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The use of Facebook by Alton Towers

AstroDan

AstroDan

TS Team
Favourite Ride
Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Just a bit of a comparison.

ALTON TOWERS LAST 5 POSTS:
1. 30% off hotel promo
2. 30% off hotel promo
3. 30% off hotel promo
4. Video advert for Feb Half Term at resort
5. MAP sale advert
(100% direct sales ad)

CEDAR POINT'S LAST 5 POSTS:
1. Top Thrill Dragster POV
2. Gemini interaction post
3. Historical constrution photos
4. Memories of Cedar Point
5. Job adverts
(0% direct sales ad)

EUROPA-PARK LAST 5 POSTS:
1. Blue Fire photo
2. Night Beat Angels event video promo
3. Ammolite team celebration night out photo
4. 360 degree photo of new Arena
5. 'Did you know' feature
(20% direct sales ad)

BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH LAST 5 POSTS:
1. 2018 construction update
2. Job adverts
3. Local pantomime backstage share
4. 2018 construction update
5. Valentine's meal promo
(20% direct sales ad)

Do you get the drift? They are like that guy who goes out desperate to find someone for a one-nighter.
 
"Spend money! Spend money! Spend money! We don't care about the park, we just want your money!" - The tone I'm getting from those last five posts of Towers on Facebook.
 
Jonathan said:
"Spend money! Spend money! Spend money! We don't care about the park, we just want your money!" - The tone I'm getting from those last five posts of Towers on Facebook.
Click to expand...
But they need the extra money to cover the lost revenue of the closed hotel.
Poor Alton Towers. I feel sorry for them.
Have they sacked all the social media team. It's been taken over by the accounting department?
 
In a sense it wouldn't matter if Alton Tower's posts were getting the same number of 'likes', but Cedar Point's post typically get many times the number of 'likes' than Alton Tower's. Whilst some of this could be explained by the fact that Cedar Point gets more visitors, it doesn't explain the massive difference. Here's how many 'likes' their last five posts got:

CEDAR POINT
1) 4,900
2) 3,800
3) 674
4) 1,200
5) 352

ALTON TOWER'S
1) 119
2) 66
3) 183
4) 133
5) 65

Europa Park I'm struggling with. I believe they have an English and a German Facebook page. It's not surprising that the English one doesn't get loads of likes. I have found a German page that looks official, but this too has relatively few likes whereas the Europa Fans page has a lot more likes making me think there's an official German Facebook page that I've missed. For that reason I won't post figures for Europa Park as I don't want to mis-represent things.

BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH

1) 281
2) 30
3) 12
4) 7Y
5) 469

Number of likes isn't everything and yes, you do have to convert likes into sales. Nonetheless Cedar Point's social media team do appear to have a very successful strategy. I have counted 'heart/love' reactions as 'likes' to simplify things. You could also look at comments, shares etc. Clearly posts that relate to the rides are generally the most popular.
 
The point being made here isn't the number of likes though, but the type of content being posted...

Besides, better content equals more likes... Simple...
 
I think one of the posts from Alton on Saturday said something like "Bok for 217 and get up to 30% off".

The GP were really having a field day on that one!
 
Benzin said:
The point being made here isn't the number of likes though, but the type of content being posted...

Besides, better content equals more likes... Simple...
Click to expand...
That's the point I'm making. Cedar Point gets far more likes for it's posts even taking into consideration that it gets more visitors, because they post more interesting content. If Alton Tower's got more likes I'd say, 'hey, we're enthusiasts and we want geeky stuff about the rides, but look, what they're posting is getting plenty of likes so maybe it's what the broader public want'. The number of likes clearly shows that repetitive sales plugs aren't what the public want, and because of this it's not a very effective marketing strategy.

It's like if Alton Tower's launched a new TV ad and the weekend after it came out visitor numbers suddenly rocketed up 20% when there wasn't any other explantion (like a new ride opening). Even if as enthusiasts we didn't like the advert artistically you'd have to say it was a successful advert. On the other hand if they spent a load of money and the advert had a negligible impact on visitors then it would have been a waste of money. By looking at the number of 'likes' different kinds of Facebook posts get, you make a judgement about how successful they are.

To go back to Dan's original metaphor, it's the difference between the guy who's desperate for a one night stand who's got a queue of women trying to buy him drinks and the guy who makes all the women back away. Either way you can say it's poor taste, but if it was a successful strategy at least there'd be something positive to say about it.
 
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It is annoyingly sales driven, but then Merlin pages always will be at this time of year during the sale.
 
I find Thorpe use their FB a lot better to interact with guests.
Maybe it's the demographic
Thorpe = young teenage audience glued to their smart phones
Towers = Families and old people with better things to do than being glued to Facebook
 
An interesting point. I know what/who I would prefer to 'follow' based on that.

Advertisement is only used to promote a product, ie bring additional sales. Yes, it might not be direct sales, but it's sales all the same.
 
bluesonichd said:
I find Thorpe use their FB a lot better to interact with guests.
Maybe it's the demographic
Thorpe = young teenage audience glued to their smart phones
Towers = Families and old people with better things to do than being glued to Facebook
Click to expand...

Thorpe Park's last five posts as of 1 Feb
1. Thorpe Shark sale finishes tomorrow (7 likes)
2. Maths puzzle with ride logos (250 reactions)
3. 2 days to go on massive hotel sale (53 likes)
4. 2 weeks left on annual pass sale (96 reactions)
5. photo of Swarm reflected in the lake (426 reactions)

I know its the oldest post so had more time to gain reactions, but also proves that pretty photos gets more attention than sale ends soon!! announcements.
 
I was going to make a topic around this. They really aren't doing themselves any favors when you look at all of the comments. Maybe these should be their 'KPI's' instead of the dodgy way they do it traditionally.

It seems they haven't grasped the evolution of social media. People are brand savvy, and wise to gimmicks and sales drives, even Facebook algorithms will work against posts like these i'm sure.

The idea should be (in my opinion) to offer content that reminds you of the place so that when you decide to book something you have positive image in your head. Organic, engaging and informative posts would do this. Pestering people to spend money has the opposite effect as can be identified in all of the comments.
 
Majority of feedback I have seen of late around their "up to 30% offer" and the "CBeebies hotel" are people complaining about the extortionate cost of staying there. Some have put up screenshots showing a 1 night stay for a family of a few quid short of £500. Absolutely crazy. If thats with "up to 30% off" then god help people when the full prices kick in.

Mind you, up to 30% off could mean anything couldnt it really...... new hotel, lets give people a 1% discount.
 
It actually got to the point that I was glad the 30% sale was over, as I was so sick of seeing it on my Facebook. I was constantly seeing posts, sponsored posts, adverts and videos, all for the sale or CBeebies hotel. And looking at the comments, the majority of them were negative.

You would think towers might learn and post something different, but no they just carry on.

I have always felt Thorpe do a better job with their social media, most of what they post actually get people talking and commenting, even if it's just for fun or a photo of a ride or something.

Towers social media has always been SELL SELL SELL and they very rarely post anything else. I mean in the past Thorpe have posted photos of rides at other parks, and even did a load of Snapchats of the team trying out Christmas sandwiches. I don't think towers even know the password to their snapchat account.
 
In the last few days, they have toned down the sales posts, what with the sale ending. However, the entire focus is now on the construction of the CBeebies Hotel, which I'm just not at all interested in.

But then this is a year where, sadly, the only new additions are CBeebies based, so I expect 90% of all social media posts to be regarding this.
 
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