Create A Summer Membership Offer That SELLS: Here's Your Marketing Plan To Boost Your Indoor Playground's Summer Profits

As the summer sun begins to shine, teachers eagerly await their well-deserved break from the classroom. It's the perfect time for an indoor playground owner to tap into this enthusiastic and adventurous demographic by offering special summer memberships geared towards teachers or anyone who will have more free time over the summer months.

Since many indoor playgrounds, especially in states with more mild summers, see a drastic decline in open play and parties during the summer, this can also be a perfect supplement to revenue in addition to offering group rates and summer party specials to groups, daycares, and summer camp facilities which I discuss in more detail here.

And if you’re already out for summer break or feel like you don’t have enough time to put a new offer together in the next few days or weeks– I think this episode will help make it seem much more simple and manageable for you.

And if you’ve already created a summer pass but aren’t selling as many as you’d like, I’m going to share my best marketing tips at the end, so don’t tune out because this episode is for you too.

Alright, let’s get right into it.

So when indoor playground business owners are considering offering a special summer membership, I often hear two common objections. 

So let’s talk about them.

1) Teachers are often underpaid and are on limited incomes, especially during the summer months.

And I totally get this one. My sister and her husband are both teachers and I have seen firsthand how their spending habits need to be adjusted over the summer.  

However, there are 2 ways to tackle this roadblock.

The first is to target the summer pass towards PARENTS. I know I am always looking to give something unique to my children’s teachers before summer break, and again– since I have teachers in my family I know better than to give them yet another mug or tote bag– which they likely already have a stockpile of at home.  

So run a social media or content blitz like I talk about in episode 169 of my podcast OR run a short-term targeted ad towards parents of preschool or elementary aged students in your area and make the messaging hyper-specific.

Your ad can say something like, “looking for a unique and thoughtful end of year gift for your child’s teacher? Here are all the benefits of our memberships and here’s how you can turn this into their absolute FAVORITE gift this year”.

And if you’re worried that parents might be concerned that their teacher is gifted two memberships– make sure you give them options right on the sales page– where they will typically be having that thought. 

Offer a gift card as another option– and state that in the event the teacher is gifted two memberships, they can use the gift card for coffee or tea or classes instead– to make their experience even more enjoyable. 

Or if the teacher DOES only get one gift from your facility– they can use the gift card to purchase a membership.

Again, the key here is to create a sales or a landing or checkout page SPECIFIC to this offer– it should only take you a few minutes regardless of what website builder you use. 

And in addition to targeting the messaging towards parents– you can do the same for anyone who knows or loves a teacher in their life.

I know my siblings are always looking for things to do with their kiddos over the summer and are looking to spend quality time with them doing different things– so I know they’d love to have one more option to consider when planning their days in the summer months– especially on those rainy days that can be a real bummer.

The second way you can address this objection– and in case you don’t recall we’re talking about the fact that most indoor playground owners feel resistant to offering a summer memberships because teachers or anyone off for the summer will be facing a limited income– 

Is to offer them a special price.

So I’m not saying you need to discount your membership option as-is, because that is a whole other issue we will talk more about in a moment since it can anger your current members–

But you CAN create a scaled-down offer JUST for summer use. For example, if your membership usually includes discounts on retail or parties– cut that benefit out if you don’t think teachers will be utilizing that anyway.

Or if your membership includes priority registration for events and classes but you don’t have as many over the summer anyway– nix that as well. 

Create an offer that is less expensive but also less costly for you to offer– so you can create an offer that is affordable and still a win-win for all involved.

 And that brings me to the SECOND objection I usually here from play cafe owners regarding offering a discounted summer membership–

2) Won’t this anger my current members and cause resentment and cancellations?

So as I just mentioned, I would just be crystal clear in your messaging that this is a UNIQUE offer JUST for use for over the summer–

And that anyone who purchases this pass will NOT be given the same benefits as the current members paying a higher price.

And you can always give them an EXTRA perk as well.

So for example, let your current members know that if they gift a summer pass or refer someone to the summer pass offer and they purchase– they can get a benefit in the form of a discount on their next month or a cafe coupon or a free class– whatever is easy enough for you to offer and makes most sense for your business and what you offer.

Not only will this create more peace in the minds of your current members, it will also help your summer program gain traction and make more sales. If your current customers or members have an incentive to share the information about it– they will be much more likely to do so.

This was one of our “secret sauces” when it came to selling summer memberships– this referral program aspect. And typically, when owners ask in Play Maker Society or message me on instagram about their summer pass not selling as well as they’d hoped– they have NOT yet created a referral program.

And once they do, it drastically improves sales.

And you can extend this referral bonus as well to anyone who has already bought a pass– so they can invite neighbors, friends, and will be incentivized to purchase themselves as gifts as well.

And you can also reach out to schools, daycares, preschools– places like that as well, and ask if you can hang up flyers or distribute information to their staff as well. Even if you make a couple sales from this, it will likely be a positive return on your investment. 

So if these two objections have been holding you back from creating a summer pass membership OR selling as much as you’d hoped– I hope this article was helpful to you!

And if you’re ready to jump in and launch, optimize, or scale your profitable indoor playground business– we would LOVE to welcome you into Play Cafe Academy and Play Maker Society.

Click below to learn more and visit our main website for all other courses and consulting information!