Successful Marketing Tips for a Paintball Field

“Build it and they will come” is a phrase popularized by Kevin Costner’s film “Field of Dreams.” While this phrase actually speaks of a baseball diamond built in the middle of a remote cornfield, for some reason many small startups seem to think it applies to them. Too often, enthusiasm for their new company clouds their outlook and makes them think that the business they are about to open will be so new that all they have to do is open the doors and they will be inundated with new customers. While this situation can happen, it is extremely rare and even more so for a business that attracts such a limited demographic as a paintball field. The reality of the matter is, if you don’t have a meticulous marketing plan set up to start at least 8-10 weeks before opening day, you’re already planning to fail.

The unfortunate statistic for small businesses is an 80% failure rate in the first 18 months. Forbes magazine will tell you that the main reason for this is that they have run out of money. While this is why they end up closing their doors, the reason behind it is simply due to a lack of planning. Many new paintball field entrepreneurs get so caught up in designing and building their business that they completely forget about marketing or, at best, it’s an afterthought. Most of the time, the reason startups run out of money is because they didn’t start their marketing efforts early enough, or they failed their marketing altogether. The bottom line is that they were unable to generate enough business to keep their operation running. If you don’t start your marketing efforts early enough, you’ll ensure that your first few months of business are slow and stressful. Wrong marketing is even worse, wasting valuable time and limited start-up money to produce nothing.

Even though paintball may be one of the golf course owner’s favorite hobbies, it takes an adult to get out of it and realize that not everyone has the same interest. In fact, paintball caters to a very small demographic, rendering marketing to a broad-spectrum audience useless. Because of this, it’s smart to avoid expensive TV commercials, radio spots, and newspapers designed to “keep the name of your field on everyone’s mind.” This type of medium should only be used to drive advertising for specific events and not to provide the “regular exposure” that most sales reps will try to sell you. Since the game of paintball tends to attract only certain types of people, the most profitable form of advertising is to target these specific groups. This is called niche marketing, and if done right, it can be very effective. The first task is to make a list of all the different specialized groups that play paintball on commercial fields. Then target specific campaigns and promotions just to these groups.

The ages of the players involved in paintball is 8 to 40+, however it is recommended that players be at least 18 years old. This is because the pain from being hit is often too intense for younger players. While it will take a bit of foresight, targeting young people to market your paintball field could be a worthwhile endeavor in the long run. Considering that most courses cater to high school and higher, young players are a large demographic that tends to be left out of the commercial world. When making your initial equipment purchase, consider purchasing .50 caliber paintballs, guns, and equipment. These are smaller sized balls and don’t hurt when hit compared to larger standard .68 gauge paint balls. This is a great decision because .50 caliber equipment is limited in the types of weapons available. It will be too expensive to buy .50 cal markers and balls. And .68 cal. For your field, so you will have to decide on one and stick with it. While .50 caliber equipment is quite limited in the types of markers available, they are actually more profitable than .68 caliber. Offering .50 caliber paintball will also allow you to market ‘painless’ paintball to younger audiences and cater to a market that has been largely untouched.

Paintball is not gender specific, however it is mostly played by men. It is not a sedentary game and it is much more fun for people who are more athletic and can move quickly. Target facility-specific marketing campaigns and programs targeting youth, men, and athletics. To do this, network with groups like the local YMCA, sports centers, and even gyms. Meet with the owners and / or planning managers to promote your field with informational brochures, special events, and / or certain days or games that you have scheduled just for your group. Most cities and towns have numerous health clubs. Consider hosting a one-day paintball war for rival gyms to battle each other for a local title. This can also be done for high school sports teams during the end of their season or between seasons. Many high school coaches like to keep their team together during downtime with activities that are fun, challenging, and different from the sport they normally play. It’s a good idea to market your field to these leaders and help them schedule an event that will help your team bond.

It is quite common for certain groups to use outside activities to do bonding exercises to bring the team closer together. Many corporate companies take their employees on rafting adventures, ropes courses, and even paintball for this valuable experience. Marketing your paintball field to all corporate companies with more than 10 employees is a great idea for this purpose. Target all corporate businesses of this size within a 120 mile radius, set a specific day in your field on which to host the event, and / or offer a special corporate rate. Take the time to try and meet with executives or HR managers who may be interested and organize an event. Another good niche group to market to for your paintball field is law enforcement and military personnel. Active duty soldiers / officers may want to rent their field for certain tactical simulation exercises. Inactive staff often still love the adrenaline rush and good battle strategy and have the potential to be very good regulars. Offer these groups military and police discounts, as well as group rates and / or special field hours.

Don’t waste your time, energy, and money trying to get every tax payment in your zip code to play your field. The list goes on for specific niche groups to market to and the more creative you are with your promotions, the better. Take your time to think of more groups to communicate with and constantly try to come up with new ideas to get and keep them interested in playing on your field. Keep simple statistics on which events / marketing campaigns and niche groups were the most successful so you know which ones to keep doing and which ones get back on the drawing board. Once you have a steady stream of new players, focus on internal marketing strategies to keep them coming back. For example, frequent player discounts, free tank or ammo refills after a certain number of games they have paid for, etc. Set up your paintball field from scratch so that it can be rigged to host different events and competitions for different niche groups to play there and many players will call your field home.

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