for entertainment 15 to 20 minutes away,” Families tend to be closer &_&to 15-20 minutes from entertainment. Target neighborhoods that fit within that radius.

Weather-triggered campaigns work particularly well. Backup offers to indoor activities if it’s going to rain or snow.

Rainy day blues #BEATTHEWEATHER with unlimited arcade play for $15!"

3) Send mail with personalized coupons

For ppc family entertainment centers still respond well to direct mail with great response rates when personalized. In an increasingly digital world, physical mail is a unique way to reach people.

Leverage customer data to produce targeted offers. Send birthday party kits to families with kids who are nearing a birthday milestone.

Provide a discount on membership to repeat visitors who have not yet joined.

Effective direct mail elements:

• Vibrant, attractive colors to attract children
• Clear expirations dates to instill urgency
• Unique coupon codes for tracking
• Images of real families using your facility
• Easy-to-understand offers without fine print

These are residents who mail to certain ZIP codes around your area. Continue to track which areas of your business are generating the highest response rates, and spend future campaigns there.

Team up with services such as Every Door Direct Mail to get into every home along targeted postal routes. While it’s cheaper than traditional targeted mailing, it reaches a larger pool of potential customers.

Incorporate QR codes that direct to online booking or to your social media platforms.

This brings offline marketing in to the realm of digital touch and provides connection to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign.

4) Partnering with other retailers for exposure

You can reach even more people and not spend more on advertising by having strategic partnerships with complementary businesses. Seek businesses that serve the same customer base but are not competitors.

Ideal partnership businesses:

• Children's clothing stores
• Toy stores
• Restaurants with kids' menus
• Dance studios and sports centers
• Pediatric offices and dental practices

Come up with a cross-promotion campaign in which you will agree to provide a discount to each other’s customers.

You could put up combination offers in which a pizza restaurant gives your coupons away with family meal orders, and you latch onto their delivery service in your lobby.

Establish referral programs with birthday party vendors. Work with cake decorators, party supply shops, and photographers. Provide them with a small commission for every booking they bring to your property.

Look for seasonal partnerships that fit for both businesses. Partner with ice cream shops in the summer or holiday decoration stores in December.

Join local events with your partners. Go halfsies on booth fees at community festivals or school fairs. This cuts down your marketing cost and twofold your promoting influence.

Trace the outcomes with each partnership to find the most successful connections.

Strategic partnerships can contribute 15-20% of new customer acquisitions for a number of family entertainment centers.