When you go to a theme park, do you spend time waiting on the best rides and rollercoasters? Or do you bypass them and go for the more sedate ones with the lesser crowd? Or don’t you go for the rides, more the experience of an enjoyable day out with friends and family?
If you’re like me, you’ll happily wait for an hour (or more) for the fastest rollercoaster, or the one with the biggest drop, or any of the other thrillseeker-type rides. It’s a no-brainer, and if I have to wait to enjoy it, so be it.
Yet is it really a no-brainer?
Think about why you want to ride that rollercoaster, or go on that attraction that shoots you 150-feet in the air before bringing you crashing down to earth in a matter of seconds.
Is it because of your adventurous side, or is it because of the way the ride has been sold to you? Are the words “‘death-defying”, “ultimate thrill ride” and “your fear is all that stops you” the real reason that you’re in the park?
Theme park operators are some of the canniest minds in marketing.
They know how to reach their target audience and they know exactly which buttons to press to get that audience into their parks. And with theme park technology advancing at such a fast pace, hitting your mark is what separates the must-visit theme parks from the sympathy stop-off when there’s nothing better to do.
Own Your Theme Park
How are you communicating with your target audience?
Do you offer the most exciting rides and the reason why customers should choose your business over the competing one? You need to make sure that your customers are happy to stay in your line – you need to offer them an end result that blows them away.
You may not have the fastest ride; you may not have the biggest; but if you have the best (or at least the best in the eyes of your customers) then you’ll fill your theme park up regularly. So, how do you make your ride the star attraction?
Offer choices. A theme park would be nothing if there was just one ride, no matter how exciting it was. The ones with the most visitors get them for a reason – choice.
Your customers are no different – but are you catering to them, or excluding them? Do your products cater to left-handed people, for example? If not, you can knock 10% from your potential sales figures immediately. Are you excluding minorities? Are there different sizes or designs for the same product? If not, should there be?
Look at what you offer and ask yourself if you can offer alternatives for those that need it. Use analytics and market research to understand your audience and what they’re buying. More importantly, understand what they’re not buying and why.
There are thousands of theme parks all vying for your visitors. Are you giving a reason why yours is the best?
image: Carol Browne
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