How to market an escape room. No jargon, no fluff.
You build great rooms. We will handle the marketing. But here is exactly what works.
[ THE HONEST TRUTH ]
Marketing an escape room is not complicated. It just requires focus.
Most escape room owners overthink it. They read articles about 47 different marketing channels and feel paralyzed. Or they try everything at once and burn through budget with no results.
Here is the truth: you need four things. A way to be found online (Google Ads and Google Business Profile). A reason for people to choose you (reviews and photos). A way to reach people before they search (Meta Ads). And a way to bring people back (email).
That is it. Four channels done well beats ten channels done poorly. This guide walks you through the five steps to get those working, in the right order.
[ THE STEPS ]
How to start marketing your escape room
Set up conversion tracking first
Before you spend a single dollar on ads, install Google Analytics 4 on your website and set up Google Ads conversion tracking to fire when someone completes a booking. Without this, you cannot tell which ads are working. Takes about 3 hours. Do it first.
Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Go to business.google.com and claim your listing. Add your booking link, 10+ professional photos, accurate hours, and your description with "escape room [city]" in it. This is free and drives 20-40 organic bookings per month for well-optimized profiles.
Get your first 20 reviews
Email every customer from your first month and ask for a Google review. Send the direct link. Reviews are the single biggest trust signal for people deciding between escape rooms. No reviews means no bookings from organic discovery.
Run Google Ads with a small budget
Start with $500-$800/month on Google Search Ads targeting "escape room [your city]" and "book escape room [city]". Send traffic to your booking page, not homepage. This gives you real data about what keywords and messaging convert.
Add Meta Ads at month two
Once Google Ads is profitable, add Facebook and Instagram Ads targeting horror fans, birthday planners, and corporate event organizers in your metro. Start at $400-$600/month. Meta is slower to optimize but reaches people who would never have searched on Google.
Want a full 12-month roadmap? See our marketing plan template for the complete framework.
[ AVOID THESE ]
5 beginner mistakes that waste time and money
Waiting until you are "ready"
You learn by doing. Start small, gather data, improve. Waiting costs you bookings.
Trying every channel at once
Pick one or two. Do them well. Add channels when the first ones are profitable.
Judging ads by clicks instead of bookings
1,000 clicks that produce zero bookings is worthless. 50 clicks that produce 10 bookings is a great ad.
Stopping ads in your busy season
Busy season is when you want more of. Keep ads running. Pause only if you are fully booked.
Ignoring past customers
Your existing customers are your cheapest marketing channel. One email per month to past visitors generates bookings with zero ad spend.
Not sure where to start? The fastest way to learn is to have an expert show you. Book a free audit and we will show you your specific situation. Check out our quick tips for immediate wins.
[ READY TO START? ]
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