What Disney Reminded me About Marketing

I recently took a much-needed vacation to Disney World in Florida. Like any marketer who can't turn it off, I started thinking about the details and what I learned from Disney in marketing during this trip.

1. Details matter. This one is obvious. Disney goes a long way on every detail from their sidewalk design to the smallest architectural element in the castle at Magic Kingdom on the wall. Details make the experience. When we rush to push out a marketing campaign, don't commit to enough user research, or completely forget to ask how our decisions will impact customers AND stakeholders, we miss the details.

2. Know the customer journey. Thanks to the magic bands or Disney app, Disney knew where EXACTLY I was in their park at any given time. They knew if I was standing in line (which I did A LOT), where I was eating, what I was eating, which bathroom the group stopped at, and which park I was going to go to next. And I loved it. Knowing me helped me enjoy my experience. It makes everything so easy. We were able to decide which ride (product) to get on next, find the nearest restaurant that was convenient to 12 people (revenue), and easily glide into the next park (merchandising). We need to remember to understand and map the customer journey in our own marketing. Here's a great template you can use.

3. Say "Thank You" with a call to action. This one is where I think Disney failed. A few days after my trip, I received a marketing email with a generic "Thank You for Visting the Happiest Place on Earth!" with a photo of the resort. That's it. This was the perfect time to offer me an incentive to book again, buy a last-minute Disney memory online, rate my customer experience, or share my trip on social media for some type of contest. Disney offered me and expected me to do nothing. Why did my journey end when I left the park and returned home? Anytime your customer interacts with some type of transaction, you should always offer a call to action or next step - download a free tool, take a 20-second survey, suggest something else for them to buy - anything for them to keep interacting. Just think, you CAN be better than Disney here.