Book Out Your Birthday Calendar At Your Indoor Playground Business Quickly With Content Marketing

In episode 169 of the Profitable Play Podcast I explained one of my MOST effective strategies for giving an under-performing offer or service a massive boost in a short amount of time. And that is a super intentional content blitz.

If you haven’t listened to that episode, make sure you go back it’s episode 169 and listen to it– because it was packed with information and I’m not going to repeat all of the background strategy behind what a content blitz is and why it’s effective, and I’m not going to go through as much detail for all 10 steps– because that would just be silly– I know you’re super busy so in this article I am simply going to give you another example you can use for your indoor playground business– so YES, consider episode 169 as a prerequisite to this article.

If you prefer to read, that episode is also available in written blog form here!

Here we are going to talk about a content blitz that is NOT related to any sort of time-sensitive incentive like the membership offer we talked about in the last episode was.

This strategy is best used for one of your CORE offers that you are super confident in and do not want to discount or offer any extra bonuses for.

You simply want to spread awareness and education and create content that can be re-used and recycled over and over again any time you need a bit of a boost in bookings.

So we are going to use the example of BIRTHDAY PARTIES here.

So again assuming you already understand the content blitz strategy and the thought-process behind it, let’s hit fast forward and get right into how you can tweak the 10 steps we already discussed for this type of offer.

1) Set a Goal

The first step to any successful campaign is to set a clear goal. 

If you took my FREE book more birthdays challenge, then you already know exactly how many birthday parties you need to book in any given year given your operating costs, the size of your space, your direct costs of each party package as well as the corresponding packages prices, AND how much you would like to make as an owner via owners compensation.

So if you have NOT taken that challenge, you can sign up here, it’s actually available now year-round in a binge-able self-paces version instead of the live version that I do just once a year, because THAT is how important I think it is to really know and understand your birthday party numbers.

So let’s assume you have taken that challenge and know exactly how many birthday parties you’d like to book this year. Now look at your calendar, and identify what the gap is, or what the gap will approximately be by the end of the year given your current numbers.

For example, if you currently do 3 parties a week and the goal is 5 per week based on all the cost and revenue information I mentioned above– you may want to book 104 additional parties. If you’re already booking about 1 per week with your current efforts, then that may mean you would like to book 52 parties with a strategy LIKE a content blitz. 

And something I didn’t mention in the last episode but I have seen a lot of chatter about on social media is the concept of a SMART goal.

So what is a SMART goal? Well, SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

So let’s run through this process to make sure that our goal for this content blitz is SMART. Is it specific? Yes, I’d say a goal of 52 parties is pretty specific. And you can even go beyond that and make additional goals that over 50% of new bookings will be for a specific package or tier that you’d like to be your new priority. 

Is your goal measurable? Yes, because we can easily measure how many bookings and deposits are made within a given time period.

Is it achievable? Booking 52 parties in a finite period of time will of course depend on how well you execute this strategy and the amount of time you give yourself, but YES it is achievable! Each time you use this strategy you will learn and improve and do more of what works and less of what doesn’t– so even if you fall short the first time I promise your results will get better and better over time.

And real quick here– I have mentioned this many, many times on this podcast but a BIG prerequisite here is that you MUST have an automated booking system where your customers can make a reservation and put down a deposit.

Your customers NEED access to make a booking on THEIR schedule, and we should never be relying on our staff or ourselves to NEED to be a part of this process. I am done sugarcoating this one- it is now 2023, and if you are still asking people to call or email to book– it’s time to bump an automated system to #1 on your priority list. If you don’t have this system in place OR if you don’t take my advice on some of the subsequent steps and create content ahead of time, delegate, and schedule content in advance– then no, you will NOT have the resources or systems to achieve your goal.

Is our goal realistic? Yes, given what I just mentioned and keeping those pre-reqs in mine, YES, your goal WILL be realistic.

Now lastly, is your goal timely? Yes, because even though we are not externally telling our customers that we want to book X number of parties by X date and offering that time sensitive bonus we were in the last example in episode 169, we are still giving ourselves a timeline internally. 

So check, check, check, we have a SMART goal. So let’s keep powering ahead.

2) Determine an Incentive

Again, we are going to skip this one because we aren’t going to offer a time sensitive bonus, though doing so can definitely boost results like we mentioned in the last example. This can also be done right before you raise prices– while you’re not offering as bonus, you’re allowing people to lock-in current pricing before it goes up on X date when your blitz is over.

Again, this is just to show that you do not need to add to your services or discount them in order to see a significant improvement in your booking results.

3) Set a Timeline

As we talked about in episode 169, identify a timeline for your blitz. For a core offer like birthday parties, I like to give myself more time, so I prefer a month for this one. Your objection list can end up being MUCH more lengthy– and you want to be sure to address it all.

Again, all of this content you create will not only be reusable, it will also help empower your employees with the information they need to handle these objections on a day-to-day basis which will increase your booking conversion rate on a permanent basis AND make their lives a lot easier which will increase employee retention which is something at the top of ALL our minds right now.

So if you are executing this strategy for a core offer, let’s make this one count and commit to a MONTH long content blitz.

4) Come Up With A List Of Objections

Again, this is going to be completely dependent on your own business model, but here is a list of some examples to help get the wheels turning.

1. Your prices are too high
2. I will have a lot of adults in attendance
3. My child has a large class/ a large guest list
4. Many of the children attending will be under the age of 2, will there be enough for them?
5. I want to bring my own food
6. I have a specific vision for party decor and I need time to set it up
7. We have family coming from out of town and need extra time to celebrate
8. We want a theme that isn’t in your menu of options
9. We want to hire an outside vendor like a character or balloon twisting company
10. My child’s birthday is during an outdoor weather month

And just to reiterate, I have a few tips for this one:

1. ASK your team what objections they hear. Loop your staff in and sit down with them and ASK, “what questions do you frequently get around this offer?”, “do people often give a reason of why they decide NOT to enroll?”... things like that. Write them all down.
2. ASK your customers what objections they have. If you have a closed facebook group, a focus group, or some smaller subset of your customers tagged in your email list (or you could choose to ask publicly, that was just never my style)-- ask them as well. Ask them, if they haven’t become a member yet, what their thought process is. Pay close attention to the topics they bring up but also the exact WORDS they use, because we will use all of this information you’re gathering in the next step of your content blitz.
3. Remember, this exercise is not to placate everyone. The goal isn’t to try and please everyone and force your square-shaped offer into a round-shaped peg hole. The goal isn’t to get as MANY customers as possible, it’s to get the RIGHT customers into your world. By the end of your content blitz, people following along should complete clarity around whether your offer is a good fit– OR if it’s not. And if it’s not, that’s OK. Attracting the wrong customers with TOO much incentive or discounts will result in negative reviews and refund requests– which no one wants.

Okay, onto #5.

5) Create A Content Plan

This is going to be an abbreviated version of  the strategy I went through in detail in this article, so again if your head is spinning GO BACK and listen to that one in full.  But ok, let’s create a content plan.

Under each of the 10 objections, I want you to create 2-3 talking points. So for example, if the objection is around having a lot of adults on the guest list, you could be sure to talk about your cafe and espresso options, and highlight how there is comfy seating for adults. You could remind your potential customers (if this is the case, of course) that your vibe is different from the kids parties of THEIR childhood. It’s not chuck-e-cheese. Maybe you’re closed to the public during parties or have a private room that’s perfect for escaping the chaos. This is where you really lean into your space’s strengths and call attention to all the aspects of your business that makes your space PERFECT for parties with plenty of no-kids adults.

And if the talking points can be used under multiple objections, that’s OK– just try to reiterate the same information in a fresh way. Some people are visual learners, some prefer numbers– so even if it feels repetitive, that’s OK. I am sure by now that you’ve heard the old adage that people need to hear a marketing message 7 times before they are actually moved to make a purchase. I have found that to be SO true, so don’t be afraid if your talking points sound similar.

So if you go through your FAQ or objection list and make 3 talking points for each, now you have 30 sub-categories, or talking points, on your list.

You can also choose to use reviews and testimonials to help dispel any objections your customers may have!

And as we discussed in the last episode, under EACH of the 30 talking points, I want you to commit to addressing it with 3 different mediums, again– to ensure everyone, regardless of learning style and preferred platform, will get the message. Mediums to choose from include a FB /IG story (and stories can either be graphics, you talking, a team member talking, a video, etc) a reel, a blog post, an email, a feed graphic, a feed video– you get the idea. But try to have a healthy mix of mediums again to cover all your bases.

6) Batch Your Content

So, YES– 90 pieces of content may seem like a lot, but it’s doable if you batch, ask for help, and delegate.

I recommend grouping your mediums together and just putting a date on the calendar to knock it out. It will save you SO much time and headaches, in my opinion, to do it this way. 

7) Announce Your Initiative

Again, even though you won’t necessarily have a time sensitive bonus to share– you can still loop your customers in on what you’re doing.

You can call it a “birthday bonanza” and share how quickly your parties book ahead of your busy season, so you want to spend the MONTH talking about parties to make sure everyone following you gets their choice of date and time before slots book up.

I recommend always positioning this in a way that benefits your CUSTOMERS, not YOU– so keep that in mind. Remind them that your goal is to answer questions, educate, and spread awareness– all of which are value and service-based goals.

8) Go All-In On Execution

One of the best things about batch creating content in advance and scheduling it to post automatically is that, as I mentioned, it will leave you with TONS of energy to go ALL in on execution– because this is NOT the time to POST and GHOST.

You can go LIVE to answer questions, you can hop in those comment sections and engage, you can answer emails and DM’s in a timely fashion. 

This is crucial because while your content will educate and spread awareness– you still need to actually close sales and make conversions here. And some of that will require your intervention or your staff’s intervention– especially if you’re reaching many people new to your business.

9) Celebrate Along The Way

As we discussed in episode 169– we want to acknowledge our customers who booked so they feel validated in their booking decision, but we also want to create FOMO. Be specific with your celebrations- you don’t need to give personal info out but you can say you’re so excited to help a 3yo girl celebrate with a custom-colored minnie party, share some add-ons her parents selected, and maybe even share some inspo pictures or pictures from past parties. 

The goal is to inspire customers to think of things they hadn’t even considered yet or knew you were able to do– both of which will lead to AMPLIFIED sales.

10) Thank Your Customers

Again, just as we went over in the last episode, once your promotion or content blitz is over, whether you reached your goal or not, THANK your customers. 

Acknowledge that you were WAY more active than normal but be sure to re-state your purpose for the noise.

Bring the attention BACK to your intention– which was to spread awareness about an offer you poured your heart and soul into and that you KNOW would be extremely beneficial to your customers if they knew more about it.

This subtle nod to your followers is a great way to show appreciation whether they decided to purchase or not. Because even if they ended up on the non-buyer side of the fence this time around, they may be in a different circumstance or position NEXT time you run a similar promotion.

So while you should never APOLOGIZE for taking up space with our business, especially when we are talking about our CORE offers like parties, the very linchpin we built our businesses around–  it’s OK to thank your followers once in a while just for being there reading the words and messages you put out into the world.

I hope you enjoyed these last 2 articles all about how to execute a successful content blitz– and if you’re in Play Maker Society we are already sharing ideas and swapping strategies about how we are going to make this work in our own business. But even if you’re not yet a member, I want to hear how you’ll be putting this to use. Send me a message on IG, and let me know! I’d love to follow along.

So while your play of the day yesterday was to  choose an offer you think might fit, and choose a month that works for your calendar and whatever else you may have going on in your business–

Your play of the day today is to get the REST of these steps on the calendar as well, now that you have both options for content blitzes in your business toolbox.

Put a staff meeting on the calendar, schedule a survey to go out, start putting any systems in place that I mentioned are required to make your blitz goals achievable–

Because as you’ve likely heard, a DREAM is a goal with a deadline.

So if you are following all the similar businesses to yours on IG and you’ve been dreaming about what it would be like for YOU to be fully booked, what your life might be like– this is one of those BIG moves you can make to get closer to that lifestyle you envisioned when you launched your business in the first place.

So this is your time to commit, to put a stake in the ground and a date on the calendar, and I will be here for you should you need it.