Top 10 Tips to Boost your Play Area!
With summer now a distant memory and winter well and truly on the way, we thought it would be a good time to share some tips with our existing play operators out there!
So we put together our top 10 tips to boost your play area leading into the festive period and towards an even more successful 2016!
1. Creative Thinking
Reinforce your identity by reminding people who you are, where you are and what you have on offer. Having a consistent brand applied across various items like party bags, vans, exterior / interior signage etc really helps to reinforce your name and brand to both existing and new customers. You might want to explore organising a colouring competition at a local school and get the children to visit by asking them to post their entries into a ‘post box’ situated in your play area. The following week, put all the the entries on display and the week after, announce the winner. You could offer a prize such as an unlimited play pass!
2. Your Staff
Try and employ staff with specific key desirable skills such as those who have experience with a variety of activities e.g. dance, music, leadership skills, football, singing, roller-skating, cooking, storytelling, baking etc. You might also want to think about re-training your staff. Soft Brick can help here, especially if we carried out the original soft play build. We offer extensive staff training as part of our project hand overs which includes safety and maintenance of the products. Contact us and we'll see how we can help!
3. Refurbishment
Purchase some DIY fit add-ons from our website! Our ever expanding range of soft play products are available online 24/7. We have a massive range of rockers, wobbly characters and other assorted soft play to match nearly every theme! You could even speak to your local special school about working with them to introduce a dedicated sensory area to your play provision. It's also very important to make sure your play area stays clean! After all, no one wants to spend time in a place that is covered in dirt! Speak to us about our cleaning services - including ball pool cleans!
4. Attract the Grown Ups!
It's always a good idea to offer activities for the parents to get involved in, such as single parent or grandparent afternoons. You could also offer the adults classes in subjects such as cooking or fitness, or even start a family book club. Good coffee is a guaranteed plus point too!
5. Use your Free Space
Advertise areas like Sports Court which can be hired out 'out of hours'. These large, open areas are ideal for things like aerobics, yoga classes, party rooms etc. You could approach your local children’s football team or similar to use the area also.
6. Promotions
In exchange for people’s loyalty you could offer free entry for kids or a free coffee for parents. Introduce a loyalty card to encourage return visits, ‘Money Off’ coupons, or schemes such as ‘Bring 2 Kids and the 3rd Goes FREE’, or ‘Purchase 4, Get the 5th Free’ for each paid entry or for purchases from your cafe.
7. Seasonal Scheming
Keep things fresh and interesting by offering seasonal activities e.g Easter Egg Hunts, Pancake Day, St. George’s Day celebrations, Halloween Party or a ‘Meet Father Christmas himself’ day. Don’t forget to also celebrate a range of cultural holidays too!
8. Celebrate
The birthday of your play area is worth shouting about! Celebrate your 'play area birthday' by throwing a Birthday Bash. Hire a clown or magician for entertainment. Create a party atmosphere by offering face painters, balloon makers, jugglers, photographers and even local celebrities! Everybody likes to see local businesses do well, so why not contact your local press and spread the word!
9. Newsletters
Spread the word by starting a monthly newsletter. Include any planned events, offers or competitions.
Create a regular customer data base by gathering details from contact detail forms (with permission) in exchange for free entry into a competition draw. Being active on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram helps spread the word even further. An up to date website also helps massively with your ranking on search engines - which in turn helps people find you.
10. Sponsorship
Why not contact local businesses and see if they would be interested in sponsoring elements of your play area? For example, the team over at Jollies Play Barn approached local business Huntapac with the idea of sponsoring their toddler soft play structure and in return they would theme the structure like Huntapac's wagons! We know you'll agree it looks great:
Hopefully you've found these top 10 tips useful - if you've got some more of your own you would like to share then give us a shout on Facebook or Twitter!