Marketing in the Bounce House Business

A nice textbook definition of marketing is "The commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer." Very little in the real world is as simple and easily truncated as a one-line definition. And marketing is no exception to this.

The average person equates marketing with sales. But the two functions, while working together in effective organizations, have vastly different functions.

So, what does marketing mean to your commercial grade bounce house business?

Marketing has many roles within a bounce house business, regardless of whether the company is large or small.

• Marketing keeps your bounce house business in front of existing bounce house customers and prospects. A good marketer knows the value of keeping your business in the forefront of your customer's mind. This goes far beyond just a sales call each quarter to past bounce house customers. Whether via email or direct mail, sending regular communications to your bounce house customers, that offer them insightful information that the recipient will find useful, is invaluable.
   
• Marketing helps to facilitate the bounce house rental process by providing brochures, sales pieces and other tools.  This collateral will ultimately end up in front of a bounce house customer or prospect to provide information and assist in the sales process. Without these types of marketing materials it is a challenge for an bounce house business to differentiate itself from the competition.
   
• Marketing generates new bounce house leads. The sales team can do a great job when they have a bounce house prospect's name and contact information in front of them. This is where marketing comes in. From sending out direct mail pieces to designing bounce house ads, one of marketing's critical functions is to generate new bounce house leads for the sales department.

• Marketing creates positive press for your bounce house business. Another important function for the marketing department is to develop and distribute bounce house press releases, create and publish white papers and industry articles. These efforts will get the bounce house business' name in the news, reaching more prospects and keeping them aware of your bounce house products.

• Marketing develops and cultivates an online presence. Every commercial grade bounce house business operating successfully in today's marketplace needs to have a web site. However, once you have set up your bounce house web site regular maintenance is still necessary, from continuously updating the information, to making necessary modifications to move your site to the top of the search engines. Another critical component of web marketing is social media marketing. More and more bounce house businesses and customers are gravitating to this medium to satisfy their needs.

There are many more marketing functions in a bounce house organization, but these are some of the most critical and time consuming. The key for a commercial grade bounce house business is to consistently market your bounce house business to existing customer and prospects, which will ultimately differentiate you from the other bounce house companies on the market.

Colors for Your Inflatable Rentals

Whether you are designing your web site, marketing collateral, or your business' logo understanding some of the psychology behind color palettes and the feelings that each color can invoke can offer an important advantage, or disadvantage, to your commercial grade inflatable business.

The color palette that you select for your inflatable business is just as important a decision as any of your business' design. When choosing colors for your inflatable business, It may help to ask yourself the following questions:

* What color(s) do you like?
* What color(s) best represent your bounce house brand's personality?
* What color(s) suits the characteristics of your inflatables?

When choosing the color palette for your commercial grade inflatable bounce house rental business, keep in mind that there are emotional connections to particular colors. We all know the idea of reds being a warmer, more inviting color and blues being a cooler, more distant color.

If your inflatable business already has some colors that are identifiable to the brand then you may want to stick with the existing color palette. However, if you are not committed to any one color scheme consider the following common associations with colors:

Blue - a favorite corporate color, associated with authority, security, intelligence and reliability, cool and soothing, regarded as a more masculine color

Green - associated with money, environment, wealth, health and loyalty, the color of peace and harmony

Red - associated with intensity, heat, passion, excitement and strength, commonly used to attract attention and importance, a color that "shouts"

Yellow - associated with happiness, excitement, energy and cheerfulness, another attention grabbing color, particularly when used in combination with red

Orange - associated with warmth, health, vibrancy and sunshine, creates a stimulating, vibrant and fun environment

Pink - associated with femininity, romance and health

White - associated with innocence, virtue, purity, cleanliness and safety

Black - associated with mystery, formality, power and elegance, best used as a background color to a bright or pastel color, when used as your logo typeface suggests authority, elegance, stability and power

Gray - associated with conservatism, depressing and moody feelings

Silver - associated with technology, cutting edge, richness and elegance

Brown - associated with nature and comfort

When designing your inflatable business' image you will want to keep in mind the emotions that certain color invoke. In general, your bounce house business' web site is the first touch of contact for potential customers. The design and color palette that you use on the web site can invoke certain feelings that can be beneficial for your business, giving you a leg up from the competition.

While, the science of color psychology is not fool-proof, it is worth taking into account when designing your site and company images. This information is based on research and certainly has validity to it. This is a simple way to try and make sure the customer has the emotions that you want to invoke when visiting your inflatable business' web site and seeing any type of information or collateral from your bounce house business.

Birthday Party Planning Tips

When planning the big day for your child’s birthday party many people believe this is a very stressful event! We would like to give you a step by step guide on how to reduce the stress when planning a birthday party or special event!

1.      Event Date – This is easy. Most birthday parties occur the Saturday or Sunday before or after the child’s birthday. By having the event on the weekend it will allow for more of their friends to attend. Having a mid-week birthday party will create more stress. Also many people will not be able to attend because other obligations. (Work, sports, church, etc.) 

2.      Choose a venue – Most parents chose to have the party at their house because it’s free and easy! There are other types of venues available in our area. We have a lot of great/clean parks in our area and pavilions can be reserved at a minimal cost.  Pavilion rentals are common for people living in apartments or small houses.

3.      Theme - After you have chosen the event date next is to determine what type of theme birthday party your child wants. You can simply ask your child what type of theme they want or make suggestions based on what they like to do or watch. TV shows are common birthday themes (Dora, Princess, Sports, Pirate). Having these types of themes will make it easier for you to decorate, since decorations can be found at your local party store.

4.      Invite the guests - Now you have your event date, venue, and theme it is time to send out invitations to your party. We recommend sending out invitations 2 weeks in advance. This will allow your guest to make arrangements to be at your party. Also another great idea instead of sending out invitations is creating a Facebook event for your party. You are probably Facebook friends with your guest, so creating an event can get immediate feedback on who will be coming.

5.      Plan you entertainment – Many parents to choose inflatables for the party entertainment because it can please all the kids at once. They can bounce or slide all day long without having to take a break. You can plan a bounce house rental Fort Walton Beach today! Another option for entertainment is lawn games (pin the tail on the donkey, water balloon war, scavenger hunt, and much more). Face painting has recently become popular for birthday parties, but you will still need other entertainment because once their face is painted its painted. We recommend scheduling your entertainment at least two weeks early. This will allow you the best selection of options!

6.      Food – This is easy! What does every kid want for every meal? PIZZA! Contact your local pizza place one day or the day before the party and tell them you would like to place a large order of pizzas for carry out or delivery. Give them the date and time you would like to get the pizza delivered or picked up. Don’t forget about drinks for your guest. We recommend getting some 2 liter soda’s for the adults that will be attending your party and Capri Suns or other box drinks for the kids. The others you will need are coolers, ice, plastic cups, paper plates, napkins, and forks. Pick up these items the week before your party when you make your weekly grocery store run. By picking up items the week before you give yourself time to find something else if they are out of a certain item.

7.      Party Day – It’s time to party! Ice the drinks that you purchased earlier in the week in the morning time, pick-up the pizza at the prearranged time you scheduled with the local pizza place, your Niceville inflatable rentals should be delivered at the time you requested (if you opted for lawn games or carnival games then they should be put together the day before the party). You have everything you need accept the guest you invited! It’s time for your child to enjoy their special day!

We hope this seven step guide to planning a successful party will help you when you are planning your next birthday party! If you think we missed something or have recommendations to make our list better please leave us a comment and we may add them to our list! Happy Birthday Planning 

Water Slide Rentals

Water slide are the best way to enjoy an afternoon birthday party or special event. Okay lets say it! THEY ARE FUN! From grandparents to children everyone will want to go down the water slide at least once. This is the only time the parents will let them go crazy outside, so take full advantage of it.

While this are FUN you still must follow certain rules to insure a safe water slide party. The list below is some simple but important rules to keep in mind when planning a water slide party.

1. Insurance

You would think that all party rental companies carry insurance, but this is not true. This is the first thing you should be asking when you are shopping for your water slide attraction. Not only this, but it is important to make sure that the particular water slide you’re renting is covered. Some companies advertise their insurance policies, but those policies only cover certain water slides. If someone is injured while at your party and the inflatable party rental company is not insured you could be facing large financial settlements.

2. The Age of the Water slide

A water slide can only hold up to so many excited kiddos and sometimes their parents before it start to fail. Slides seems can start to fade and come loose at the seems. This is not only an aesthetic problem but a safety issue. When you see companies advertising 6-8 year old water slides you should consider another company with newer equipment. They will look a lot nicer for your party. Put this question high on your list when water slide shopping.

3. Disinfecting

This should go without saying, but it is our experience that never every water slide company cleans and sanitizes their units after use. Kids in the summer times are always putting in their hands and feet where they shouldn't be, so make sure to keep this question in mind when renting a water slide. You don’t want your guest to have an infection after leaving your party because the water slide was not cleaned properly. If you notice that a water slide is dirty when the company delivers it you could refuse it or spray it down with a bottle of Lysol. (Delivering dirty equipment is unacceptable)

4. Solutions for the Heat

Water slides are a great way to beat the heat. Sliding into a pool in 90 degree weather is a refreshing way to spend the afternoon. Unlike bounce houses which the kids get very hot in the summer time, water slides can be played on without ever having to take a break and cool down.

5. Supervision

Water slides should be supervised at all times to insure the safety of all children. They are great fun for the whole family, but they are not babysitters while parents run other errands. Never let smaller kids and bigger kids play slide at the same time. Break them up into groups! Never slide down head first as serious injury can offer. Keep a close eye on the water slide and kids and don’t let your event be ruined because the lack of supervision.

6. Rules for the Water slide

This goes with number 5! Supervise the water slide at all times. We have put together a small list to follow when playing on your inflatable unit.

1. No teenagers or adults on the water slide with the little ones.

2. No shoes on the water slide. (i.e. hard soles = damage to the water slide and to other kids)

3. Slide feet first! Sliding head first into pools is not recommended.

4. NO SILLY STRING!!!!! (This will permanently damage the water slide)

Etc., etc., etc. You’ll know the rules that will work best for your party-goers.

When you reserve your inflatable water slide you may want to check with your Destin Water Slide Rental store to see if you need to provide anything. They should provide everything you will need for a successful event, but if you don’t have a power source you may want to rent a generator. DO THEY DELIVER? Water slides are very heavy and unless you are use to rolling, unrolling and then rerolling after the party you should leave the delivery up to the experts. Party rental experts know how to install a water slide correctly and you can enjoy the party without worrying about if you set it up correctly. Ask these questions, so you don’t have any glitches or surprises the day of the party!