2015 Internet Marketing Survey for Family Entertainment

Industry

Kevin Ekmark

Winter 2015

We surveyed Family Entertainment Center (FEC) owners from all over the United

States and Canada from December 1, 2015 through December 23, 2015. Our goal was

to capture data from a wide variety of FECs regarding the current status of their

Internet marketing.

Our second goal was to compare the data so that other FECs could see where they

stack up against each other, and also break down how FECs as an industry compare to

small businesses in North America.

In this report, you will find a variety of data points and my personal opinions

regarding the state of Internet marketing for the Family Entertainment industry.

- Kevin Ekmark, President/CEO of TrustWorkz

Thanks to our large network and fellow

members of International Association of

Trampoline Parks, IAAPA, Roller

Skating Association International, and

BPAA, we were able to survey a wide

variety of FECs. From trampoline parks

to karting to roller skating rinks.

We were interested to know whether

how owners perceived the value of

Internet marketing over other channels.

Most said that they got the biggest bang

for their buck with the Internet.

FECs of All Types & Marketing Channels

Internet marketing falls on the shoulders

of most owners/operators with 56%

claiming that it is their responsibility for

their FEC.

This would include the actual day to day

tasks of creating content (written, visual,

video) and distributing it through

various web channels such as Facebook

and a company blog.

Agencies and in-house marketers were

the dominant marketing leaders outside

of ownership. Most FECs do not put

their marketing in the hands of their

hourly staff members.

Owners Who Manage Marketing

There was a clear split between owners

who were responsible for their own

Internet marketing that thought they

had a handle on it versus needing help or

being ready to delegate the tasks to

someone else.

Roller skating centers made up the

largest percentage of owners managing

their own marketing and most felt as if

they had a handle on it.

Those that managed their own

marketing were 91% more likely to not

measure or understand their marketing

results.

Are Owners Successful?

Do FEC owners believe that Internet

marketing is the real deal? According to

our survey, 88.6% believe that Internet

marketing is more important today than

anytime in the past.

We can assume that because Internet

marketing is believed to be more

important today, owners are more

interested in learning about its

capabilities more than ever.

How Important Is It?

According to a BrightLocal study from

early 2015, most SMBs will spend less

than $500/month on marketing.

However, that data varies on company

size. According to their data, SMBs

within the range of 3 to 50+ spend $863

to $3,261 per month on marketing. **

Using their data, we found that nearly

half of FECs surveyed were under

spending on their total monthly

marketing when compared to other local

small businesses.

Marketing Budgets

CMOs expect digital marketing spend to

make up at least 75% of their budget

within the next five years. ***

When we compared total marketing

spend to Internet marketing spend

within our data, we saw a disconnect

with that prediction for FECs..

Part of the reason for most FECs

investing less in digital is due to high

marketing costs associated with print

media and television. Both mediums are

considered to have lower ROIs and

higher costs than Internet marketing.

Internet Spend

Owners that “strongly agree” or “agree”

with the statement, “We are successful

with Internet marketing”, were also

more likely to have an in-house marketer

or agency working for their FEC.

FEC owners that managed their own

Internet marketing (without the help of

staff) were more likely to feel neutral

about the statement or disagree

altogether.

Does Internet Marketing Work?

A major challenge for many FECs is that they

simply aren’t tracking their results. Owners

that were unsure or were not tracking at all

were most likely to be managing their

marketing on their own.

The most educated owners regarding their

results delegate their Internet marketing to in-

house marketers or agencies. Owners that

tracked their results also “strongly agreed”

that they saw results from Internet marketing.

and 80% understood how those results related

to their bottom line. Additionally, they were

more likely to dedicate a larger portion of

their total marketing budget to Internet

marketing.

Are You Sure It Works?

Most FECs target the same four age groups

with their marketing. Trampoline parks and

both indoor and outdoor kart tracks are more

likely to target young adults.

The 2nd largest target market, behind

Millennials, was the under 18 age group. This

was a considerable amount of marketing

dedicated to targeting a group with the lowest

disposable income. However, this age group has

twice the amount of brand conversations per

week as adults. ****

My suggestion is to target mom and dad, but

do not neglect the influential under 18 group.

Who Do FECs Target?

The FEC Marketing Toolkit

Facebook is a clear favorite. However, most FECs are missing opportunities with search engines and paid advertising.

TrustWorkz decided to only build mobile friendly

websites since April 2012, when Google and Bing

both came out in support of the mobile responsive

web format.

It took almost 4 years, but it appears as if most

FECs believe that mobile web design is important

for their business.

According to Party Center Software, around 54%

of parties booked on their online booking are

made from a mobile device. Our analytics reflect

that the average FEC receives 70% or more of their

website traffic from a smartphone. Mobile cannot

be ignored.

Has Mobile Finally Gone Mainstream?

During a webinar in 2014, we presented what

mobile friendly design was for websites and party

booking, and we quized the attendees before and

after about whether they had a mobile friendly

website or not.

Before we began, 67% believed that their website

was mobile friendly. After the webinar, attendees

changed their mind. By the end of the webinar,

70% now believed that their website was not

mobile friendly. *****

While most FECs that we surveyed believe that

they are mobile friendly, we actually found that

many still were not, which is why we believe this is

inaccurate due to surveyors not understanding

mobile friendliness 100%.

But Are They Mobile Friendly?

The State of Internet Marketing for FECsIt’s clear that FECs believe that Internet marketing is a valuable place to invest their marketing dollars.

However, nearly half of all FECs are struggling to find their way through the marketing forrest. There is also a

clear connection between owners that delegate marketing work to in-house or agencies and their Internet

marketing success.

FECs utilizing agencies and in-house marketing experts have a better understanding of their results and how

they tie into the bottom line for their business. They typically allocate a larger piece of their marketing budget

to digital as well.

As the Internet continues to evolve, more technology and channels demand expert marketers to help pull levers.

FECs that can find a solution to keeping up with marketing in 2016 will also begin to develop a more successful

and well balanced marketing strategy which includes social media, SEO, and paid advertising.

Sources*TrustWorkz Winter 2015 FEC Marketing Survey

** http://searchengineland.com/75-small-medium-sized-businesses-smbs-say-internet-marketing-effective-212277

*** https://www.cmocouncil.org/facts-stats-categories.php?view=all&category=marketing-spend

**** http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/resource/marketing-children-overview

***** http://trustworkz.com/webinar-why-mobile-web-design/

Contact:

Kevin Ekmark

Kevin@TrustWorkz.com

TrustWorkz.com

@KevinEkmark on Twitter