Marketing to YOU guys...

needanustart

So I'm using you ladies as an informal focus group for work if you don't mind. I work at a children's museum that caters heavily to the 1-5 year old group. We are open 10-4 every day except Mondays. Fridays and Saturdays are our busiest day. We need to find a way to raise more revenue with our members and our age group as parents and to get their attention. My thought is to have a "breakfast club" where you pay X amount more (annual membership for any 5 people on your card is $95 anyway) to be able to come to the museum at 9 am on Fridays and Saturdays and we have free coffee. We often have parents waiting in the lot for us to open at 10 so I thought this would be a great bonus, plus coffee is cheap and always welcomed as a parent! I should note we are not exclusively a children's museum as we have a historic house and many older "train nuts" who come to see us, so I wanted to refrain from using a term that was only for children as a few of the old folks are early risers and may appreciate it.

Is this something that would appeal to you guys as toddler parents? Would you pay extra for it? How much? Any input is welcomed!

needanustart

@huckleberry08 the whole museum would be open- but only to the people who paid extra. I should have mentioned that! And you can walk around with your coffee if it has a lid (we will have those lidded Styrofoam cups). There are several rooms that have activity tables for kids and benches for parents, I bring my 3 little guys here and can let them safety play while I sit and stare into space sometimes So they should be able to drink their coffee if they are in the right area for their age group.

Thanks for the feedback though!

WasNotWas

I like the idea of early access to the museum, my kids are up at 6 and nap at noon so unless I'm real close any place that opens at 10 will not be frequented by the Was family.

What about after hours access? Do you guys have a property that you could set up a screen and projector and have a movie night outside? All you need to provide is popcorn and water and you could allow people to pack a dinner if you wanted.

Do you have any special attractions? You mentioned the train, could you have a train-related lunch? Where there was special additional access to the attraction in which there could be a guided tour or crafts or something?

With the holidays coming you could always do a bouncy house and pumpkin "carving" (stickers and painting) or other craft-type activity.

Cricket81

I think it sounds great. I would totally go for it. My only question is, even if 100 families take advantage, that's only $500 more a year. Is that enough to make a dent in your revenue needs?

needanustart

@wasnotwas it's funny you mention after hours access. We've tried keeping the museum open until 6 the last few months, at the requests we get in the members comment box and NO ONE is showing up post nap time it seems. I think people liked the idea of it, but didn't really know what would work for their schedule. We don't have much outside space except a large front lawn, but it is on a very busy street and there is no fence. I am working on a plan though that would be a campaign specifically to fence in the lawn and put a train play structure and picnic area out there (buy a brick, buy a paver stone, buy a caboose, buy a fence post, etc...) We do have lots of programming for kids on dolls, trains, colonial life, camps, etc and my big reasoning for the extra hour in the morning is it is the cheapest way we can make more money, because we wouldn't have to include more staff hours. All the programming requires hiring an educator for more hours, whereas just opening the door early and brewing coffee is easy peasey- someone is already here by 9 those days.

I have to limits myself sometimes, I have so many fun ideas, it just take capital to execute them! I am working on getting drop off child care in our rooms downstairs when we have our holiday craft fair upstairs. I would totally shop for an hour while my kids played downstairs! I need to rustle up some girl scouts that need volunteer badges or something to babysit for free!

needanustart

Cricket81 said:

I think it sounds great. I would totally go for it. My only question is, even if 100 families take advantage, that's only $500 more a year. Is that enough to make a dent in your revenue needs?

I wasn't sure what the annual price would be but I was thinking it would be $50 MORE dollars annually. So instead of $95/year it would be $145/year. The community is actually pretty wealthy and I do think about 100 families would do it, so $5,000 would make a dent. I kind of feel like $145 for membership for 5 people to a children's museum is a good deal for this area anyway, but that would obviously vary by location for some of you guys.

I'm also kind of copying the Children's Museum in Boston in that they have "members only" hours and a lot of my friends become members just for the early hours even though they go like 4x a year.

needanustart

This is us and our very low-tech website. And when I just looked it up I noticed a typo on the home page. God help us!

https://www.wenhammuseum.org/index.html

@chicagochic82 it's funny you say that about the coffee. I was just thinking as a very tired mom who has been up since 5 and likes free things point of view. I have definitely consumed free crappy coffee just for the caffeine many times, but I should probably factor in the community (I see lots of Michael Kors handbags and brand new Lulu Lemon pants on the SAHMs here) and up the ante if we did that. We have a super fancy little coffee house and bakery 2 doors down and I wonder if they would partner with us...

needanustart

@chicagochic82 no no no, you brought up a good point! But you DO have Chic in your screen name, so I am presuming you are high class.

needanustart

@kari5186 did you come to us?! That is one of our top 3rd grade to 5th grade field trips

DiaMT

I would maybe buy into the coffee idea. Is there a local roaster or coffee shop you could work with? Even if you're just offering drip coffee, having a reputable local name associated with the idea might get member interest more than just offering coffee alone. I like drip coffee just as much as espresso but I am picky about wanting a good strong cup.

Another idea to consider is date night. Once a month offer fun activities and drop off care for children of members for a special price. There are a couple places near me that do it and it's a huge hit. Parents can go out for dinner or just get some errands done and the kids have a blast too. It's also a big win around the holidays, especially if there's shopping nearby.