Board game cafes are all the rage with Gen-Z, which is why you’ll see an influx of cafes in almost every nook and corner. While this opens up many opportunities, it also imposes a few challenges.
If you’re a small cafe in the vicinity, your ability to differentiate yourself from competitors and target only a specific niche in your marketing campaigns is pivotal for your success.
Running a generic campaign and trying to reach out to all sorts of customers is only going to do you more damage than good. Pick out a niche that resonates with you and your target audience and then strategize to bring it all together – everything from the decor to the menu to marketing and more.
You can establish yourself as a board game hub, a center for book lovers, or a fan club for some movie or TV series.
In this article, we’ll talk about how you can set up and promote your board game cafe successfully.
Social Media Marketing
The first thing you need to cross off your checklist is having a social media presence. Even though having a social media presence is essential for any business nowadays, it’s necessary for a business targeting a relatively younger demographic.
You’ve got to ensure that you have a presence on all social media platforms that your target audience is active on. Create profiles on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Discord, and set up a WhatsApp business account as well.
Strategies such as influencer marketing will bring a lot of attention to your profile, but an important thing to keep in mind before that is to make sure you have an eye-catching and engaging profile on all these platforms. Create reels on TikTok, show snippets from the cafe on Instagram Reels and Snapchat, and upload engaging visuals on Facebook and Instagram. Use these social media channels to keep your followers up to date on all the happenings at your cafe.
Worried about not being able to create aesthetic Instagram posts? Fret not; you can use PosterMyWall to choose from an abundance of Instagram post templates and personalize these for your cafe. You have an option to publish directly to your social media pages or schedule your post for later. You can even resize these (for free!) for a variety of social media platforms with a single click.
Gaming Communities
The best thing about online marketing is that you can target the audience segment that will genuinely be interested in your niche. Because these people are already passionate about board games, they’ll actively engage with your posts. Target board gaming communities on various social media platforms such as Facebook groups, chat rooms, and gaming forums. You can even make use of Discord servers that are dedicated to board games.
One thing to keep in mind while doing all of the above is to set some ground rules so that all the members feel safe and welcome in discussions. You can do this by publicly posting community rules which are mandatory for all to follow. This may seem a basic enough thing, but it is the need of the hour in the current condition of social media, where you and your business are likely to encounter trolls online at any time.
Engaging with your existing audience is not enough. You’ve got to step it up and reach out to other potential users. Build up your market segment through paid promotions that are targeted at a look-alike audience or users with similar interests.
Game nights & tournaments
Everyone loves a game night. Use this to your advantage and hold regular game nights. This will ensure you have a consistent footfall at your cafe. But holding game nights alone is not sufficient.
You’ve got to spice it up a bit. Restrict your game nights to particular themes. One game at a time. Set up the decor for your cafe accordingly.
Create personalized invitations and put up game night posters around the block to get the buzz going. Send dedicated emails to your followers, inviting them to the game night. Add a touch of exclusivity by adding a timer to the invitation – limited seats only!
Take things up a notch and carry out tournaments for the more popular games. You can drive up the hype by offering some incentives to the winner. It could be prize money or recognition on a wall of fame in your cafe.
Evanston Games & Cafe, based in Evanston, IL, uses game nights and tournaments to attract an audience. They plan out plenty of events every month. This is made possible by maintaining a calendar to show when different game nights and tournaments will take place, which looks quite decent and neat while also conveying all the necessary information to the customers. Remember, your marketing efforts can go a long way in ensuring that your game nights are a roaring success.
Possible Themes for Game Nights
Here are some possible themes for game nights that can be hosted at a board game cafe:
- Family game night
- Codenames tournament
- Disney/Marvel/DC/Star Wars theme (come in costume!)
- Pub trivia
- New game demos
- Culinary stuff (have other shops sample their foods)
- Retro night, where people bring in their favorite games from decades ago
- A thematic event where you put thematic games on display like Lovecraft, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Prehistoric, etc.
You can pick a theme for your game night to set the mood, such as Halloween or other special occasions. Some games that a board game cafe must have when they open include Codenames, Exploding Kittens, Nemesis, Pandemic, and Catan. Finally, you can also have regular weekly meetups for people to go to and play with and meet strangers.
Giveaways
Holding giveaways is almost guaranteed to give you the engagement and reach you’re looking for. Giveaway contests are super simple to implement, and the returns are almost always greater than the investment. Set up the criteria for people to participate in your giveaway, with the goal being to increase your number of followers and their engagement.
Keep it straightforward. Ask people to follow 3-4 basic steps to participate in the giveaway. It can be as simple as asking them to tag 3 friends in the comments section, making sure they follow the page, and then sharing the post as their Instagram story. The reward of the giveaway can be a simple cash prize or a free dinner at your café.
Influencer Marketing
Research suggests people are more inclined towards influencer marketing than traditional ads. They’re more open to trying out products and services that are recommended by influencers, bloggers, and celebrities they trust and admire. Getting some top influencers from the gaming industry or a celebrity who’s a board game fanatic to promote your cafe will certainly do wonders for your marketing.
Considering we have to promote a board game café, it is ideal to get your influencers to make use of videos and reels instead of static imagery. Videos will help give the viewers a real feel of the cafe – its ambiance, the thrill revolving around the board games, the mouth-watering menu, and so much more.
Final Words
We’ve outlined some basic but effective strategies to promote your board game cafe and increase its footfall. But remember to play loose and have fun with your marketing. Try out new platforms, avenues, and types of content that are relevant to your target audience. Now, go out there and put your cafe on the map!
