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For many visitor attractions, digital advertising has become an essential part of the marketing mix. Meta campaigns, Google Ads, Performance Max and, increasingly, TikTok are all being used to drive awareness, website traffic and ticket sales.

But one question still comes up again and again:

What does good actually look like?

It is easy to compare this year’s campaign with last year’s, or one school holiday push with another. But without wider industry benchmarks, it can be difficult to know whether your results are genuinely strong, whether your budget is in line with similar attractions, or whether your campaigns are quietly underperforming.

That was the focus of a recent session at the National Attraction Marketing Conference from Liz Dimes, Managing Director of Agility Marketing, who shared findings from Agility’s annual digital advertising survey for UK visitor attractions. The survey included responses from a broad range of attractions, including theme parks, zoos, museums, heritage sites, children’s farms, scare attractions and film or TV studio experiences.

The findings reveal a sector that is investing more in digital advertising than ever before. But they also show that bigger budgets do not automatically mean better strategy.

More spend does not always mean better performance

One of the clearest themes from the survey was that attraction size and media spend do not always translate neatly into better digital advertising performance.

Larger attractions often spend more overall, but they are also more likely to focus on a smaller number of established platforms, particularly Meta and Google Search. Smaller attractions, by contrast, are often more experimental, testing new platforms and looking for different ways to reach audiences.

That distinction matters. In a crowded digital environment, competitive advantage does not come simply from being present on the obvious channels. It comes from how well those channels are used.

Meta is now standard practice

The survey found that every participating attraction was advertising on Facebook, with almost all also advertising across both Facebook and Instagram.

That means Meta is no longer a differentiator in itself. It is the baseline.

For attractions, the opportunity is not just to “do Meta”, but to do it well. That means choosing the right campaign objectives, balancing traffic and sales campaigns, understanding the role of different audiences, refreshing creative regularly and ensuring conversion tracking is working properly.

The benchmark figures shared in the session suggest that a Meta link click-through rate of around 1% to 1.5% is broadly in line with the sector average, while many attractions are achieving between 0.8% and 3%. Average cost per link click was around 16p to 25p, which had improved compared with the previous year.

Those numbers are useful, but they should not be viewed in isolation. A campaign optimised for ticket sales may have a higher cost per click than a traffic campaign, but a better cost per conversion. A traffic campaign may look efficient at the click stage but fail to drive meaningful sales.

The key is to understand what each campaign is designed to do.

Tracking is improving, but too many attractions are still flying blind

One of the most positive findings was the improvement in Meta conversion tracking.

The proportion of attractions unable to track Meta conversions had fallen significantly compared with the previous year. That is encouraging, because tracking is not just about reporting. It is also about campaign optimisation.

If the platform cannot see which users go on to make a booking, it cannot properly learn who to target next. Poor tracking does not only make reporting weaker; it can actively limit campaign performance.

The concern is that some attractions still spending substantial sums on digital advertising are unable to connect that spend to conversions. In practical terms, that means they are making budget decisions without a clear view of what is actually driving revenue.

For any attraction investing seriously in paid media, tracking should be treated as a priority, not a technical nice-to-have.

Google Ads: beware misleading brand-term results

One of the strongest recommendations from the session was around Google Search campaigns and brand terms.

Many attractions are still not excluding their own brand names from prospecting campaigns. On the surface, that can make campaign performance look impressive. Brand searches often produce high click-through rates and low conversion costs because the user already knows the attraction and is likely close to booking.

But that can be misleading.

If someone searches directly for your attraction by name, they may have already seen your social content, watched a video, discussed the visit with family or friends and decided to book. Paying for that click through a prospecting campaign may not represent true incremental value.

Worse still, if brand terms are mixed into broader prospecting campaigns, the algorithm is likely to allocate more budget to those easier brand searches, leaving less spend available to reach new audiences searching for more generic terms such as days out, family activities or things to do in a particular area.

The recommendation was simple: exclude brand terms from prospecting campaigns in most cases. If there is a reason to bid on brand terms, such as weak organic visibility, a recent rebrand or competitor activity, keep those campaigns separate with their own budget and reporting.

Performance Max needs careful measurement

Google Performance Max continues to be used by attractions, with campaigns appearing across Google inventory including Search, Display, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Discovery.

Because of that variety, Performance Max can be harder to assess using a single metric. A campaign with more YouTube placement, for example, may behave very differently from one that leans heavily into Search.

Liz recommended looking beyond click-through rate alone and paying attention to interaction rates and cost per interaction, particularly when video is part of the mix. Attractions should also review where Performance Max budget is actually being spent and make sure brand terms are not unintentionally absorbing too much of the campaign.

Performance Max can be powerful, but it needs active management and careful interpretation.

TikTok remains underused

One of the more surprising findings was that only 42% of surveyed attractions had used TikTok advertising.

That matters because TikTok currently offers strong opportunities for reach and awareness. The platform has relatively low impression costs compared with Meta, high user attention and growing importance as a brand discovery and research channel.

For attractions, TikTok should not be judged only as a last-click sales platform. It is particularly valuable at the top of the funnel, helping people discover experiences, imagine a visit and keep an attraction front of mind for future trips.

That does not mean TikTok cannot drive conversions. The session noted that clicks and bookings are becoming more visible from the platform. But its biggest value may be in building demand before people are ready to buy.

Authentic creative is outperforming polished advertising

A major theme from the session was the growing importance of authenticity.

Consumers are exposed to more polished content than ever before, including AI-generated creative. As a result, they are becoming more sceptical of what they see online. For attractions, audiences want reassurance. They want to know what the experience really looks like, whether it is right for them and whether it is worth the money.

That is where authentic content performs strongly.

Visitor-generated content, staff voices, behind-the-scenes clips and natural short-form video can help reduce doubt. They show the real experience, not just the idealised version. Polished creative still has a role, but it should sit alongside content that feels human, timely and trustworthy.

In a value-conscious market, attractions need to show not just that they exist, but why the visit is worth the spend.

Flexibility is becoming a performance advantage

The strongest digital campaigns are no longer the ones planned once and left alone.

Weather, transport disruption, school holiday behaviour and last-minute booking patterns can all affect performance. Attractions that can react quickly are better placed to capture demand.

That might mean having rainy-day creative ready to go, switching messaging when the sun comes out, adapting copy around availability, or refreshing ads when an event is not selling as expected.

This requires planning, but not necessarily huge production budgets. The important thing is to build flexibility into the campaign process, so creative and messaging can respond to real-world conditions.

Creative fatigue is happening faster

Another clear trend is that creative fatigue is setting in more quickly than before.

Ads that might once have worked for several weeks may now lose effectiveness sooner. Audiences are moving quickly, platforms are hungry for fresh content and short-form video has raised expectations.

Attractions that maintain performance are testing new hooks, refreshing creative regularly and producing more varied content. This does not mean every asset needs to be highly produced. In fact, the rise of authentic creative means simple, real and timely content can often work better than overly polished campaigns.

The real opportunity: spend smarter

Many attractions are planning to increase digital advertising budgets, with a large proportion expecting to spend between 1% and 10% more in 2026.

That makes sense. Media costs are rising, competition is increasing and platforms continue to introduce additional charges and complexity. But the answer is not simply to put more money into the same activity.

The real opportunity is to spend smarter.

That means fixing tracking, separating brand and prospecting activity, understanding the role of each platform, testing TikTok, refreshing creative more often and using authentic content to build trust.

Digital advertising for attractions is becoming more competitive, but also more measurable and more creative. The attractions that win will not necessarily be those with the biggest budgets. They will be the ones that understand their data, adapt quickly and make it easier for visitors to say yes.

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To show what we mean, we’ve mapped this year’s programme against the CIM Global Professional Marketing Framework (GPMF) — the framework the Chartered Institute of Marketing uses to define what good marketing practice looks like, from Aware through to Expert. NAMC isn’t a CIM‑accredited course; it’s self‑directed CPD that you log yourself. But because the day maps so cleanly to the framework, it’s unusually easy to plan, structure and record.

One framework, three pillars

The GPMF is built around three pillars — Direction (strategy, context and foresight), Capability (the applied skills that bring a plan to life) and Professionalism (the behaviours, ethics and accountability of a trusted marketer) — and eight technical capability areas beneath them. Here’s how the 2026 programme will speak to each pillar.

Direction

Bernard Donoghue OBE’s opening keynote, drawing on ALVA’s view of the visitor economy, will set the strategic scene. Simon Jones on the new visitor landscape, Christina Lister’s five audience trends for museum marketing, and the closing session on investment and accountability will all help you step back from delivery and plan with foresight.

Capability

This is where the day is richest. You’ll build genuinely applicable skills across content (Danielle Nicholls on halo versus hero content), paid media (Liz Dimes on why digital ads underperform), websites (Neil Lewin on evolving rather than rebuilding), owned channels (Rachel Wood on WhatsApp), and emerging tactics (gamification and the rise of organic, “invisible” advertising).

Professionalism

James Hobbs’ session on digital sustainability and the consent‑led, GDPR‑friendly thinking behind modern messaging channels both reflect the responsible side of the profession. Nik Wyness on measurement and accountability speaks to a marketer’s duty to demonstrate value — and the interactive table talks reward exactly the kind of peer exchange the framework prizes.

Plan your day around the eight capability areas

Use this as a planning aid: decide which two or three areas you most want to develop, then choose your seminars and table talks to match.

Turn the day into recordable CPD in four steps

This is the part that makes the difference between a good day out and a logged piece of professional development:

• Before: pick the two or three GPMF areas you want to grow, and choose your seminar and table‑talk streams with those in mind.
• During: take notes against those areas — not just general ideas, but “what does this change about how I work?”
• After: write a short reflection — what you learned, and one thing you’ll do differently — and record your hours in your CPD log.
• Then: use that record to evidence your development at appraisal, or to make the case to your manager for next year’s place.

In a single focused day you’ll touch all three pillars of the framework and the majority of its capability areas — which is exactly what makes NAMC such an efficient anchor for your professional development plan, and so easy to evidence when it counts.

Join us on 3 June

Wednesday 3 June 2026 · Online via Zoom Events · 09:30–17:00
Attraction delegates £60 (inc VAT) · Agency & supplier delegates £120 (inc VAT)

Come with a plan, leave with recordable CPD.

Register here

The post How to make NAMC 2026 count as valuable CPD appeared first on Attractions Marketing Conference.

New speakers announced

There’s only a few weeks left before The National Attractions Marketing Conference hits the internet on 3rd June 2026 on Zoom Events.

Our line up is growing, with the addition of talks from Neil Lewin from Semantic as well as amazing seminar by Sandra Lynes Tyndrell from St Paul’s Cathedral, Spencer Clark from ATS, and Bala McAllister from Complete Works.

We’re also working on a last few updates before we can announce the final schedule, so watch this space.

View the full programme.

Thanks for your help

Nik Wyness, Direct of Marketing and Engagement at The Tank Museum, was overwhelmed by the support he received from everyone who submitted data for his talk on measuring what matters. He’s now had responses from over 40 attractions. So thank you to everyone that took part.

Come to our Digital Sustainability seminar

What else is happing in Skip the Queue

The Attractions Website Survey is well under way.  This is our 5th year of gathering data, and we are the only longitudinal survey of digital marketing data and opinion from attractions across the sector.

This years survey will be simpler than ever, as we’ve introduced tools to automatically gather a lot of the facts about performance, sustainability and customer journey. So you’ll only need to answer qualitative questions about your website.

If you pre-register now, you’ll also receive a free Digital Sustainability Report which rates the sustainability of your website, and can be used to identify quick wins to reduce the CO2 of your site.

Find out more about the Survey

The post Skip the travel, keep the insight appeared first on Attractions Marketing Conference.

Join us on 3-Jun-2026 on Zoom to hear from speakers including Bernard Donoghue OBE, Laura Baxter and Danielle Nicholls and a glittering line up of speakers from across the Attractions Sector.

Tickets have an early bird discount for the rest of this month, checkout our lineup and programme and head over to Zoom to book your ticket.

The post Announcing 2026 online conference appeared first on Attractions Marketing Conference.