Social-Media Marketing

Tips and tricks to attract a crowd

By Robert Kravitz

Historically, camp owners have difficulty promoting all of their facilities’ features and benefits. While advertising in publications invariably pays off, not all camps can afford it; in some cases, there aren’t any publications in a geographic area that would benefit them.

© Can Stock Photo / inq

The result is that many take advantage of more traditional marketing strategies, such as distributing colorful brochures and flyers. Some savvy camp owners develop email lists and send out newsletters to keep past and prospective customers up to date about what’s happening at camp.

A few owners even become media stars, managing to get on local television and radio shows, discussing their camp and all that it offers.

These are all excellent marketing strategies; they work and should be considered when developing a marketing program. However, today, any camp that does not have an active online presence and a social-media program in place may be at a significant disadvantage.

Consider The Possibilities

With that understanding, how does a camp develop an effective online presence? And for those camps that already have a program in place, how can it be improved?

Here are some suggestions that have proven themselves over time. While social media and online marketing are constantly changing, here are a few strategies that continue to work well.

When it comes to social media, one must first determine which platforms work best, and which do not. The one that likely will not prove effective is LinkedIn. While it may work well for those looking for new staff members, it probably is not the best marketing tool.

Similarly, Twitter is best used to make an announcement—for instance, “the camp will officially open June 1.” Twitter may offer more marketing possibilities than LinkedIn, but it’s important to remember who the customers are—parents of children, along with the children themselves. They are more likely to use Facebook to learn about camps, and not Twitter.

Create A Facebook Content Calendar

For this discussion, let’s focus on Facebook, knowing that the information also applies to Instagram and TikTok. Success begins with having a content calendar. This step is all too often overlooked, so organizations often don’t know what to do next on social media, or don’t know what is working and what is not.

A calendar keeps content focused. Those in charge of posting items know what to do each day of the week. It also helps for visitor engagement because followers and “friends” expect certain types of posts on certain days, which builds eager anticipation for what the camp will post next.

A Facebook calendar requires considerable forethought, but once that is accomplished, it is quite simple to put together. Using a spreadsheet looks something like this:

© Can Stock Photo / Violka08 (Calendar Image)

 Some notes on the content calendar:

• Repetition is good.

• The same calendar can be used for two or three months.

• Check engagement performance for each segment after 60 to 90 days. The videos on Wednesday, for instance, may prove very engaging and get plenty of attention, while the Tip of the week doesn’t seem to have much traction. After 60 to 90 days, you should have a good feel of what is working and what is not. Adjust as necessary.

Also, watch what other camps are doing on their social-media platforms. This is good common sense. If another camp is doing something you believe will work for your camp, it’s OK to replicate, but try to make yours better.

Be A Blogger

When it comes to an effective online marketing strategy, having an active blogging program is imperative. First, create an engaging name for your blog. Here are some that might prove more interesting than the word “blog”:

• Fun Insights

• Camp Adventures

• Diary of Dreams

• Hashtag Fun

• Camper Corner

• Kids, Camp, and Fun

Blogs that are written correctly will allow your voice to be heard above the crowd. When visitors see what’s offered at a camp, an active blogging program builds trust that, in turn, builds customers. Plus, links from blog posts can be added to Facebook and other social-media platforms, creating a cross-marketing strategy.

© Can Stock Photo / SSilver

However, for blogs to prove effective, they must be found. Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial. Here are SEO basics that should help customers find your blogs:

• Select appropriate keywords. Often, these are associated with the central focus of the blog. For instance, a blog about swimming might have keywords such as “swimming pool,” “swimming suit,” or maybe “swimming lessons.”

• Select a keyword-tracking program. Google AdWords is often suggested for this, but other platforms are available—some free, some at moderate cost—that work just as well and may even be easier to use.

• Have engaging titles that will grab a visitor’s attention. “Five ways to do this” or “Ten things you should know about” are memorable and catchy. Also, asking questions can be very effective. “Do you know the super-fastest way to get to our camp?” Now, that’s an attention-grabber.

• Use keywords in the content. These should be in the first sentence of the blog, then in the second and third paragraph, and placed a couple of times in the post.

• Pay attention to word count. Blogs should be a minimum of 600 words. Be sure to mix in “evergreen” blogs that have helpful content relevant to visitors for an extended period; these blogs can be considerably longer.

• Use keywords in titles and headers. For a 600-word blog, two or three subheads with keywords work well.

• Provide links in and out. Have internal and external hyperlinks in the body of the content that point to more information on a particular subject. Both types improve SEO.

• Include images. Images improve SEO if you take advantage of ALT text. Search engines can’t tell one image from another. However, the ALT text tells the search engine what the image is about. Use keywords in the ALT text.

Finally, it’s important to have fun when it comes to online marketing and social media. Once they become something you “have to do,” instead of something you want to do, the impact of an online marketing program will decrease. It’s better to take a break than make online marketing a have-to-do. Enjoy it, have fun. It’s good for business.

Robert Kravitz helps people and organizations become thought leaders, promoting their expertise, products, and services in published articles, online content, and social media.  Reach him at robert@alturasolutions.com.