Loyalty Marketing for the Attractions Industry

Do you ever get frustrated with trying to attract visitors to your venue? Thinking about all the stages a customer goes through before making a purchase and how you have to invest time and resources at each stage of their journey? 

But what if we told you there is a solution?

It all comes down to loyalty marketing. This old-as-time strategy suggests that a company/brand should focus on retaining already-existing customers through incentives, rather than trying to acquire new ones. And of course, even if you want your attraction to be known by everyone, maintaining a good relationship with people that have already visited your venue is just as important.

The 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule says that 80% of your outcome comes from 20% of your effort. In other words, 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers, precisely your loyal ones. It makes sense since your most loyal visitors are not just here to enjoy a simple visit.

As opposed to an average visitor, a loyal visitor would not only buy an entrance ticket but would also get that t-shirt with your attraction’s name on it or enjoy your one-time special Christmas snack, simply to make the most out of their time. 

Your loyal visitors are your ambassadors

And you know what else? They are also the type of visitors that are most likely to tell everyone about what a great experience they had, driving word-of-mouth and subsequently, promoting your business further. Especially now with all the social media platforms that make sharing good experiences so simple.

Think about your loyal visitors as your ambassadors. Always there to talk highly about your attraction. All it takes is making sure you keep them happy. 

But how exactly do you create and maintain visitor loyalty?

1. Engage with your visitors 

As we mentioned earlier, loyal visitors are happy visitors. And what better way of ensuring that your visitors are happy other than by keeping in close contact with them? It’s not only about sending them the tickets through their email (although that might be an essential step for their visit)

Visitor engagement should happen before, during, and after their experience at your venue.

Keeping in close touch with your visitors is key to building long-lasting relationships. It all starts on your website when they are planning their visit, which is the ideal moment for you to establish the first contact with your future visitors. By engaging with them through messages such as exit intents, you can easily keep prospects on your page and convert them into at least one-time visitors. 

After that, email marketing comes into place, being a great way of making them look forward to the day. A simple reminder email including their tickets and a park map where you highlight a few of the must-sees in your venue, or maybe an offer for a menu at your restaurant, can go a long way. 

In fact, such a long way that they would most likely leave a good review on your website or app after they receive that post-visit email from you where you tell them how much of a pleasure it was to have them at your attraction today. Add a discount code for when they want to experience that amazing feeling again, and you’ve got yourself a fan.

2. Offer season passes

Visiting your favourite venue one time is not enough and your most loyal visitors know that very well. So wouldn’t it be nice if they got to enjoy their favourite experience anytime they want? 

That’s the exact thought behind seasonal passes. For the price of 3-4 visits, one gets to enjoy their favourite venue anytime they want for a fixed amount of time. Plus, it doesn't only have to resume at cheaper entrance prices.

There are so many different ways of adding value to a seasonal pass. Better in-park deals, invitations to your special events, or even discounts from both you and your partners. All these season pass holder benefits are guaranteed to make your fans feel extra special and rewarded for their loyalty.

Moreover, all these season pass holder benefits will attract other visitors to the club, because who wouldn’t want to get cheaper entrance prices or get deals and discounts that will make their experience even better. 

The benefits of seasonal passes are endless for attractions too. Apart from helping you find your most loyal fans, it also eases up the process of gathering data about your visitors’ behaviour and preferences. You gain deep knowledge about when they choose to visit your venue, their usual order at your restaurant, and so much more, all of which helps you optimise your operations and, essentially, provide better experiences.

Personalisation offers

Personalisation is a huge trend in the leisure industry and it’s going to be visible even more in the upcoming year. Getting to know your visitors is a crucial step to building a long-lasting relationship with them. It allows you to provide them with personalised offerings based on their preferences. It could be anything, from a deal on a menu at your restaurant to a discount on a merchandised t-shirt that will remind them of the great time they had.

Personalisation is so easy to put in place, just check out our blog article on The Art of Personalization - Understanding your online visitors.

Talking about deals and data. These are not only restricted to seasonal passes, as there is a way (very effective even) to guarantee an experience that will make even one-time visitors come back again. 

3. Discount codes

What a simple, yet effective way of re-converting visitors, especially amongst those who have not become your loyal customers yet. But after they receive a 10% discount over their entire shopping cart or a 1+1 entry offer for tickets, they probably will be.

A good deal will never stop having an impact on consumers’ behaviour. As we all know, most visitors are price sensitive and such a discount will definitely encourage them to finally plan their dream day out. As a matter of fact, 91% of online shoppers are looking for coupon codes before making a purchase. This shows that discount codes are the secret to driving conversions while attracting more visitors to your venue.

Moreover, discount codes can become a common practice during the promotion of your special events. Holidays such as Black Friday, Christmas, and Halloween offer a great context for sending out discount codes and encourage your visitors to take advantage of a unique experience. 

Later on, once you have established a good relationship with those visitors, you can take these discount codes a step further and start personalising them based on their preferences and previous buying behaviour. And you already know what that means by now… another loyal visitor.

Still, the main factor that drives visitor loyalty is the overall great experience they have at your attraction, which brings us to our last (but not least) point.

4. Provide consistent great experiences

We can all agree that all good experiences have something in common: they are pleasant and frictionless and this is exactly what makes us want to experience them again. Delivering consistent great experiences is therefore key to building loyalty and steering the reputation of your business.

And it all comes down to responding to the needs of your customer. Your visitors are the focal point of your attraction and consequently, of all your efforts. But also, their needs are changing rather fast, especially taking into account all the buyer phases they are going through. That doesn't mean that you have to put all your energy and resources into making sure that this happens. Because, luckily, there is a simple answer to this solution. Can you guess what it is?

(*drumroll please*) Technology

Technology is here to save the day once again, and it’s pretty obvious since the possibilities offered by it are endless. So let’s dig into what these are exactly.

Technologies that enhance the visitors' experience

AI Data Analysis can help you gain insights into the traffic at your venue so you can optimise your operations. This way, you can be ready for the day, and make sure you have all the resources you need to provide this unforgettable experience for your visitors.

Moreover, this can also help you gain insights into your customers and their preferences, so you can adapt your offerings to what your visitors actually want. This means more personalisation and, as we have been talking about so far, those personalised offers are one of the easiest ways of attracting loyal customers.

An automatic system to keep track of your reviews can help you know how your visitors liked their experience and what they liked about it. Once again, helping you know what to focus on when prioritising your operations.

Mobile apps are a great way of providing better experiences for your visitors. It gives visitors everything they need for a perfect visit from tickets to f&b ordering, all in their pocket. And this is just one of the many ways mobile apps can help you drive loyalty amongst your visitors. If you want to know more, don’t hesitate to check out our blog article about How mobile apps can turn one-time buyers into loyal fans.

Just like that… you can build a loyal customer base. One that will always be there for you and for the fun they have at your attraction. One that will talk highly of you and will be the key to your success for many years.

Do you have any more tips? Or do you need more help implementing these strategies? We would love to hear from you!