Top Tips for Marketing Your Holiday Park App

Your guests can only download your app if they know it exists. These are the places to tell them, roughly in the order a guest meets you: before they book, between booking and arrival, and on park.

Use your website and booking process

Your website is the first place to mention the app.

• Put a clear mention of the app, and how to download it, on your home page.
• Promote it at the end of the booking confirmation page. Don’t do it during the booking itself, as a guest might leave to install the app instead of finishing their booking.
• Create a landing page just for the app: the benefits, new features and any app-only offers.
• If you have a blog, add a regular feature on one part of the app at a time. It helps guests get more from it and shows you take it seriously.

Email marketing

Your guests have already booked, or own a holiday home with you, so you already have their email address. Emails sent before a stay tend to get read, which makes them a good place for your app message.

• Confirmation emails: make them do more than confirm the booking. Guests are excited at this point, so add a short line and a download link.
• A dedicated app email: before guests arrive, send a reminder of what the app does for them on park, with download instructions.
• Pre-arrival emails: these go out a few days before arrival, when excitement is high. Holidaymaker park clients told us in 2022 that this is a strong point for downloads.
• Email signatures: every email your team sends, including payment confirmations, can carry one line about the app and a link. For example: “Our new app helps you (what the app does). Click here to check it out!”

Staff training and awareness

When your own team recommends the app, more guests use it.

• Make sure reception and guest greeters know the app exists and can explain what it does. It sounds basic, but it is the step most often missed.
• Train reception, food and drink, guest services and managers on the specifics. Give them simple cards with download instructions or a QR code to hand out.
• Remind the team regularly why the app matters. Some parks add a small incentive for staff who promote it well.
• Treat app downloads, usage and reviews as part of your regular KPIs, just as you would your website.

App store reviews and feedback

When did you last download a one-star app? Good ratings and reviews make guests more likely to try yours.

• Ask for reviews: invite guests to review the app on Google Play or the App Store, for example on a strut card, a QR code poster or a post-stay email.
• Never fabricate reviews. App stores can suspend an app for it, and you will lose honest feedback on how the app works.
• Be open to feedback: the app includes a feedback form so guests can contact you. A guest who hears from a real person is more likely to stay a fan.
• Reply to reviews, good and bad. Say what you are doing about any problem. Replies show future guests that you listen.
• Expect some negative feedback, and expect some of it to be about the holiday rather than the app. Answer quickly and keep it short.
• Don’t wait for reviews to flag a bug. If you spot a technical problem, tell your Holidaymaker contact.

Push notifications

Push notifications bring people back into the app, so they matter. They also come with rules.

At the moment you can send helpful, informational messages about a guest’s stay and your park, such as:

• a welcome on arrival, with pointers to facilities and what’s nearby
• opening hours, what’s on this week and on-site guidance
• pool closures, weather warnings, disruption or maintenance notices
• a thank you and goodbye after the stay

You cannot send marketing or promotional messages for now, such as offers, discounts, “book your next stay” nudges, or messages that promote add-ons or events mainly to sell. This keeps the app within Apple’s and Google’s rules and UK marketing law, and we are developing permission-based marketing notifications. Read the push notification guide before you plan any messages.

Too many messages is the quickest way to have guests switch notifications off.

Social media

Promoting your app on social media shows guests you are a park that keeps up with how people holiday today.

• Pick the channels your guests use most, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or X.
• Say how the app helps guests, and mention anything exclusive to app users.
• Share what guests share, with their permission, and tag your park.
• Talk to your Holidaymaker team when you launch. We can help with campaign ideas, launch videos, animated gifs and screenshots.

Public relations

A local launch story can get picked up, because journalists are always short of good, ready-to-use content. Package it up so it is easy to run.

A good PR pack includes:

• A summary of the app: the main features, and how they help guests and your business.
• A press release: give it a story. Why you launched the app, and what it solves for guests.
• Photos and screenshots: plenty of app screenshots, plus high-resolution photos of guests and staff using the app on park.
• Your park logo.
• Contact details, and a link back to your app landing page.

Stay UK News is one place to send your launch story. Check who to contact before you send anything.

A short intro video

A video showing what your app does is the quickest way to help people understand it. Keep it to about 30 seconds on how guests benefit, then use it on your website and social channels. Your Holidaymaker launch pack in 2022 included a teaser video. Ask your Holidaymaker contact what is available now.

Targeted adverts

Organic reach alone is limiting, so set aside some budget.

• Facebook and Instagram ads: you can start by boosting a post, or build tailored adverts for specific audiences with a daily budget, paying for the actions you want.
• Retargeting ads: show an app download advert to people who visited your booking page and then went elsewhere, and point them to the app for an exclusive offer.

Competitions

Once the app is live, have some fun. A competition gives guests a reason to download and use it. A scavenger hunt is a good example: guests use the app to collect things around your park, and you announce the winner on your social channels.

Measure what is working

Track downloads, installs, reviews and anything else that shows where to improve. Ask your Holidaymaker contact which reports are available for your app today.

Promoting an app takes time and effort, but there are lots of ways to do it well.