Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
There’s so many inspiring and creative float centers out there, many of who keep coming up with ingenious new ways to get the word out for their centers.
What’s the protocol for borrowing marketing ideas like this? How does proximity factor into it?
Graham and Derek break down the nuances of marketing strategies and where to pull from and what to avoid. It’s all about etiquette.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right. Hello everyone. We are once again joined by Derek.
Derek: Oh yeah.
Graham: Who does a lot of marketing for us over at Float On, and is also one of the heads of Float Tank Solutions. Ashkahn is taking a little break from podcasting to spend some more time working on the upcoming Float Conference in August.
Today’s question is centered around some marketing, which is “another center in my town did a cool social media campaign.” Awesome. “How do I do something like they did without seeming like I’m just copying them?” The old copycat syndrome.
Derek: Don’t copy them.
Graham: Well, don’t rip off people’s brilliant ideas and pass them off as your own, yeah. That’s pretty much how you do that.
Derek: And that’s it for today.
Graham: Yeah, I guess any initial thoughts on that one? Because obviously, you do, you see all kinds of things that other businesses are doing. The world is, I don’t know. In normal business, it feels like if you see a bar that has a clever A-frame outside of it, and then you steal that idea, it’s like whatever. There’s a million bars around and stuff. In the world of floating, it being so small and tight-knit, I feel like there’s this bigger barrier to just being able to immediately take and use someone else’s idea without feeling a little bad about it.
Derek: And taking something from somebody in your own town definitely is a bigger no-no than let’s say somebody across the country that you liked their idea and you just reached out to them to go, “Hey that was really cool. Do you mind if I do something similar?” I think that’s perfectly fine because the only people who are gonna notice are the people in the float industry who follow everybody’s Facebook page anyways. I think in that realm, it’s okay to do something like that, but if somebody in your town did something awesome. You’re like, “Damn I wish I would have had that idea,” what do you do? I think you might want to take a step back and see where they got that idea. Chances are if it’s something cool on social media, they probably got that idea from a business that was not floating related. Maybe they saw a bar going, “That’s pretty clever. How can I wrap that into my floating business?” That’s probably why you thought it was cool is because it was so cool, they saw it passed around the internet and they go, “I’ll try to bend that to my business.”
That’s where a lot of the coolness factor comes from, is that kind of, memetic, this is really nice. I want to share it with others.
Graham: That’s a good point. It is very likely in fact that the great idea that you saw in your hometown was not actually original when that center did it.
Derek: Pretty much.
Graham: I would still say, I mean I always skip to asking for permission. If you see something cool, there’s no harm in just emailing the folks in there and being like, “Hey I thought that was really cool. Do you mind if I steal that?”
Derek: We don’t really have any details in this question on what was the cool thing, but I mean if there is something that’s a differentiating factor about your center that you can spin into this modified rip-off, then maybe do that. What sets your center apart from theirs? Maybe you do something very similar to what they did, but then put your own flavor on it. Not a direct image-for-image, wording-for-wording copy, but make it your own.
Graham: Right. Let’s just assume for the sake of simplicity that it’s some kind of free float giveaway motivated by comments of some sort. That’s the kind of social media thing that they’re doing just to make it more concrete. In this case, you’re saying, well maybe figure out something that ties directly into the things you’re trying to accomplish with your specific center that ties into the giveaway or maybe figure out if it was like, “Hey comment with your own float story about how floating’s changes your life and we’ll give away some free floats.” Maybe you, on the other hand, say, “We’ll do this other thing, and leave some comments about you doing it, and we’ll be giving away free floats.” It doesn’t need to be just a direct almost point-for-point copy of what you were watching.
Derek: And you can often use that great idea as a jumping off point to make something better perhaps. You can take those elements and then wrap more elements into it. Let’s look at the giveaway idea. The giveaway idea is probably not the example of that awesome thing I want to copy. If it was something like that, and then you turned it into a scavenger hunt in your town, whereas the previous float center just did a, oh like my page and 10 people out of 100 will win a float, or something like that. Why don’t you say, “Like this page to follow details for upcoming things to look for in the town, and when you find those things, then you can turn them in for a free float.” So maybe taking the idea of a giveaway and adding more elements to it is how you play off of the other center’s idea and then make it your own, and better.
Graham: Sure. It’s almost like a cover song, or something, at that point. Sure, you’re using the chords and lyrics that someone else came up with, but it’s totally in your own style and might not even ultimately be recognizable as the same song when it comes out the other end.
Derek: An extra long tribute to that middle section of the song.
Graham: I mean, yeah if you don’t want to offend the other center in town, there’s A) figuring out if they even came up with the idea originally, B) just asking them for permission, C) changing the idea enough that it’s not a direct copy, in which case they can’t really be offended.
Derek: And if they had a great idea, great. Let them have that great idea. Work of your own great ideas. I mean, do that. Follow other influential small businesses in your town that somehow got buzz even though they don’t have a big budget. See if you can, again, spin it towards something floating, or even better, other businesses outside of your town. Start following small businesses all around to see what everybody’s doing to try and get the word out, and see something that inspires you, and go forward.
Graham: That is very true. Don’t have one idea. Just because you saw something cool that happened to be done in your town, doesn’t mean that’s the only marketing idea. If you spent an hour going out and just perusing other, not even float centers, but just other businesses, Facebook pages, and social media pages, and kept a little notebook handy, you’d probably come up with a couple dozen ideas just in that short time that you might want to implement in your own business.
Derek: And marketers have something called a swipe file, where they see something that’s awesome but they don’t know how to quite incorporate it. They put it into their swipe file. I’m swiping this idea. I’m gonna basically, when I come down to, all right let’s brainstorm a campaign. They start going through that file. I like elements of that. I like elements of that. I like the size of that font. I like that layout. I like that webpage design. Then they put it together in their own voice, their own brand, and their own uniqueness and come up with their own campaign that other people thought was great. It’s just like a compilation of the greatest hits, to continue to music metaphor, to create an album versus creating a whole album of your own.
Graham: That’s great. I really appreciate extended analogies.
Derek: I’m not even musically inclined. Coming with the musical references.
Graham: But you know what an album is.
Derek: Yes, CDs, LPs, or something like that.
Graham: All right. Anything else to add on this one?
Derek: No, I do like that fact that they are watching what people are doing and are aware of good ideas and trying to find inspiration, and that they should just keep searching. Things will come.
Graham: Cool. Well, thanks for the question. For any of you out there who have questions of your own, head on over to FloatTankSolutions.com. That’s our website. There’s lots of other cool stuff there too. But FloatTankSolutions.com/podcast is where you can send in your own questions that we’ll answer, just like this, if not better. Thanks everyone. Bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
What are average floater return rates? – DSP 84
Getting repeat customers is integral to the health of any business. For float centers, this is especially true. It can be worrying when we see our floaters leave the center, never knowing if they’ll return. There’s a very natural inclination to start tracking this trend to see if there’s anything you need to change about your business to attract repeat customers. Memberships are a natural way to attract repeat customers and can quickly become the lifeblood of your center, too.
But how do you measure it? What time frame is acceptable to consider a repeat customer? If they don’t float within six months, does that mean you’ve lost them? If they float once and don’t return for three years, is that a success on your part or a failure?
Graham and Ashkahn tackle all of this and more this time around. Check it out!
How to handle ‘Summer Slump’ in your float center – DSP 83
Many a float center has hit their first summer and seen their schedule thin out. What causes this? Is it just a seasonal thing? What about places that don’t really have seasons? Or tourist towns? What exactly causes this and what are some good tips to combat it? Graham and Ashkahn address this phenomenon head on in this episode.
Addressing customer misinformation – DSP 82
Every float center owner has to deal with customers who get, maybe, a little overenthusiastic about the float experience. What is the best way to deal with customers who say things that are just patently false about the benefits of floating? Do you just let it slide? Do you correct them and potentially offend your customer? It’s not their fault, they’re just excited. It doesn’t seem right to punish them.
This is definitely a tightrope walk type of conversation and it can have an impact on your customers and your reputation as a business, as well as the whole industry. As stewards of the tank, Graham and Ashkahn offer their advice on how best to have this difficult conversation and offer some resources to help with it as well.
Our Report on the Chinese Float Conference – DSP 81
Ashkahn went to China and brought another one of the owners of Float On along, Jake. The two of them share their experiences of visiting the Chinese Float Conference this year and learning about all of the developments in the Chinese float industry, which seems to have exploded in just the last couple of years.
Handling Common Client Concerns: Claustrophobia – DSP 80
This is something pretty much every float center deals with on a regular basis. The first objection that a lot of people will say when they first hear about floating is “Oh, I’m too claustrophobic for that”. Which… feels like getting shut down straight out of the gate.
Graham and Ashkahn, as seasoned float center owners, have heard this all too often and are not only familiar with it, but have some excellent ideas as to why this is the first major objection people throw out there as well as good ways to combat this concern.
Latest Blog Posts
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
