Happy June!
It’s officially summer. If you missed last month’s volume of the monthly marketing blog, we talked about doing a social media checkup. You can view the article here.
This month, I wanted to talk about planning your promotions. Each month we give you loads of ideas for promotions. Planning and implementing that promotion is super important to ensure success. The fall tends to be a very busy time for promotions, and you should be planning now. I want to give you an easy 90-60-30 day layout for planning promotions.
Why do we do promotions?
How many times have you had a promotion, and the responses were: worked great, failed miserably, was stupid, was smart, it was the wrong time or a million other responses.
First, we need to think about why we even bother planning promotions. Promotions sometimes help us meet our goals. For instance, we know that birthday parties tend to be a little slower in the summer since people are on vacation. So, planning a special birthday promotion in the summer may help us reach our goals.
Promotions can also provide fun in our center. I know we are already in the business of fun, but hosting promotions like breakfast with Santa or a Halloween themed event can be added entertainment to draw business in our center.
Have a systematic approach
When it comes to planning promotions, we need to approach the planning systematically like we would operations. In operations, we know who’s in charge of the game room, kitchen, front desk, etc. We train each of them for their position, empower them to do their jobs, and give them a plan to measure their success. We need to do the same when planning promotions.
It’s always good as a team to have regular brainstorming sessions about new promotions you can have in your center. Once you have decided on your promotions and before you start planning, decide who is going to implement the promotion, and make sure they have a plan for success.
Planning is key
To have a successful promotion, planning is key. We’ll look at planning in 90-day, 60-day, and 30-day phases. Here are the checklists for each month’s plan.
90-Day Planning
- Determine the promotion/event name/theme.
- Date(s) – If it’s a promotion, determine if it’s a one-day thing or will run for a set number of days.
- Times – If it’s a one-time event, determine the time. Maybe you only want to do evenings or a set time during the day to increase sales.
- Pricing – For events, decide what will be included and determine the price accordingly.
- Budget – Set the budget ahead of time. Don’t go by the seat of your pants or you’ll overspend!
- Determine your audience – Is it, moms? Families? Birthday families? Your target audience plays a big part in how and where you will advertise.
- Block off your dates – Be sure the dates are blocked off for facility use, and everyone on your team has the dates on their calendar.
60-Day Planning
- Determine marketing strategies – Think about where you will market and how. Will you be promoting posts on social media? Do you need to reach out to your community? Will you talk with bloggers about what’s happening in your area?
- Work with a graphic artist or use canva.com to design your marketing materials.
- Develop a bounce back offer. If hosting an event, make sure every guest receives a bounce back offer like a discounted family four pack or BOGO gameplay.
- Write copy for email campaigns and social media posts and schedule their release ahead of time.
30-Day Planning
- Execute your marketing plan. Be sure you are advertising at least 30 days before your promotion or event.
- Educate your team on the details of the event or promotion so they can talk with each guest about it.
- Follow up with vendors on items ordered and make sure your display screens in the center are running promotion information.
Execute!
- Take care of any last-minute details in the few days leading up to your event or promotion.
- Be sure you are properly staffed, and the staff knows all event details.
Follow up
- Follow up with your team about how the promotion/event went.
- Collect feedback from guests so you can implement it in your next promotion or if you plan on doing the same event next year.
- If you had vendors involved with your promotion/event, follow up with them. Lots of times they see things we don’t.
Promotion and event planning doesn’t have to be hard, especially if you prep a plan. Remember, Zig Ziglar tells us to plan your work and work your plan. If you can be sure you are checking off everything you need, your promotion or event should be a success.
Upcoming Marketing & Promotion Ideas
- Stand Up To Cancer is celebrating ten years of raising money for cancer research. You can get involved by hosting a fundraising event.
- Halloween is a fun time to host a Trunk-or-Treat where you can have local businesses set up cars in the parking lot, set up games, have candy it creates a fun an safe trick or treating. Also, have fun costume contests, get creative with a fun haunted house, or have a family night with pumpkin carving.
- Show how thankful you are for your fans by hosting a 12 Days of Giving. Each day gives special coupons or offers they have to collect that day. It’s a great way to increase your fans on social media or collect emails addresses for your list.
- Cyber Monday – host an online sale with special packages or BOGO game offers.
I hope these lists help you plan your events with ease! I’d love to hear your feedback or answer any questions. Just shoot an email to rosie@trainertainment.net
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