The Invisible Christmas Customer

Christmas fills your venues. But how many of those guests will you actually be able to speak to again in January?

By Alan Armstrong from Spaceman Marketing, for Airship
‍

Once upon a time at Christmas...

If you work in hospitality marketing, you know this tale very well.

Christmas menus printed in July, pre-booking campaigns from August, paid Meta ads galore, Sales teams chasing deposits, and yet another request for a festive graphic from a GM in Banbury. And then someone higher up is asking why January isn't looking busier?

We marketers spend months trying to fill our venues in December, but there's a question I think we should be asking alongside, or instead of, "How many bookings have we got?" ... "How many of these people will we be able to speak to again in January?"

Because there's a significant difference between having a busy venue and building an engaged audience which you can bring back in 2027.
‍

What about the rest of the table?

Let's say you've got a Christmas party for twenty people coming in for a nice festive lunch.

You've got the organiser's details via your bookings engine. They've made the booking, sorted the deposit and spent three weeks chasing Dave from accounts for his menu choice.

They're on your database. Great.

But the other nineteen? You might know little about them.

A couple of them might log into the Wi-Fi. If that's around 10% of the group, you're still missing most of the table.

Those guests might have a brilliant time. They might be visiting for the first time and thinking, "We should come back here."

Then they leave, Christmas happens, and you've got no way of reminding them you exist.

That's what I mean by the "invisible customer". They're right there in the venue, enjoying themselves and spending money, but they're missing from your database.

And December is full of them.

‍

Give them something worth signing up for.

We all know we need to grow our databases. The challenge is giving people a reason to hand over their details while they're out enjoying themselves.

"Sign up to our newsletter" can be a tough sell for a server halfway through a Christmas party.

"Enjoy a free drink on us" is a bit more compelling. It's the famous value exchange pushed through comms or server recommendation, but again, how and when is the right time to do this?

"Fancy having a go at winning something?" is a much easier conversation, executed by a simple QR code on a festive table talker or on their place cards.

That's where my side hustle, The Game Boys, comes in. We use gamification to give customers a fun reason to get involved, share their details and engage with the venue.

That could be anything from a spin-to-win game, a virtual Christmas cracker or a 24-day digital advent calendar. It's simple enough for someone to play on their phone while they're waiting for a drink. And everyone at the table can take part and play. It almost doesn't feel like data collection.

You're suddenly reaching more than the person who booked. You're giving the wider group a reason to connect with you and compete against each other, with clear marketing consent built into the process and an instant reward.

Everyone's a winner.

‍

Keep it simple.

Remember, your guests are there to enjoy a Christmas party. They want to eat their food, catch up with their mates, and they've probably had a few glasses of Buck's Fizz already.

So, my advice is to keep the sign-up process quick and easy:

Scan the QR code → Play the game → Enter details into the Airship form → Receive an automatic email with their Airship or Toggle reward.

That is four steps for the guest, with the follow-up happening automatically. Keep the form short, make the marketing opt-in clear, and avoid asking for information you do not need.

You can then remind them about their reward in January or February, with a clear booking link and a nudge before it expires.

A few moments during their Christmas visit could give you a reason to welcome them back when you need the trade.

‍

Plan the return visit before the first spin.

For me, this is the bit to get right early.

Before choosing your data collecting mechanic, the game, the graphics or the prizes, decide what you want people to do afterwards.

• Want to give your January trade a little lift? Build that into the rewards.
• Got a February experience you want to sell? Give people a reason to try it.
• A bounceback reward could be a dining voucher, a complimentary dish with a purchase, or something linked to your venue's activities.

It needs to be something people want. It also needs to work for the business.

Have conversations with ops. Look at when the reward can be used, what spending it might encourage and how easy it will be for the team to redeem.

If a customer turns up excited to use their prize and nobody knows what they are talking about, you've made the return visit harder than it needed to be.

Keep it clear, brief the team, and make it easy.

‍

We've seen it work too.

Last December, STACK Leisure generated 10,000 sign-ups across five sites in just four weeks through a gamified campaign. They'd normally see around 2,000 sign-ups a month.

That's five times their usual volume.

London Cocktail Club also increased its database by 72% through one festive campaign back in 2024 with a shake-the-cocktail game.

Meanwhile, Queens bowling alley in London used a spin-the-wheel game to re-engage their lapsed Airship audience and took CTRs from 0.5% to 4% in just one campaign.

Those are strong numbers. But as marketers, we know a big sign-up figure only tells part of the story.

The next question is: what are we going to do with all these new contacts?

‍

Then put your CRM to work.

This is where your Airship CRM brings the follow-up into play.

Someone has visited, played, and opted in to hear from you. You've now got a useful reason to land in their inbox.

Send them their reward instantly (everyone loves instant gratification). Explain to them how and when to use it and then give them a reminder while there's still time to book.

Then start showing them what else they might enjoy about the venue.

As a fractional marketing director for five major UK hospitality brands, I spend a lot of time helping operators join these things up: the campaign, the customer experience, and the reason for returning.

Gamification gives people a reason to participate in a non-pushy way, and then Airship helps you keep the conversation going post visit.

And the reporting needs to follow that journey too. Look beyond sign-ups to redemptions, bookings and spend wherever you can. That's how you start understanding what the campaign has really delivered.

You've already done the hard work of getting these people through the door in December.

Let's make sure more of them have a reason to come back to you when the tinsel's packed away and sales are tough.

‍

Alan Armstrong is a hospitality marketer and fractional marketing director, working with five major UK hospitality brands through Spaceman Marketing. Through his side venture, The Game Boys, he helps operators use gamification to grow their databases and give guests a reason to come back.

‍