In 2014, there were about two dozen escape room facilities in the US. But what was founded as a niche market in Japan in 2007, has now become a worldwide phenomenon.
As of July 2022, it is estimated that there are more than 1,900 escape room facilities in the United States alone. While the impact of COVID-19 had an effect on the number of escape rooms in the US, the market is now rebounding.
By some estimates, it is believed there are more than 20,000 escape room businesses in the entire world.
Competing with this sheer number of competitors can be a puzzle all on its own. So, how can you better compete within the industry and generate bookings for your business?
In this blog, we’ve listed four ways to improve your escape room marketing strategy, and, as a result, improve your competitive advantage and drive new revenue for your business.
1. Escape room photos should be a crucial aspect of your marketing campaign
Photo marketing is quite simply the most effective way for escape rooms to market their brand, and this is even more effective if they are able to offer escape room photos for free.
That’s because offering free photos, particularly if you use a photo marketing platform such as Fotaflo that allows customers to share photos of their experience on a custom-branded web page and social media, and enables your business to take control of its escape room marketing strategy.
With an effective photo marketing strategy in place, your escape room can increase repeat bookings, enhance the guest experience, as well as generate referral bookings.
2. Ensure you have a seamless customer experience
One of the most effective marketing tactics for your escape room is word-of-mouth. To ensure customers love their experience with your brand and want to shout about it to their friends and family, your business must ensure it has a seamless customer experience in place.
For a seamless customer experience, make sure you:
- Prepare the players before they arrive, without giving too much away about what they’ll be doing.
- Provide a stress-free experience, with limited waiting time, by making sure their room is ready.
- Keep the pre-game briefing concise and exciting.
- Hand players certificates and badges on completion of the game.
Did you know that offering free photos also enhances your customer experience? Learn how by simply offering free photos, your business can generate new bookings and enhance its marketing initiatives by reading our blog, How to Stand Out From the Competition With Free Tour Photos.
3. Use email remarketing as part of your escape room marketing campaign
After a customer has completed their experience with your business, they become a valuable remarketing resource.
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, because through remarketing there’s a chance that a customer will book another experience with your escape room in the future. Secondly, because past customers are invaluable word-of-mouth marketing tools for your business.
That’s why your escape room marketing strategy should include email remarketing, and photos should be a key component of those campaigns. By using photos to remind past customers of the amazing experience they had with your escape room, you can encourage them to either make repeat bookings or recommend your activity to their friends and family.
4. Focus on gaining high-quality reviews that make you stand out
Reviews are critical to any tour or activity operator, and your escape room business is no different. One of the first things a prospect will always do before booking an activity with your business is to read your online reviews. Reviews of your brand should be enticing to new customers, with past customers expressing what an amazing time they had with your brand.
To ensure you are able to consistently get reviews from customers, make sure you have a process in place that captures customer email addresses. You should then create an escape room marketing campaign that focuses solely on encouraging past customers to leave you reviews.
Here at Fotaflo we find that one of the best ways to encourage customers to leave high-quality reviews is to get your tour guides (or gamesmaster in the case of escape rooms) to leave a personalized thank you video to each customer when you send them their photo album.
When your gamesmaster leaves a personalized video asking customers to leave reviews, you’ll be surprised at just how many positive reviews you can generate.
Are you interested in learning more about how providing free photos to your customers can help enhance your escape room marketing strategy? Book a demo of the Fotaflo platform and find out how we can help.
