5 reasons why your venue’s mobile app needs in-app messaging

There is no doubt that investing in mobile technologies is quickly shifting from being a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” within the world of leisure and attractions. Everything that you currently offer through offline channels in your venue, through email, or even through your website, your visitors already expect to have handy and in their pockets.

Therefore, many partners in the industry have already seen the great added value that having their own branded mobile app can add to their visitor experience, and considering the current outlook and changes on consumer behavior, perhaps you are also considering implementing one for your venue as well, if you haven’t done so yet. 

Mobile devices are becoming an essential tool to book not only trips, but also leisure activities online, making them an integral player that cannot be overlooked within your marketing and sales strategy. 

If you are planning to add a mobile app to your museum, theme park, aquarium, zoo, or leisure attraction of any sort, you’ll certainly be looking out for a certain set of features to fit your venue’s needs and help you amplify your leisure experience. 

One of the most important values that such an app can deliver to your attraction is without a doubt improved communication between you and your customer. Being closer to them, so that you can deliver a better service, with timely, relevant, and targeted messaging. 

That’s exactly where in-app messaging and push-notifications come to the rescue. 

1. They let you reach customers at their most engaged: 

Whatever the goal of your messaging is (sharing relevant information, increasing sales, encouraging reviews or upsells, boosting social media interactions…) active users are likely to be more ready and receptive, because you’ll simply be building up on something that they are already doing, instead of interrupting them. 

2. They help you increase your mobile app’s usage and stickiness:

By delivering relevant information, offers and promotions through your messaging, you’ll give your visitors a reason to engage with your app and come back to it in order to get something in return. Stickiness is essential, leading to brands that stay in the hearts and minds of customers. If used well, in-app messaging will help you keep the uninstall rates low and engagement high. 

3. Offer convenience and deliver a seamless experience:

Statistics suggest that people look at their phones an average of 52 times a day. Mobile phones are, without a doubt, the device that offer lowest friction, since customers are already continuously interacting with it and keeping it handy. Therefore, they don’t have to go out of their way at all to receive your messages if these are delivered directly to their phones. 

What about that part of your audience which is not so digitally savvy? (yes, the boomers that still rather print-out their tickets at home). They will probably not be checking their inboxes for any further communications from you. Your pre-event emails are likely to be lost and forgotten. Whereas a push-notification or a message delivered directly to their phones, popping up on their screens when they are approaching your venue’s entrance, with a timely, targeted and personalised message has much higher chances of success. 

4. Foster quick and effective communication:

In addition, with an in-app messaging feature, there is always an open door for communication, 24/7. Whenever your customer has an inquiry or doubt, they will be able to easily place it through your inbox instead of going through the hassle of calling or e-mailing, which usually requires a lot of back-and-forth communication and long wait times between each reply. In-app messaging leaves that frustration out of the equation for your customer.

5. Deliver contextual and personalised messages

They allow you to leverage the data that your native app already gathers to deliver contextual and personalised messages so that customer expectations can be met. 

You can schedule and automate your replies so that you can welcome your guests into your venue just an hour before their visit is about to start, then suggest them a cold slushy from the snack bar to complement their food meal at lunch-o’clock, and make sure you remind them to pay a quick visit to the souvenir shop before their visit ends at four.

That's just an example of how contextual and personalised messages can make a huge difference in the customer journey, removing frustrations and aiding the sales conversation.

As you can see, there are many benefits to in-app messaging and it can add a significant value to your leisure venue’s mobile app. In-app messaging is a fantastic way to not only boost your customer engagement and advance your customer care efforts, but also to offer a better customer experience overall, throughout the entire customer journey. 

With Tap from Convious you can have your own native app and start embracing the power of in-app messaging and push-notifications in no time - and completely for FREE!

If you want to start building trust and loyalty, in a personal way that matches your brand’s tone of voice, Tap provides a fully branded white-label mobile app for your leisure venue. 

The best part? It is customised, centralised, and you own all the data. This is very important, as you don’t want to be beholden to third parties on how that data is being used, and you avoid the additional requirement of your customers needing an account on external messaging channels.

If you are interested in setting up in-app messaging for your venue, you can simply contact support@convious.com and they’ll help you get started!