Many water parks have been shut down for an extended period of time; some have even been closed for close to a year. It goes without saying that the past year has been extremely challenging for water parks. However, when businesses take an extended absence like that, there can be a significant impact when they return.

If you want to set your water park up for a successful season, you'll need to get in front of your customers before opening day. Luckily, there are more marketing tools and strategies available to businesses than ever before, so that won't be too challenging. Let's take a look at several different ways your water park can get in front of your customers prior to opening day.

Create Videos

Recording a video used to require a lot of equipment, but everyone has a video camera right in their pocket these days. Use that to your advantage by shooting videos for your water park that will help reach your audience. People love videos, particularly YouTube. YouTube has over two billion monthly users, and their demographics should be incredibly appealing to your water park; 85% of 13-17 year olds, 91% of 18-29 year olds, and 87% of 30-49 year olds use YouTube. Since water parks usually target a family audience, it would be safe to assume that your customers use the site.

Prioritizing video creation and promotion as part of your water park marketing strategy makes a ton of sense, but you need to be careful and deliberate about the content you create. Countless videos are uploaded to YouTube every day, which means getting your video noticed will take effort. It can be helpful to think of the kind of content your audience is looking for when coming up with ideas for your videos. Use your video to provide answers to questions they may have. Right now, many might have questions about what your park is doing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, so consider making a series of videos showing off your new safety protocols. Creating useful content is a great way to get noticed.

Additionally, it would help if you researched the do's and don'ts of using YouTube. YouTube uses an algorithm to determine what videos show up, and you can use it to your advantage. There are tons of videos and guides on how to do this, so be sure to take a look at those. Additionally, make sure you send your videos to your audience, whether on social media, your website, or through email. With the right strategy, your videos will find your customers and raise awareness for your water park re-opening.

Have a Soft Re-Opening to Build Hype

Many times before a business officially opens its doors to the public, the company will do a soft opening with friends and family. It's basically a test run to work out any kinks and see if any changes need to be made before the official opening. It's a tried and true tactic, but you could put your own spin on it for your re-opening.

To build hype and to ensure your water park is truly ready for opening day, why not run a contest that allows several lucky customers to your soft re-opening? Think of the engagement and traffic you could drive; your dedicated customers who are starved for some fun at your water park would be delighted. You could probably even get a story printed in the local paper, reaching even more people.

If you want to build excitement around your water park's re-opening, a soft launch would definitely hammer that point home. However, it would also benefit your water park by giving your staff some practice and making sure everything is ready for the public. A soft re-opening might not be possible for every water park, but if you can pull it off, it could pay off huge.

Send Your Customers Promo Cards

Want to really capture your customers' attention? Consider using the word FREE. If there's one thing people love, it's free stuff. You can use this to strengthen your water park marketing by sending out promo cards to your customers, allowing them to check out your goods and services for free.

You don't need to give away free trips to your water park for your promo cards to be effective. Even something as simple as a free burger from the concession stand will be enough to convince some customers to check out your water park. Your customers will appreciate the gesture, and it will help drive business.

You can customize your promo cards to fit your exact needs. Put a scratch-off on your promo cards to make it more interactive and build intrigue. Or, simply put the value of the card somewhere in the design. Include your logo and branding to maximize their effectiveness and give your water park marketing efforts a boost. There are tons of possibilities, but the key is to create cards that drive customers to come to check out your water park.

No matter what water park marketing strategies you choose to implement, getting in front of your customers before opening day is essential for your water park. If you need any custom printed marketing tools that can help, like promo cards, gift cards, custom signage, and more, the experts at Plastic Printers have you covered. Please reach out to us and let us know what you need; we make getting the custom tools your water park needs fast and easy.