Prepare For Father’s Day Early with These Marketing Strategies
Mother's Day has come and gone, and hopefully you've seen an uptick in revenue this past weekend. Shoppers were expected to spend around $23.5 billion for Mother's Day - a 10% increase from 2016, equivalent to over $186 per person (AdvertisingAge, 2017). Of those who made a Mother's Day purchase, 55.9% purchased a special outing (i.e. dinner or brunch) and a further 24.3% purchased a personal service (i.e. spa day). (National Retail Federation, 2017). Thus, if you didn't market your operation and see an increase in revenue, then you missed a real opportunity to generate income. Fret not, Father's Day is just around the corner and you have plenty of time to prepare for it. Better yet, $3.1 billion was expected to be spent on special outings for Father's Day in 2016 - if Father's receive the same 10% increase as Mother's did, expect $3.4 billion to be spent in 2017.
As hospitality and club industry operators, you're well situated to capitalize on Father's Day. You have the amenities that Father's want. Plus, fresh on the heels of Mother's Day, your audience will be on the hunt for Father's Day gifts as it quickly approaches on June 18th. Get your brand front and center with these great marketing ideas:
DINNER NOT BRUNCH
Unlike Mother’s Day where brunch is the name of the game, Father’s are generally more interested in dinner with 67% choosing an evening meal rather than lunch, brunch or breakfast. Create a fun father’s day inspired menu of drinks and dishes, and be sure to offer something to make your business stand out – perhaps a live band or surprise gift included with each meal.
GIVEAWAYS
Dad’s typically prefer sports and hobby related gifts for Father’s Day, luckily as an organization in the club industry you have plenty of sport and hobby related products on offer. Perhaps run a giveaway for a free round of golf, or a golf gear package that each Dad attendee has an opportunity to win. Better yet, if you require them to submit their contact details you’ve just captured their data for future marketing.
LESSONS
Father’s Day is primarily about spoiling your Father, but it’s also one of those holidays which promote spending time with family. Leverage the family-centric mindset and offer Father-Son/ Father-Daughter lessons for any amenities you have on offer: golf, tennis, swimming, etc. It’s a great opportunity to encourage the family to try the amenities and they will remember your facilities fondly as a “family-bonding” moment.
KIDS
For the Dad with younger children, they may see Father’s Day as an opportunity to have a break from their kids. Your facility could help facilitate that desire by creating a special “kid’s area” to keep them entertained with games and activities while Dad’s out doing his own thing.
With your unique marketing campaigns in place, it's time to determine where you should market them. Unlike your usual campaigns, these need to target the Children and Mother's - contact information which you may not have readily available. Without contact information, you won't be able to reach your target audience via e-mail - so where should you market them? Here are some great options to overcome this hurdle...
PINTEREST
Moms are heavy social media users because it fits much more easily into their daily life. Mom’s tend to be heavy users of social media and often actively use 2 to 3 platforms weekly. While Facebook is certainly an effective platform to reach Mom’s, you should seriously consider trying out Pinterest. According to Nielsen, Moms are 61% more likely to visit Pinterest than the average American.
BLOGS
This one may take you out of your comfort zone a little, but Moms are typically heavy consumers of the blogosphere – this is because Mom’s tend to prefer getting information from other moms and about 1 in 3 bloggers are moms according to Nielsen. Find some popular local bloggers and see if they’re willing to promote your Father’s Day festivities to their audience – a quick Google search should help you find them.
SNAPCHAT
While Snapchat may not typically be a good fit for a club, when it comes to Father’s Day it certainly is. An estimated 150 million people now use Snapchat, and 60% of its users are 13 to 24 years old, making it the ideal platform to reach Children and Young Adults with great gift ideas for Dad.
We hope this blog has given you some inspiration for your upcoming Father’s Day promotions – if you didn’t have an overly successful Mother’s Day, show your marketing muscle for Father’s Day on June 18thwith these great tips. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please share below.
AdvertisingAge Article: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/marketing-mother-s-day/308996/
National Retail Federation Article: https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-data/mothers-day
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