Key takeaways
- Six Flags targeted teens with an SMS campaign to reverse low summer attendance.
- Campaign content included text-to-win contests, mobile alerts (park info and weather) and VIP ticket offers.
- Subscriber list grew to almost 5,000 participants over three months.
- Sign-up channels: in-park customer service stations and signage, radio and promotional spots, plus social media sign-ups on Facebook and Twitter.
- Results: higher park attendance and increased admission, concession and attraction revenue, plus a strengthened, text-based community for long-term engagement.
- Actionable formula: pick the right audience, craft punchy/exclusive mobile content and promote the programme across multiple channels.
Introduction
The impact of mobile marketing can’t be overstated. According to IDC, more people in the U.S. will access the Internet through a mobile device than through their PC by 2015. In this new series, Elite Email takes a look at highly successful campaigns to uncover their mobile marketing lessons. This week’s case study: How a larger than life approach to SMS marketing helped Six Flags reel in young rollercoaster fanatics.
A day at the amusement park is one of the best ways to spend some time off during those hot summer months. For Six Flags in Maryland, this concept definitely held true, but something was lacking from its traditional summer turnout. To help boost attendance and connect with the young, tech-savvy side of its audience, this leader in the world of amusement parks turned to a strong blend of mobile marketing and smart planning. With that in mind, let’s strap in and ride along to see exactly how this plan turned Six Flags lagging summer attendance around over the course of the campaign.
The Power of Targeting
First up, Six Flags made it the mobile messaging initiative’s main mission to target the amusement park’s highest performing demographic – teenagers. At this point you might be wondering why a brand would focus on the audience members mostly likely to pay a visit to the park. The answer lies directly with surprisingly low summer turnouts from this group. To help get things back in gear, Six Flags decided to return to its roots and use the power of targeting via text messages in order reconnect with these younger park goers during the hot summer months.
Great Content Builds Great Results
Aside from focusing in on this specific group, they also knew that teens wouldn’t just jump at any mobile offer. To really connect with this group, Six Flags offered text-to-win contests, as well as mobile alerts regarding park information and weather updates. Even VIP ticket offers made the cut, ensuring that this younger, active audience had all the encouragement they needed to pay a visit during major events, like the park’s 4th of July festival, as well as all the regular sunny summer days.
Getting the Message to the Masses
As part of the push, Six Flags went all out on sign-ups and referrals to expand its contact list. At the base of the push was traditional avenues for opt-ins, like in-park customer service stations and signage. From here, radio spots and promotional content helped create more buzz about the interactive text program. Of course, when it comes to connecting with today’s teens, the smartest thing Six Flags did was to turn its social media accounts into the focal point of the campaign, providing this audience with everything they needed to sign-up directly on Facebook, Twitter, and all the other relevant social networks.
The Thrilling Results
So after all this hard work, what did Six Flags have to show for it? First off, during the three months of the program, participation within the brand’s existing text message system skyrocketed. In total, almost 5,000 subscribers decided to check out the offers on their mobile phones. That stat is great on its own, but the increased park attendance, as well as the admission, concession, and attraction revenue, this boost generated was even more impressive. As the summer text campaign came to a close, Six Flags hit all of these goals, as well as reinvigorated the demographic that mattered most. By reconnecting teen attendants, this campaign not only boosted sales in the short-term, but helped fortify the park’s long-term viability by creating a dedicated and interested text-based community.
Making Your Own Mobile Attraction
After reading all that, it’s clear to see that connecting with your audience via mobile marketing is a powerful tool in your outreach arsenal. Even if you’re not in the amusement industry, there’s still plenty we can pull from Six Flags’ example to help make your next campaign a major hit. First, know whom you need to target. Whether it’s teens or octogenarians, having the right audience members on tap is the best way to utilize your content.
Speaking of content, make these messages pack a punch. While simple coupons or discounts are definitely valuable, mixing in some great content or exclusive info definitely spices up the message and keeps your reader interested. If you can pull these two concepts off, as well as go all in on promoting your campaign across multiple channels, you’ll be well on your way to a thrilling marketing ride that ends with happy customers and a major boost to sales.
FAQ
Six Flags focused its mobile messaging on teenagers, using text-to-win contests, mobile alerts (park info and weather) and VIP ticket offers to reconnect with that demographic and encourage visits.
The campaign used text-to-win contests, mobile alerts with park information and weather updates and VIP ticket offers to provide both entertainment and exclusive value.
They collected opt-ins via in-park customer service stations and signage, amplified sign-ups through radio spots and promotional content and made social media (Facebook, Twitter and other networks) a focal point for direct sign-ups.
Participation in the text programme grew to almost 5,000 subscribers over three months and the campaign increased park attendance plus admission, concession and attraction revenue.
By reconnecting teen attendees and building a dedicated text-based community, the campaign boosted short-term sales and helped fortify the park’s long-term viability.
Start by identifying the right target audience, create compelling, exclusive mobile content (beyond simple coupons) and promote the campaign across multiple channels including in-person opt-ins, advertising and social media.
Six Flags turned its social media accounts into a focal point of the campaign, providing audiences with everything needed to sign up directly on Facebook, Twitter and other relevant networks.
The park targeted teenagers because they were the highest-performing demographic for attendance but had shown surprisingly low summer turnout, so reconnecting them was central to improving results.
