My first experience of an escape room was at Moviescape in Stockport. I was really impressed. But, being a marketer, it also got me thinking about what happens before and after the game. How many people enquire but never book? How many group organisers could bring another party? How many players enjoy themselves, leave, and never hear from the business again?Keep your escape room booking system. Build the marketing around it.
Your escape room may already have specialist software that manages room availability, game times, group sizes, payments and waivers.
If that system works well, there may be no reason to replace it.
Booking platforms serving the escape room industry include:
- Bookeo: escape room scheduling and booking software with payments, reminders, promotions and follow-up features. It also integrates with Mailchimp for newsletters and marketing campaigns.
- Resova: booking software for escape rooms and other activity businesses, with promotional tools, automated customer messages and marketing integrations.
- FareHarbor: booking software serving escape room operators, with room scheduling, customer communications and integrations, including Mailchimp for email marketing automation.
- Buzzshot Bookings: a booking system built specifically for escape rooms. The wider Buzzshot platform also provides player registration, waivers, team photos, email and SMS follow-up, broadcast emails and automation.
Do these booking platforms already do marketing?
Yes. It would be misleading to suggest that specialist escape room booking systems have no marketing capabilities.
Some already handle promotional codes, customer reminders, review requests and post-game follow-up. Buzzshot, in particular, extends well beyond booking administration.
The question is whether your existing setup delivers the complete marketing and sales process your business needs.
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For example, do you have a consistent process for WhatsApp enquiries that have not yet become bookings? Can you track corporate proposals and staff follow-up? Are previous players receiving relevant invitations to organise their own events? Is your social content planned alongside your customer campaigns?
HighLevel can provide a central CRM, communication and automation system around those requirements.
The right approach is to let your booking platform manage the operational tasks it handles well, then use HighLevel for the additional marketing and sales processes that will benefit your business.
We would first review what your existing software already does. Then we would decide which system should handle each message and task, avoiding duplicate reminders or unnecessary complexity.
Any connection between HighLevel and Bookeo, Resova, FareHarbor, Buzzshot or another booking platform needs checking individually. Integration options, accessible data and subscription requirements vary. A direct, ready-made HighLevel integration should not be assumed.
1. Make it easy to enquire through WhatsApp
Organising an escape room often involves a few questions before anyone books.
“Can you accommodate eight people?” “Is this room suitable for children?” “What options do you have for a work outing?”
A WhatsApp button on your website gives visitors a convenient way to start that conversation. They can ask a question while checking plans with friends, family or colleagues.
With WhatsApp connected to HighLevel, your team can manage those enquiries alongside other customer conversations and build a follow-up process around them.
You could use WhatsApp to:
- Capture enquiries from your website and marketing campaigns.
- Ask about group size, preferred dates and the occasion.
- Send relevant information and a link to your booking page.
- Continue the conversation while the organiser checks with their group.
- Follow up appropriately if the enquiry has not become a booking.
WhatsApp can support the whole customer journey, from the first question to the next booking.
Someone asking about a birthday party should receive different information from someone planning a corporate event. The aim is to make the conversation useful, personal and easy to continue.
You can also read about adding a WhatsApp option alongside your website enquiry form.
2. Follow up with people who enquire but do not book
Some customers are ready to book immediately. Others are comparing venues, checking dates or waiting for the rest of the group to respond.
If someone sends an enquiry and receives one reply, the conversation can easily go quiet.
A HighLevel follow-up system could:
- Acknowledge the enquiry and notify your team.
- Record the preferred date, group size and type of event.
- Send useful information by email or WhatsApp, according to the customer’s preferences and messaging permissions.
- Create a task when a member of staff needs to respond personally.
- Follow up if the customer has not booked.
- Stop the enquiry sequence when a confirmed booking is received.
For example, a birthday organiser might appreciate information about age requirements, suitable rooms and how payment works.
A corporate organiser might need information about accommodating several teams, catering or invoicing.
Good follow-up answers the questions that stand between an enquiry and a booking.
3. Keep every player in the loop, not just the organiser
When a group books an escape room, the business often only has the organiser’s details.
That leaves one person responsible for passing everything on. Arrival instructions, parking information and reminders can easily get lost in a group chat.
Instead, you could invite the organiser to share a player registration link. Each participant enters their own details and is linked to the booking.
Within HighLevel, each person you want to message would have a contact record. A Booking custom object could hold information such as the room, date, time, reference and booking status.
The organiser would be associated with the booking as the Booker. Participants would be associated as Players. The organiser can have both roles without needing a duplicate contact record.
Where more detailed visit records are needed, a Player Participation custom object could record a person’s attendance and link them to a particular booking.
Custom objects help organise the booking and player relationships. Messages are sent to the associated contact records.
With the appropriate setup, players could receive practical information through email, text or WhatsApp, including:
- The booking date, time and venue.
- When to arrive and where to park.
- What to expect and what to bring.
- Any registration steps they need to complete.
- Relevant updates if the booking changes.
The booking system needs to provide reliable information about changes and cancellations. We would also check which reminders it already sends.
Today’s player could become tomorrow’s organiser
A player who attends with friends might return with their family, arrange a birthday party or recommend your venue for their next work outing.
Capturing their details directly creates the opportunity to build that relationship, rather than communicating only with the original booker.
A future message could be as simple as:
“You’ve played the game. Now bring your own team.”
Player registration should clearly distinguish practical booking communications from permission to receive future promotional messages.
4. Bring customers back for a different room
Once someone has completed an escape room, they may have little reason to play that same game again.
Your marketing needs to reflect what they have already experienced.
Where that information is available, HighLevel can help organise customers according to the rooms they have played and the experiences they might enjoy next.
For example:
“You escaped our first room. Are you ready for your next challenge?”
That message could introduce a different room, another venue or a newly launched game, with a link to the relevant booking page.
You could also distinguish between first-time visitors and regular players who have completed several of your rooms.
Email and appropriately opted-in WhatsApp campaigns can then carry recommendations that make sense for that customer.
5. Give corporate and team-building enquiries a proper sales process
A corporate booking may involve more discussion than a standard online reservation.
The organiser might need to confirm group sizes, simultaneous games, dates, meeting space, food, pricing and payment arrangements.
These enquiries can get lost between emails, WhatsApp conversations, phone calls and staff handovers.
A HighLevel sales pipeline can provide a clear process:
New enquiry → Requirements confirmed → Proposal sent → Follow-up due → Booking confirmed
Your team can see who is responsible for each enquiry, what has been discussed and which opportunities need attention.
WhatsApp can make it easier to answer a quick question or continue a discussion with the organiser, while email can carry a more detailed proposal.
After the event, you can plan an appropriate follow-up about future team activities.
One corporate enquiry could become an ongoing customer relationship, provided someone keeps in touch.
6. Build an evergreen marketing programme for previous bookers and players
Why let the relationship end when the game finishes?
An evergreen marketing programme can keep your escape room in customers’ minds throughout the year.
Once eligible customers join the programme, they receive a planned sequence of useful, varied messages. You do not have to start from scratch every time you want to promote the business.
The sequence could introduce:
- Other rooms they have not played.
- Birthday parties and family outings.
- Corporate events and team-building.
- Reasons to return with a different group.
- Your venue’s story and spoiler-free behind-the-scenes content.
Email can provide the backbone of the programme, with selected WhatsApp messages where customers have opted in and the channel suits the message.
Previous bookers and previous players may need different communication. A booker already knows how to organise a visit. A player might need encouragement to take the lead.
Seasonal campaigns for Christmas, school holidays and new room launches can run alongside the evergreen sequence.
The programme should account for recent bookings, completed rooms and communication preferences. Customers who unsubscribe should stop receiving the relevant marketing.
The aim is a useful, ongoing relationship that gives people reasons to return and bring someone new.
7. Make better use of quieter sessions
If your busiest sessions sell themselves, your marketing effort may be more valuable elsewhere.
Perhaps you want more weekday bookings, more corporate groups or more visitors during a quieter season.
Instead of discounting every session, you can create campaigns around the bookings you actually want.
Examples might include:
- A weekday team-building package.
- An invitation for past players to try a new room.
- A school holiday campaign aimed at suitable family groups.
- Early promotion of Christmas work outings.
- A limited offer for selected quieter sessions.
HighLevel can help deliver and follow up those campaigns through your chosen channels, including email, WhatsApp and social media.
The campaign should direct customers to your booking system, where current availability, prices and any promotional codes are confirmed.
8. Ask for reviews after the experience
People choosing an escape room want reassurance that it will be enjoyable, well organised and worth booking.
Customer reviews help them judge that.
HighLevel can support review requests through email, SMS and WhatsApp, with the appropriate channel configuration.
Once a completed visit is recorded, you could send a simple message:
“Thanks for playing today. We hope your team enjoyed the challenge. Would you take a moment to leave us an honest review?”
The timing should fit your operation. Requests should not be sent for cancelled bookings or visits that have not happened.
You can also remind customers to keep their reviews free of puzzle spoilers.
If your existing escape room software already handles review requests well, we would review that process before adding another one.
9. Capture video testimonials while the excitement is fresh
Straight after a game, players have something to talk about.
They remember the teamwork, the surprises and the moment they escaped, or narrowly missed out.
That makes your venue a natural place to invite a short video testimonial.
You could create a small, branded recording area with good lighting, a phone stand and a QR code linking to your testimonial collection page.
HighLevel’s Video Testimonials feature provides a way to collect customer videos through a shareable link and display selected submissions in website review widgets.
Keep the prompts simple:
- What did your team enjoy most?
- How would you describe the experience without giving away any puzzles?
- Who would you recommend it to?
For players who prefer to respond later, you could send the collection link through email or WhatsApp.
Participation should be optional, with clear permission covering where you can publish the video.
Real players describing their experience can help prospective customers picture their own visit.
With the necessary permission, those videos can also provide valuable material for your social media campaigns.
10. Keep your social media active with HighLevel Social Planner
Escape rooms have plenty of potential social content. The challenge is finding time to publish it consistently.
HighLevel Social Planner lets you prepare and schedule posts across connected accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, Google Business Profile and other supported platforms, from one calendar.
Your content could include:
- Team photos shared with permission.
- Video testimonials and customer reactions.
- Spoiler-free room previews.
- Staff introductions and behind-the-scenes preparation.
- Corporate event and birthday party ideas.
- New room announcements and seasonal campaigns.
You can prepare a batch of posts in advance, then add fresh customer content as it becomes available.
Social Planner also supports recurring posts, which can help keep useful evergreen messages in circulation. Content should be varied, and offers checked regularly to ensure they remain current.
Available post formats and publishing options vary by platform.
Your social content, customer follow-up and booking campaigns can work towards the same marketing objectives.
11. Reduce the enquiries that slip through the cracks
When your team is welcoming players, resetting rooms or running games, answering every phone call can be difficult.
HighLevel’s missed-call text-back feature can acknowledge an unanswered call and invite the caller to continue the conversation.
A simple message might say:
“Thanks for calling. We’re currently helping a team with their escape room experience. Reply with your question and we’ll get back to you.”
Your website can also offer WhatsApp as another convenient way to enquire while staff are busy.
The important part is what happens next. Your team needs a clear process for handling replies, assigning responsibility and following up.
What could an escape room customer journey look like?
- An enquiry arrives: a potential customer contacts you through WhatsApp, a website form or another channel.
- The enquiry is followed up: helpful messages answer questions, and staff handle anything needing personal attention.
- A booking is confirmed: the enquiry sequence stops when confirmation reaches HighLevel.
- Players register: participants submit their own details and are linked to the booking.
- The group receives practical information: the appropriate system sends arrival details and reminders.
- The team attends: attendance and the room played are recorded.
- Feedback is invited: players can leave an honest review or an optional video testimonial.
- The relationship continues: eligible bookers and players receive relevant marketing about future experiences.
Each stage needs to reflect your booking process, the information available from your systems and the customer’s communication permissions.
Using WhatsApp properly
WhatsApp is a particularly useful option for the conversations involved in organising a group activity.
However, a booking or registration does not automatically give permission for every future promotional message.
We would configure WhatsApp around its opt-in and template requirements. Business-initiated messages outside the customer service window require approved templates.
Customers should be able to choose how they hear from you, and practical booking communications should be clearly distinguished from ongoing marketing.
Start with a plan, then build the system
The first question is: where is your escape room business currently missing opportunities?
Are enquiries going cold? Are corporate proposals being forgotten? Do past players never hear from you? Are quieter sessions difficult to fill?
That is where we start.
At MarketerM8, Atticus and I take a strategy-first, “Done With You” approach. We review your existing systems, identify the priorities and create a Marketing Automation Plan before building.
We also train someone in your team to become your CRM Champion, so you have the knowledge to manage and develop the system.
I have previously worked with a UK nationwide paintball business, which gives me relevant experience of marketing group activities. The escape room examples in this article describe systems we could build, rather than results from a claimed escape room case study.
You can read more about how I help businesses with HighLevel, or explore our customer reviews and testimonials.
Frequently asked questions
Is HighLevel suitable for an escape room business?
HighLevel can help manage enquiries, follow up with organisers, communicate with registered players, collect testimonials and market to previous customers. Its value depends on your objectives and the capabilities of your existing systems.
Do we need to replace Bookeo, Resova, FareHarbor or Buzzshot?
No. If your existing platform manages your bookings well, the starting point can be to retain it. We would assess where HighLevel could add useful marketing and sales processes alongside it.
Do escape room booking platforms already include marketing?
Yes. Features vary, but platforms may include promotions, reminders, follow-up, email marketing integrations and automation. Buzzshot also provides player-focused marketing tools. We would review your existing capabilities before recommending additional systems.
Can HighLevel connect to our booking software?
Potentially. We need to check the specific platform, subscription, integration options and accessible data. Bookings, changes, cancellations and player records should all be considered. A direct integration should not be assumed.
Can we message players who did not make the booking?
Yes, provided they have their own contact records, suitable contact details and the appropriate communication permissions. They can be associated with the booking as players. They do not need to have organised or paid for the event.
Do players need a contact record as well as a custom object record?
Each person you want to message should have a contact record. Custom objects can hold booking or participation information and link it to those contacts. Simply storing an email address in a custom object does not make that record a messaging recipient.
Can we use WhatsApp for enquiries and follow-up?
Yes. With WhatsApp connected and configured appropriately, it can support enquiry conversations, booking-related messages and opted-in marketing. Automated messages must follow WhatsApp’s service-window and approved-template requirements.
Can we encourage previous players to organise their own events?
Yes. Eligible previous players can receive relevant campaigns encouraging them to return with friends, organise a birthday or arrange a corporate event. Their previous visits can help make those messages more relevant.
Can HighLevel help us collect video testimonials?
Yes. Its Video Testimonials feature provides a shareable collection link. You could display a QR code at your venue or send the link afterwards, then showcase selected submissions with the appropriate publication permission.
Can we run marketing throughout the year?
Yes. An evergreen programme can provide ongoing follow-up, with seasonal campaigns alongside it. The system should account for recent bookings, completed rooms, customer preferences and unsubscribes.
Want to improve the marketing behind your escape room?
If you run an escape room and want to turn more enquiries into bookings, bring players back and spend less time chasing, let’s discuss what would make the biggest difference.
We can review your booking software, your WhatsApp enquiry process and the opportunities to build better relationships with both organisers and players.
Book a 20-minute Discovery Call
About the Author
Julian Mills
HighLevel Consultant & Marketing Automation Strategist
Julian Mills helps business owners automate lead generation, sales follow-up, customer communication and business processes using HighLevel and MarketerM8. Since 2009 he has helped businesses implement CRM, marketing automation and AI-powered systems that save time, improve customer experience and generate more sales.
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