How to Modernize Your Aquarium Marketing
The allure of aquariums draws in all ages, from children captivated by the proximity to their favorite fish to more mature visitors whose imaginations extend into the roiling seas, where ships heave and the stories of intrigue are created.
Whatever draws visitors to your aquarium can be propelled to new heights by employing the most energizing, modern marketing initiatives. By staying current with your audience’s expectations, you can ensure that your customer base not only remains consistent, but that it also grows.
And, with a growing customer base, so grows your revenue!
One of the ways to do this is to resonate with the aquarium audience’s concerns regarding wildlife preservation, anxieties that have been mounting over the years. People want to ensure even the most prolific species do not find themselves moving toward extinction. That is why it is important for aquariums to demonstrate that they actively support the protection and population goals of the aquatic animal and plant specimens which they house.
Leveraging Facebook, Instagram + Your Website to Market Your Conservation + Educational Initiatives
The Dallas World Aquarium leverages its Facebook presence with a high-resolution, visually profound video cover page. Their lively opening boasts various exhibits as well as initiatives to breed species that are critically endangered.
Visit the Georgia Aquarium on Instagram and you’ll promptly be greeted by their dedication to “inspiring the conservation of aquatic biodiversity throughout the world,” via their 10+ million-gallon facility. With 121,000 followers and vivid posts, many which generate up to 15,000+ interactions, you can see that they’ve attracted a loyal following.
Georgia Aquarium not only publishes current pictures of their marine life, but they also include written stories to draw you in and links to additional videos and special programs that further market their value. Moreover, they weave in educational narratives such as the color-changes that the Pacific octopus undergoes depending upon its mood or intentions (e.g., to scare predators away).
Additionally, marketing the value of your aquarium’s educational and conservation programs and initiatives for adults as well as children is important. For example, the Birch Aquarium educators (in San Diego) held a day-long professional development workshop for teachers. exploring the California Current Ecosystem.
The New England Aquarium offers multiple programs for both families and teens, organized by age, enabling deeper dive “knowledge of the oceans and the Aquarium while having fun … with other children their age.” They also offer service-learning opportunities that include cleanup, restoration and outreach.
Aquariums are tending to more immersive, socially intuitive exhibits as well. New England Aquarium’s Animal Encounter Programs create an immersive experience whereby the visitor can go “from perching on top of the four-story Giant Ocean Tank and feeding the animals” to visiting the behind-the-scenes of their favorite exhibits.
Demonstrating Your Aquarium’s Robust, Interactive Experiences Using LinkedIn + Twitter
If you do a quick search on LinkedIn for aquariums, you find a plethora of results. For example, the Aquarium of the Pacific has 4,408 followers and produces daily content, with actionable links to book for your next shark encounter experience.
Scrolling further down their LinkedIn page, Aquarium of the Pacific markets the partnership initiatives between their aquarium and the local university’s researchers who are attempting to “learn more about the critically endangered, giant sea bass,” while also distinguishing themselves as the only aquarium to “successfully raise a giant sea bass from an egg.”
Birch Aquarium’s Twitter account markets its value as a “Best Wedding Venue” nominee in a recent tweet that invites you to vote for them.
The point is that aquariums are robust, leading-edge facilities that offer more than a surface-level look at your favorite sea life. In fact, the customer experiences they offer could rival many other industry venues’ offerings with their innovation in visual, kinesthetic and auditory stimulation.
The above ideas are just a handful of ways aquariums are expanding their visibility through digital marketing channels. Covering the major social networking channels as well as your own website with engaging content will help ensure you are resonating with diverse users’ preferences. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram each have their own vibe, and adapting your voice to that feel also is important.
Moreover, understanding and leveraging the various digital techniques is integral in this quick-moving digital marketing revolution, according to Business 2 Community. Six important developments they list include: Virtual and Augmented Realities; Voice; e.g., voice-based searches; Artificial Intelligence (AI) + Machine Learning (ML); Video; Native Advertising; and, Programmatic Advertising.
How ACME Can Help Fuel the Beating Heart of Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Moreover, Social Media Today contends that, “The beating heart of integrated digital marketing is social, local, mobile (SoLoMO).” Understanding where your customers are when they reach out to you, and “how they are doing it;” e.g., mobile phone, computer, etc., will help you determine your strategy.
ACME’s advanced aquarium technology will enable you to build a digital marketing strategy underpinned by solid data. Our sophisticated ticketing software will equip you to track, save and evaluate visitor information to see who is interested in what, and how they are finding you.
Not only can you assess future programs, but you can also ideate the most effective marketing techniques and platforms to reach the relevant visitors. By doing this, performance will increase while invested time and resources will decrease, cutting overall marketing costs.
ACME’s premiere aquarium software will simplify your operations: from ticketing, to program management, to membership growth to marketing strategy development. Modernize your digital marketing initiatives; contact us for a demo, today.