3. Address past policy mistakes 

With an unprecedented situation and such pressured timelines, it’s not unexpected that some decisions may not have been the right ones the first time round, or in hindsight, that old policies were no longer fit for purpose. For some attractions, this led to high profile cases of controversial membership or season pass refund issues, or other public relations aspects surrounding the events of 2020. Long term brand damage, a major contributor to churn, can be reduced or avoided by retrospectively addressing past concerns head on, particularly if a make up benefit can be offered., 

4. Analyze and segment for nurture 

Insight oriented membership experiences with segmentation or personalization are more likely to experience higher growth rates over member programs where every member is treated the same, regardless of behavior. By analyzing member data, understanding insights and then segmenting the member base, nurture activity such as drips, offers and follow up can more effectively steer members away from negative outcomes such as churn and towards positive outcomes which boost lifetime value and lead to upgrade. For starters, identify and nurture members with low visit behaviors – those who haven’t subsequently visited after joining compared to others, those who haven’t visited in a longer period of time than their usual or those approaching renewal in the coming quarter who haven’t visited enough times in the year to deliver return on their membership investment.

 5. Tap into local markets before scaling beyond

Despite easing restrictions, most attractions are still experiencing the effects of suppressed tourism. Hyper local marketing strategies are still the best return on investment for new member acquisition – whether targeted digital advertising in local areas or traditional methods such as mail drops. To continuously monitor and evaluate when to broaden investments elsewhere, use new member zip codes to track the balance of organic demand from increasingly distant locations, or to test small experiments before scaling investment. 

6. Build loyalty through digital engagement

Over the course of the pandemic, digital adoption has accelerated agnostically for geographies and demographics. Many attractions successfully  responded to this trend by using digital to stay connected with members, despite the inability to invite them onsite – from exclusive online events to enticing ecommerce discounts. This trend is likely to stay and digital presence playing an increasingly important role in converting and retaining member loyalty.

7. Mindful cost to serve 

Even as budgets rebound, prudent financial governance means keeping a close eye on cost to serve. For comparison to pre pandemic times even if the member base has shifted significantly, this metric can be calculated as unit economics by dividing the total spend on member operating costs (including staffing but excluding customer acquisition costs) by the total number of members served, potentially by various member product tiers if possible. These numbers can help reveal where to continue restraining or even further reducing costs versus where to begin investing again, along with budget deep dives into hard costs such as member only events.  

Pulling the right levers to attract and retain members is no longer merely a matter of delivering value on the cost of membership. Factors like mission relevance, loyalty acknowledgement, policy ethics, nurtured behavior and digital engagement signal the evolving expectations of members as consumers. These shifts are an opportunity for visitor attractions to turn recurring revenues into predictable scale , where insightful intelligence is the gateway to growth.