Apr
Integrated Marketing Done Right!
Tim: “Check this out,” my wife said. “This bowling alley is offering two free games a day for kids during the summer.”
I looked at the ad – nothing special, just a bowling pin and bowling ball with the offer on it. A colleague of my wife had photocopied it and handed it to her, thinking it would be of interest. We have eight grandchildren, and cheap summer fun is always welcome.
The ad did not have all the details – it directed you to a web page to learn more information. My wife visited the web page and registered with her email. She went to the Facebook page and “liked” it.
Newspaper ad, web page, Facebook and Twitter – all these are working as a funnel to drive people to become customers of a local bowling alley. The user is offered something of value – two free games for their kids and an idea for what to do when local temperatures soar to 98 degrees. The bowling alley gets the revenue from the shoe rental, the price of a game from the adult who accompanies the children.
In return the bowling alley gets a prize marketing asset – an email address from a user who is EXPECTING a weekly email from them! As a bonus, there are the Facebook fans and Twitter followers. If the number of “likes” for the Facebook page is an indication, this firm may have over 60,000 emails to send marketing messages to every week.
I’d also like to note that by bringing children in to bowl, the bowling alley is generating a farm team of future bowlers. Over a lifetime, by sacrificing the cost of a few games, they have the opportunity to gain a great source of revenue. I’ll bet that the savvy owners of this bowling alley will stock kid-friendly fare in their snack bar and squeeze a little more revenue out of the effort.
Most bowling alleys in my area are independently owned and operated. This effort is being done by a separate organization – perhaps an association of bowling alley owners. It is EXACTLY the sort of coordinated, well thought out and integrated effort we like to help businesses like a franchise or a trade association develop to drive customers to their businesses.
Please visit the link and consider how much benefit this effort will bring to a local bowling alley. Then start thinking about how a similar effort might work for your business.
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