Recent changes to Facebook’s New Feed algorithm are making it harder and harder for ziplines, challenge courses, and other attractions to get their content seen without paying for boosted posts or ads. As a result, operators can expect to see a decline in the number of people who see organic, unpaid posts published from business pages.
One way operators can respond to the recent change is by focusing their challenge course and zipline marketing plans on getting customers to share branded content. But this can only get you so far.
When Adventure Park Insider, a publication for aerial park operators, interviewed the CEO of a large social media agency, he agreed.
“Not to be negative, but organic social media will only do so much for an attraction. Posting on your own social channels without paid media will not give you a lot of reach. So… you need to put money into paid media…”
– Martin Stoll, CEO of Sparkloft Media
It appears that aerial adventure marketers need to invest in Facebook advertising to succeed under these new rules.
And the key to running effective Facebook advertising campaigns is smarter targeting. In other words, if you target the right people, you will get more engagement and more bookings for a lower cost.
Here are five ways challenge course and zipline operators can target travelers on Facebook, and get more bookings at a lower cost.
1. Target People Traveling in Your Location
Facebook’s “traveling in this location” ad targeting option allows you to display ads only to travelers who recently arrived in your target area. Facebook identifies “travelers” as people whose most recent location is in your selected area but whose home is more than 125 mi/200 km away.
This is a great option for aerial adventure operators who want more bookings from in-destination travelers.
When the tourists arrive in your area, Facebook’s location tracking will identify them and begin to show them your ads. Intrigued visitors can then make a reservation on your website, or walk up and book directly.
By adjusting the location radius, marketers can target travelers within the immediate area (within a 10 mile radius) or expand their radius to include surrounding cities.
2. Target People Who Are Similar to Your Past Guests
Instead of trying to guess the best combination of location, user demographics, and interests to target in your ad campaigns, let Facebook do it for you.
Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences automatically find and target a group of people who have similar traits and behavioral tendencies as your past customers.
To create a Facebook Lookalike Audience, you first need to create a list of past customers in Facebook. One way to do this is to manually upload a list including customer names, emails, and phone numbers. Or, if you use more sophisticated zipline booking software, like Xola, you can create customer lists automatically by adding a Facebook tracking pixel.
Lookalike audiences are easy to set up, and provide great returns. They works for two reasons:
- Facebook has access to the largest collection of social data in the world.
- Facebook’s machine-learning algorithms use that data to identify and display ads to the right people at the right time. (And because the algorithms are always learning, your targeting tends to improve over time.)
For zipline and challenge course operators with a lot on their plate, Lookalike Audiences are a great way to set up smart targeting and start seeing immediate results.
3. Increase Your Return on Investment with Advanced Matching
The more data Facebook has, the better they can optimize your ad targeting, meaning cheaper and more effective ads.
One way to give Facebook more data (and improve your results) is to implement Facebook’s Advanced Matching feature.
Advanced Matching sends specific customer data (like email address and phone number) to Facebook whenever a customer makes a booking. Facebook can use that data to match bookings to Facebook users, which helps improve the data and improve your targeting.
According to Facebook:
“During the beta phase, we have observed over 10% increase in attributed conversions and 20% increase in reach of retargeting campaigns”
– Facebook News
In short, Advanced Matching improves your Facebook ROI. It helps you reach more people who are likely to book a zipline or challenge course.
As of today, Xola is the first online booking system to release Facebook conversion tracking with Advanced Matching capabilities to our customers. If you are a customer and would like to turn on Advanced Matching contact us at support@xola.com.
4. Target Friends of People Who Like Your Page
All that effort you spent collecting Fans and Likes on your Facebook business page shouldn’t go to waste.
Likes are often a good indicator that your customer enjoyed their time on the ropes. And their friends probably will, too.
As an added advantage, Facebook Ads let you use this targeting option without any additional set up required (like uploading a customer list or installing a tracking pixel).
For aerial adventure operators who spend a lot of time and energy getting page Likes from customers, this is a great way to capitalize on that investment.
5. Target People Who Visited Your Website, but Did Not Make a Booking
Many of your online bookings probably came from someone who has visited your site before.
It makes sense, too.
Some consumers like to compare different attractions in the area to find the experience that most appeals to them. Others, mostly travelling with a larger group, need to plan ahead. They will need to check availability and discuss with their group before completing their booking. After all, people book aerial adventures for groups… and groups need to plan.
Facebook remarketing ads work by tracking and targeting users who visited your site, but did not make a booking. When visitors leave your site, they will begin to see your ads on Facebook, inviting them to return and make a booking.
That is why Facebook remarketing ads are so powerful. It is your opportunity to stay top-of-mind with potential customers while they are still shopping around, and give them a compelling reason to choose you over your competitors.
Conclusion
Facebook ads can be a powerful tool in any challenge course of zipline marketing plan, especially if the ads are delivered to the right people at the right time.
Targeting people traveling in your location is a great way to reach in-destination travelers and generate more last-minute bookings.
Other tactics, like using a Lookalike Audience, takes the guesswork out of targeting. Facebook crunches the numbers for you, and their machine learning algorithms mean that your ads will get smarter, less expensive, and more effective. Adding their Advanced Matching capabilities only improves the process by providing Facebook with more data that they can use to optimize your ads.
At Xola we understand the impact that smarter Facebook Ads can have on zipline and challenge course businesses. That’s why our Facebook pixel integration includes Advanced Matching capabilities: so you can more effective Facebook Ads that get more online bookings at a lower cost.
If you are a customer and would like to turn on Advanced Matching contact us at support@xola.com.
