to highlight future activity at all our attractions which may appeal to them. “The mobile nature of social media, along with


saturation of smartphone users, means our guests are connected all the time and Merlin Entertainments has followed and harnessed this development over the past five years, particularly with regard to our theme parks.” With social media available at every stage of each


guest’s journey, Merlin Entertainments (along with other park operators) finds itself in an age where every guest has the potential of becoming a visible brand ambassador, an incredibly positive thing for the industry as a whole, as it encourages recommendation, loyalty and ultimately the potential for more visits and more revenue. “Within Merlin we place great importance on the


concept of social proof - a modern seal of approval,” continued Woods and Aspinall, “because consumers place a great deal of faith in the recommendations of peers and friends, which includes building profiles and maximising the potential of review sites such as TripAdvisor.” Social is now the media channel of choice for a whole generation and most marketing campaigns within


the


Image courtesy Blackpool Pleasure Beach


80,000 followers. Disneyland Paris has over 3.1 million Facebook likes and over 75,000 twitter followers, while Europa-Park in Germany has over 637,000 Facebook likes and just under 8,000 twitter followers. In the UK, Alton Towers, part of the Merlin Entertainments Group, has built up 1.4 million likes on Facebook and over 125,000 followers on twitter, while Thorpe Park has over three quarters of a million Facebook likes and over 74,000 twitter followers. Merlin Entertainments’ marketing director Emma Woods


and Alton Towers’ Digital and CRM marketing manager Neil Aspinall, spoke with InterPark about the group’s huge social media following. “These communities are immense vehicles for brand


promotion, market research and customer service. Our aim is to engage our potential visitors at the point of choosing their day out; while they are booking with us which is more and more online; during the period between booking and their visit - to excite and inform; and then while they are actually with us - through the introduction of new alert systems which help with queuing/shows and events and so on, and most importantly ensure they maximise their time with us; and finally post visit, to get their feedback and opinion, remind them of the experience they had and


40 InterPark January–February 2015


amusement industry have a media element in order to reach this demographic. Take Thorpe Park as an example; some campaigns such as #frightnights are led by social media as Woods explained. “Social media gives us the opportunity to build on-


going relationships with our guests and to celebrate and reward customers. Social media allows us to take exciting entertainment brands and be incredibly visually imaginative - a picture tells a thousand words and social media is made for this. It also, of course, offers the potential for immediate flexibility and change to capitalise on opportunities or changing trends as they arise - in the moment; or to communicate minute-by-minute fun stuff at our attractions which might appeal to others.” Social media optimisation company We Do Digital (WDD)


has been providing website design and app development services to the amusement industry for almost 20 years. With clients ranging from large theme parks to local fun centres, it has a solid grasp on what attractions need when it comes to digital marketing. For Jeff Prystajko of WDD, there has been a gradual


but very encompassing adoption of social media in the amusement industry. “Five years ago we were just seeing a few businesses


add facebook ‘like’ buttons to their pages,” he says. “Now, every park, zoo, FEC and museum is pretty much


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