The Marketing Attractions Podcast
Conversations on how zoos, aquariums, museums, gardens, and other nonprofit attractions are increasing attendance and sharing their mission through marketing. Presented by attend media.
Episodes
Eric and the Elmwood Park Zoo are working to make their zoo more accessible, inclusive, and inviting to everyone.
We talk to Eric about how the team turned bold questions into real change—like letting dogs visit the zoo and becoming the first Certified Autism Center zoo in the world.
Eric shares:
- The behind-the-scenes process of creating a dog-friendly program that staff and animals could all get behind
- Why “Yappy Hours” became a m...
Dynamic ticket pricing isn’t just for airlines. In this episode, we’re joined by Wendy Babineaux from the Houston Zoo to dive into how her team rolled out dynamic pricing—starting cautiously with Zoo Lights in 2019 and gradually expanding across general admission.
She breaks down how pricing now fluctuates daily, even within a single day, and how that’s impacted attendance patterns, guest experience, and revenue goals.
We also talk a...
Most nonprofit attractions are doing some sort of ticket trade in exchange for influencers posting content.
Jenny lays out a few reasons to financially compensate influencers and shares tips on how to do it.
We talk about:
- Looking at influencer marketing as a part of your paid advertising strategy
- How a small financial consideration changes the working relationship between a brand and an influencer
- The 6 things to include in yo...
Nancie from Noetic Consultants shares her 4 key steps of rebranding nonprofit attractions.
Plus, Nancie shares real-world insights, including a case study on a recent zoo rebranding project, and offers practical advice for navigating the RFP process to find the right branding partner.
We talk about:
- Defining the Brand’s North Star – Understanding mission, vision, and purpose.
- Brand Distinction through Research – Utilizing interna...
Corey Romberg joins us to share his ideas on enhancing guest engagement through multi-sensory experiences, storytelling, and audience-focused programming.
We talk about:
- Multi-Sensory Engagement: Using decor, food, hands-on activities, and entertainment to create immersive experiences.
- Character Development: How mascots and puppets help build empathy and connect young audiences to conservation.
- Guest Feedback & Adaptive Managem...
Diana Vega from Zoo Miami discusses how collaboration and creativity can elevate guest experiences at nonprofit attractions. It’s our view that marketing gets people through the door and guest experience turns them into members.
We talk about:
- Empowering Staff: Involving frontline employees in solutions enhances both operations and the guest experience.
- Revamping Internal Meeting Structure: Ways Diana changed weekly internal meeti...
Jenny breaks down what nonprofit, cultural attractions would lose if the TikTok ban comes to fruition. We purposefully recorded this episode prior to the January 19, 2025 'deadline' for TikTok. This allows to reflect on why TikTok is a powerful advertising platform for zoos, aquariums, gardens, and museums.
We talk about...
- Why (most) nonprofit attractions should invest paid advertising dollars into influencer marketi...
Briana and her team won APGA's 2024 Marketing Excellence Award. She shares insights from this award-winning campaign: When the Wind Came Sweeping Down the Plain.
Plus, we also discuss:
- Marketing a public garden with a minimal advertising budget
- Creating more visual impact on Instagram
- Running sponsorships on NPR radio
Join us as we talk about marketing the Tulsa Garden Center.
Erin Ward from the Palm Beach Zoo joins us to talk marketing.
We dive into...
- Palm Beach Zoo's most recent, conservation-focused marketing campaign - "Zoo More Good"
- How to use Birdeye to generate more positive Google reviews
- A text and email 'drip' strategy to upsell animal experiences, food and beverage, and increase repeat visitation
- How customer data is impacting their advertising strategy ...
Attraction veteran, David Rosenberg, shares his thoughts on seamless visitor experiences, networking, and, Gen Z.
Here's what we talk about:
- Using technology to create a more 'seamless' visitor experience
- Some ways to grow your career in the attractions space
- How GenZers are different than previous generations
Plus, David shares his journey from Monterey Bay Aquarium to SSA Ventures
Jenny considers influencer marketing a 'paid advertising' tactic, not just a PR play. She argues that we need to look at influencer marketing the same way as we look at billboards, radio, or any other form of advertising.
Influencer marketing as paid advertising means...
- We need to determine a budget and develop a strategic plan like we would with radio, TV, or any other ad investment.
- We can proactively find...
One of the pain points for marketing teams always seems to be their organization's ticketing system. They can't get the customer data and/or they can't attribute back online ticket sales to online advertising.
We brought in Michelle Paul from BackOffice Thinking to get her thoughts on how marketing can get the most out of their ticketing system.
We cover:
- A few good and not-so-good reasons to s...
Scott McPherson takes a 'noses-in-roses' approach to selling tickets and weddings at Royal Botanical Garden.
Scott joins us to talk about creating and marketing events to bring new, diverse audiences to the garden. We dive into how and why he uses influencer marketing in his advertising strategy.
Scott shares...
- Tailoring Content to Audience Segments: Scott explains the importance of designing events...
Google wants to give every nonprofit attraction $10,000/month in free advertising. But, some zoos, aquariums, museums, and gardens don't maximize this program...or...don't utilize it all.
Jenny and the team cover these 10 questions about the Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits program:
- What is Google Ad Grants
- What’s the catch?
- Can I use it to sell tickets?
- What are the rules to ensure I have a compliant campaign?
- W...
Recently one of Jenny's marketing clients - a large botanical garden - invested in creating an online map. So, we asked Anna Busby from Engage by Cell to help us understand the pros and cons of creating an online map for non-profit attractions.
We discuss...
- Costs - time and financial - for developing an online map
- Ideas on getting your visitors to use your maps
- Customizing maps for your special events
Tim Morrow shares his perspective on how ticket revenue can help spread the mission for non-profit attractions. He aims to make San Antonio Zoo not just the top zoo in Texas but the top attraction in the state. He spent 18+ years with SeaWorld and talks what he's brought from the for-profit side to the non-profit side.
We talk about...
- How zoos can learn from how theme parks are marketing and selling tickets and ...
We talk with Alyssa Fagien from ATL Bucket List to learn some best practices on how influencers want to work with nonprofit attractions. We talk about what makes a good brief for a creator, sharing your attraction's 'hidden gems,' and whitelisting creator content for ads.
This podcast is produced by attend media.
Attend helps nonprofit attractions drive visitation through paid media. Download our free guid...
Jack Stevenson from Cedar Fair Entertainment Company produces 50+ events at theme parks. He shares his ideas on how non-profit attractions can increase attendance by focusing on events.
We discuss...
- What goes into creating an event from scratch
- Using variable pricing to generate value for events
- Selling memberships (or, season passes as they call it)
Jenny shares strategies and ideas to help zoos, aquariums, gardens and museums plan their advertising for their 2024 holiday events. Political ads will flood the media market which will drive up ad costs. And, many attractions are looking to increase attendance after record-setting years further.
We discuss...
- Buying non-preemptable ad inventory on TV and radio
- Using programmatic out-of-home to drive ticket sales on &...
Jim Bartoo from the Nashville Zoo joins the show to talk marketing.
We discuss...
- The value of relationships with local TV, radio and newspaper outlets
- His approach to getting earned media
- A plan to spend ad dollars outside the Nashville market
This podcast is produced by attend media.
Attend helps nonprofit attractions drive visitation through paid media. Download our free guide to media planning for non...
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