TARGETING YourAUDIENCE

If you deliberately target someone in the NFL, you will end up with yellow laundry on the field, followed by possible ejection, and a hefty fine from the Commissioner. For bowling operators, however, targeting your current and potential customers’ results is a big reward!

By targeting we mean identifying those who already know about your business or are highly likely to be a future customer.

Facebook and Instagram are great vehicles for identifying these targets. Social media allows you to search for people in your market who already like bowling and have a higher potential of being attracted to your offers. Additional targeting can be done regarding arcades, pizza, or any other attractions you provide at your center.

Social media also allows you to utilize the look-a-like search to identify people with similar attributes as your existing customers. Facebook does a great job of identifying these similar attribute groups so you can aim your ads specifically at them, which results in a much higher open and click rate than usual. We have had great success using look-a-like audiences for our clients. While reaching these new prospects is important, encouraging those who already know about your center to return is another high-value target. Installing a Facebook pixel on your website allows you to target website visitors with follow-up ads. Delivering these ads for 90 days after a website visit is a great way to remind someone who is already interested in your business to make a return visit. Don’t let a website visitor make one visit and never see you again! While having a form on your website is a great way to build your database, the pixel allows you to target everyone – even those who do not fill out a form.

Pixels are the type of targeting tool that large corporations use all the time. When you Google something, like Ford trucks, or Costa Rica, you will see Facebook and Instagram ads pop up in your feed promoting trucks or Costa Rican vacations. This is no accident!

The big boys have used this type of targeting for years, and now it is available and affordable for bowling centers and FECs to do the same. While many operators have not heard of or used this tactic, the ones who are using it have seen significantly higher click-thru rates. All these clicks are going to specific areas of your website, which means more exposure for all the services and attractions you offer.

One of the other benefits of using Facebook for your targeted advertising is that they include Instagram ads. This allows you to reach a separate user base with the same ad campaign that skews to a slightly younger audience. Add in the ability to target geographic areas, from zip codes to neighboring towns to age groups, and you have a terrific marketing vehicle that is highly effective for bowling.

With the slower summer months ahead, now is the time to dial in a campaign aimed at parents of schoolage kids. They will have a lot of free time this summer, and you want them to spend it at your place! If you are running the popular Kids Bowl Free® program, you can run ads targeting parents of 6–13-year-olds to boost the program. Remember that you must use the Facebook Ads Manager, as boosted posts will not deliver the same results. If you don’t have the time or staffing to do this on your own, reach out to someone who specializes in this to ensure you receive maximum benefit from your ad spend.

So, forget about the penalty flags, and step into targeted Facebook ads to grow your traffic as they have been proven to get results for bowling!•

Carey Tosello is a former proprietor, founder of eBowl.biz/BowlRx.com, and frequent digital marketing presenter. In addition to traveling the world, his passion is to help centers grow their business. Carey can be reached at carey@eBowl.biz.