Collecting guest data is often underestimated, especially when you're unaware of its benefits or lack the knowledge on how to gather it.
Let's face it, organizing a list of names and contact information may not be the most exciting task compared to creating a new attraction. However, don't underestimate the power of analyzing guest data. It can have just as much impact on your business as a fresh offering.Guest data can help you:
Think of your guest data as the molten iron coming out of a blacksmith’s forge. Without the raw material, not even the most skilled craftsman could create a useful item!
Are you still using that giant binder or even post-it notes to keep track of your customers? Do you have boxes of paper waivers piling up at this point?
Hand-written logs or even an out-of-date point-of-sale aren’t going to be the best at helping you create a database or associate transactions with a certain customer.
You need to have easily available, digital information. One of the best ways to do this is through an online booking software.
One of the greatest advantages of using software is how quickly the following questions can be answered by pulling a report:
If you're using Party Center Software as your booking solution, guest data is automatically collected as your guests complete the online booking process. You can customize the information they are required to enter or have the option of entering. New customers will have a profile created for them, and will be logged for future use.
So you have the information or have at least started gathering more guest data. The first battle has been won. Now what?
For event bookings or driving guests into your facility, you will want to start with Facebook.
In the United States, over 70% of users will use the site every day!
The major reason why people use Facebook is to keep in contact with friends and family. Think about that for a second. Doesn’t this reason also align with reasons people would visit your family entertainment center?
How does this help you leverage guest data? First, you’ll need to knock out some basics:
From there you can:
Getting more "likes" is great, but an online store or booking module makes it all worthwhile. If you can get the right message to the right people, they will want to buy from you—so don’t make that any more difficult than it needs to be!
You might have a good idea of how a new guest will walk through your facility the first time, but do you know how they interact with you digitally?
By installing Google Analytics 4, you can gather more guest data as you track a customer’s journey through your website. This information can help you discover the following:
Don’t overlook the volume of potential guests that might visit you online first. That impression is just as important as the one they have when they walk through your front door!
Google Analytics 4 will help you learn more about your customers and how they behave on your website. This will enable you to make more intentional, data-backed marketing decisions.
Note that in Universal Analytics, you would measure conversions by setting up goals, but in Google Analytics 4, "there is no distinction between goals and e-commerce; you measure all conversions via GA4 events."
To understand how to set up your own unique conversions, we highly recommend signing up for Skillshop and going through the GA4 course.
If you're a Party Center Software user, you have access to all of its useful reporting features. You can use these to analyze the guest data collected through your system. Here are a few useful reports you may want to consider analyzing.
If you’re a Party Center Software customer that hasn’t started putting your data to work (or need help learning how)—no worries!
We know how busy you are, but we also how important using it is.
That’s why we want to help you! Contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager and they'll set up a training session to help guide you through the most useful information and reporting for your business. You can also reach out to our support team with any questions regarding the reports within Party Center Software.
Not one of our customers, but interested in a demo?
Our customer success consultants would love to chat about your needs and goals.
Click here to schedule a demo!
Want to know more about how to build & price your party packages? Download this resource!