It’s a great scheme. Get visitors to install your app and then ask them to setup a login. You are then able to track your visitors’ activity across your attraction. You can also exploit this personal channel access in various ways. The ultimate imperative of using visitor tracking apps is specifically to increase revenue through upselling of course. The benefits are automatic ticketing, cafe alerts, etc. By the time the visitor has left your attraction, these big-tech apps will ensure you know everything about your visitors. But be aware, when using your attraction app to track visitor activity, there are serious issues that arise.
Will visitors to your attraction install your app?
The really big question when using visitor tracking in your attraction’s app is whether visitors welcome this level of intrusion? It can often be a compelling reason not to install your app. This is particularly the case if visitors are coming from a long distance away. In this case, it’s most likely going to be a single visit. Undoubtedly, visitors of this type would use your attraction’s app just once. It’s important not to assume that visitors won’t notice this type of ‘engagement‘ scheme. We know that people jealously guard access to their digital channels. Needing to install an app, and/or setup a login and enter personal information is worrying, particularly for single use.
People aren’t daft!
Being asked to give personal information is the first big alert that flags-up to your visitors. And indeed, just to install a traditional type of app is worrying because of the permissions granted upon installation. So, it’s important to be realistic about the potential rates of app installation. This is particularly relevant with ‘tracking and sales‘ types of visitor app. These days we’re all constantly bombarded by selling and scamming activity through digital channels. It’s important not to assume visitor are naive and unaware.
The staff training burden
The other onerous requirement with complex visitor tracking apps is the need to train your team in all this new technology. Complex backends need involved staff interaction. Capturing and interpreting visitor behaviour in order to increase revenue is time-consuming. Generally, problems arise when a key member of staff leaves for another post. It can leave you high-and-dry until a new member of staff can be trained-up in the backend.
A scenario where you’d consider using your attraction app to track visitor activity
We don’t wish to appear negative about the amazing capabilities of visitor tracking and personalisation type apps. They definitely have their uses, particularly for very large attractions where it’s difficult to get a grip on visitor behaviour patterns. The ability to control the flows of visitor traffic at busy times such as bank holidays can be critical. But it’s important to be realistic about installation rates for these visitor tracking type of apps. Many visitors fail to install them because they don’t welcome personal intrusion.
Capturing visitor data – it’s not what we do
So, to clarify, if you want to use an attraction app to track visitor activity – these aren’t the type of app that we develop. Our specialism is in delivering information to mobile screens at an engaging, visual-first level. Our apps require no login or app installation, they load directly into the mobile’s browser in a new tab. This means zero friction in terms of visitors opening the app and using it. There’s also zero visitor privacy infringement, and zero requirement for your team to learn a complex new backend!