Theres no question: your summer camp is a really exceptional place. Whether that happens online, at an info session, or through some type of merchandise, your camps brand is important because it will initially be judged based on the visual appeal of your brand. Use live video to announce the winner and runner ups if you have them. What can be done to help boost registrations to your camp? Are we missing your fundraising platform or nonprofit service? You can market and advertise early bird discounts, referral discounts, return camper discounts or any other types of deals you feel comfortable offering to make it more affordable. Other parents will feel more comfortable sending their child to a camp that has top reviews, and that is well known in the community. Text messaging software that drives results. Because so many people have moved to almost entirely digital marketing campaigns, youll find the mailbox to be a lot less cluttered. The paper secured $5,000 in sponsorship revenue from the campaign. Use recycled materials to create bowling pins for the children to knockdown. Before your next summer session, launch a camp crowdfunding campaign to fund scholarships for deserving campers. Sales The more frequently you share your registration form, the more likely it is that kids and their parents will encounter and complete it. Check out Double the Donations definitive ranking of top GoFundMe alternatives to find a user-friendly, affordable option thats right for your organization. Find a way to ask for these referrals more systematically, and your marketing troubles might end entirely with this idea. Send them to last years participants, Y-members, mailing list, etc. What makes summer camp such a unique experience for kids these days is that its fully IRL (internet slang for in real life). Housing requests can be a great way to take your existing relationships with campers and turn them into new relationships. Event producers typically charge more for booths with additional setup needs like access to running water or power. Not only did the sponsor grow their email database with an email opt-in on the entry form, but they used a lead-generation question to ask users what programs they would be interested in joining. Colorful balloons are a cheap way to advertise your event in the days leading up to it. Chances are that unless a camper has already attended your summer camp in the past, they arent going to come by for a look around the facilities in person before they choose your camp. Not fundamentally important, but, Have a section that encourages campers and families to visit the website, Use photos- show campers involved with activities, Make sure contact information is prominent and easy to read. Marketing If your dream has always been to start a summer camp that has the potential to change lives for the better while at the same time offering you a chance to enjoy some financial security and some financial freedom, you have to master the marketing side of things. Ask parents to review your summer camp on your Facebook page or website. Sign up forOneMinuteWednesday, our twice-monthly,hyperconsumableemail with tips, hacks, and musings. Give parents a sneak peek of your summer camp by hosting a free event. Both kids and their parents will be excited to attend your camp when they know theyll be spending time with their friends or loved ones. They took this opportunity to ask users Will you have child care needs this summer? and if the user would like to be contacted to learn about available options at the academy. Put spaces for parents, Send out quarterly e-newsletters or event announcements, Use mail merge to create custom emails to ask for help, thank folks for, Send home a postcard size notice that if parents would like a group shot, You can create a template in Photoshop that automatically adds your camp. Here are a few of our favorite ideas for these advertisers: Chattanooga Free Times Press | Chattanooga, TN. If youre doing, Offer to do Character Development activities for assembly periods or special, Team building programs. The most challenging thing you will do as an operator is to convince complete and total strangers to trust you with their kids for the entire summer. Find out the audience reach for each of your marketing strategies to be sure you have enough to giveaway to potential customers. This campaign was a great opportunity to build both the station and sponsors email lists, as both included email opt-ins on the registration form of the contest. By spreading your form far and wide, you help get the word out about your camp while empowering interested individuals to complete their registration. With these awesome strategies, your camp is sure to make a splash next summer. Use housing requests to bring in newcomers. Your community is second to none, your activities are engaging, and when kids head back home at the end of the season they cant wait to tell their friends all about the amazing time they had at camp. Dont miss this great chance to highlight local summer camp activities. This includes videotaping fun activities & games, special equipment & facilities in order to market your camp. When this local art and design camp wanted to drive excitement and awareness of their summer art and design programs, the team at Pamplin saw a perfect opportunity for a promotion. As you think of new ways to market your organization and grow your community, be sure to keep your digital branding front-of-mind. Instead, its a good idea to create an e-newsletter system to send out an email every month to keep people updated about everything going on at your camps, like any facility, news, or activity changes. Video marketing is one of the best practices you need to follow. Even better, reach out to your community to see what improvements theyd like to be made in order to tell your story more effectively online. WDBJ-TV ran this fun photo contest with the sponsoring local YMCA to promote their summer camp programing. Setup your event using a ticketing service like Eventbrite to help you track the number of families who want to attend. You may be able to work with payment plans, find ways to do installment style payment packages, or come up with other creative solutions that help get more campers to your business in a win-win sort of situation. If you need to do the design in house, find a marketing layout you like, Rule #1: Use pictures of smiling campers doing fun activities under the, A really cute camper is simply not as effective as a camper as described, Try to use pictures of campers and staff wearing camp shirts to reinforce, Make sure that the pictures do not show campers engaged in seemingly inappropriate, Make sure the information is up to date! As a result, the sponsor identified 28 users interested in the program! They can introduce their personal networks to your organization, and your camp can leverage those relationships to make the case for newcomers to register. They expanded their Best-Of partnership with Visit Jacksonville the local tourism bureau to include this ballot, asking viewers to vote for their favorite local summer camp. These businesses dont have a ton of advertising dollars and only spend for a short period of time each year. The best salespeople you will ever have for your summer camp will be previous campers and parents of these campers. Ensure your team is doing the best job it can to introduce newcomers to your camp, make the case for their attendance, and lay the groundwork for smooth camper registration. Telecom expense management software redefined. Resolve customer issues faster and provide personalized service. Inexpensive activity options include face painting, balloon animals, and indoor bowling. Make connections with your campers networks. Running a summer camp and attracting new campers is never relatively as easy as it seems on the surface. Add activities at your exhibitor booth that attract the attention of children passing by. Providing a countdown to the deadline is a great way to energize contest participants. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The summer camp industry can be incredibly competitive on a local level, which is why youre going to want to increase your brand recognition and camp name by using search result advertising. Focus your efforts on getting reviews from families who send their children every year. Far too many camp operations simply blast out a reserve your spot now email before the summer season hits and then going dark entirely until the next season. If any directory is listed higher than, Many online directories copy or share camp info from any number of sources, Be sure to visit the online directories to review your camps free. Custom logo items can take weeks to produce and ship. by Rica Perez, Digital Marketing Designer, Truth Tree. The, Distribute flyers and brochures through the schools. The key to bad reviews is making sure you respond to each negative review by accepting responsibility. Objectives Having a mailing list of parents who want to enroll their children in summer camps is worth its weight in gold. Parents expect to spend, on average, $1,000 per child per week for a great summer experience. Avoid asking families to pay to enter a promotion or contest. Your camp should: Bonus tip: Take it a step further by selling branded merchandise with the custom-designed logo on your registration site for parents to buy campers shirts before they head off and they can pick them up when they arrive! This might involve offering students, at certain schools, discounts or putting up fliers around youth league locations, or sponsoring a local youth sports team. Cloud-based fax service that delivers securely. With that in mind, here are 10 of the best summer camp marketing strategies to grow your summer camp to another level and increase enrollment. They want the most value for their spend, which is why the database growth and leads promotions generate make them perfect for these advertisers. Historically, this has meant a lot of young people couldnt register for their favorite camps and had to miss out. Becoming an exhibitor at a festival or local event helps you connect with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of families at once. Free giveaways are a great way to attract new families to your camp. Track your referrals from each online directory that you subscribe to. Reaching everyone means trying to make a meaningful connection with thousands, sometimes millions, of people in your area. Make sure you draw people in through creative branding practices that are representative of the experience youre selling! This means that you should regularly share your form across communication channels. Themes. You might reach out to the parents to advocate on behalf of your camp at their next PTA meeting. For more information on marketing your summer camp, contact ustoday. Lets check out these smart summer camp marketing strategies so your next summer session is your most popular one yet. Streamline systems with automation, transparency, and control. Day camp parents often type into Google Summer Camps in Springfield, Resident Camp parents often type in the type of camp they are looking for, Type terms that you think are appropriate for your parent market into Google, Type your camp name into Google. One strategy for crowdfunding is offering scholarships for new campers at a discounted price. Not only does this help your camp boost attendance rates, but it also strengthens bonds between your camp attendees. The first impression anyone has of your camp is on the line with every piece of branded material you create. Summertime is a big season of consumer spending especially for parents looking to keep their kiddo active over the break. The decision to pick one summer camp over another is almost always going to come down to the attractiveness of each camp itself. Try taking a second look at your summer camps marketing strategy. Even if an individual chooses not to complete the form at a certain time, just by encountering it again down the line theyre more likely to finish it. Have gift certificates available for purchase for other special events, A local business owner that has been very supportive, Allowing your biggest advocates the opportunity to give the gift of camp. CDP and omnichannel orchestration to boost customer engagement. He loves hearing camp cheers outside his office window during the summer, while helping camps across the country overcome their unique challenges! In this article, well take a deep dive into the many unique ways your summer camp can revitalize its marketing strategy. People often forget that pricing is a massive marketing strategy that offers a lot of leverage. Even if parents dont sign up onsite for this year, youve made a meaningful connection with the families in your community who will be more likely to call you when they are in need of summer childcare later on. The more engagement you get on your social media pages and website, the better your search engine rankings. This sweepstakes from the Pocono Record and the sponsor, Precious Moments Christian Academy, gave away a huge prize of a 4-week stay at summer camp. Fundly is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to raise money for whatever your cause may be. Seven local camps sponsored this Camp and Activities giveaway, each of which got an email opt-in on the entry form. List Of The 7 Best Extracurricular Activities For College, How Much Does Summer Camp Cost? For most camps that struggle getting new kids in the door, one of the most common challenges is simply getting the word out about your camp. You can reach out to donors like local universities, businesses, or even previous alumni or parents of alumni. Organic search engine optimization is one possible road to take as it guarantees long-term success, but you want to consider pay per click advertising on search engines. However, did you know theres a way to spread the word about your summer camp while also making attendance more accessible for kids? This means the best salespeople for your summer camp experience will be happy campers and their parents, which is why having a referral system in place is one of the best summer camp marketing strategies. A lot of that has to do with how the camp experience is shown through photos and videos and the camp website. When newcomers to your camp see that their friends, classmates from school, or family members want them to be their roomates, theyll get excited to learn more about your organization. Here are a few ways your camp can amplify the reach of its registration form: Remember, your summer camps registration form is the last step in the process of converting prospective campers into camp attendees. Youd be surprised, Offer a small prize in your thank you note, maybe a sticker, or a voucher, Have sharp looking Holiday gift certificates available for families to, Offer a gift for purchases over a certain amount; spend $50 and get a plush, Send emails to families and encourage the purchase by Grandparents, Aunts, Use a catchy phrase that plays against video games, etc_ we used. If you have all of those things and can market effectively, then the odds are pretty good that your camp will thrive. Did you know that your summer camps online registration forms can be a huge marketing asset? With springtime comes the opportunity to market your summer camp at outdoor festivals. However, the way your camp brands itself on the web can have a major impact on your marketing efforts, especially when attracting new campers. ), Make sure all of your navigation links work no dead links. Share registration forms across all channels. Think of activities these campers liked best in past years. Referrals that come from people that others have real relationships with are always worth their weight in gold. The right summer camp advertisement for your business can bring dozens of new families each year. comfortable offering to make it more affordable. This was a great way to capitalize on the song of the summer, as many parents already had a video on their phones or could easily get one. Your camps digital branding helps tell the story of your organization, so its important that your website, social media profiles, and other digital output reflect the story you want to tell about your community. The only exception might be offering a free week of summer camp if they make an 8-week commitment to attend. Lots of online reviews mean your summer camp is relevant, which will help boost it to the top of search engine results. That means your organization might not be too worried about the appearance of your website and online presence. Lakeland Broadcasting used a turnkey personality quiz to promote their local sponsor, Green Lake Lutheran Ministries. You can also offer ways to solve the issue along with an apology. You want to make your sell sheets to speak directly to the needs and wants of your audience. Even if your summer camp is on the affordable side, it can still be a challenge for some families to find room in their budget for this important experience. Want to learn more about camp crowdfunding? because it will initially be judged based on the visual appeal of your brand. Does crowdfunding sound right for your summer camp? People will always be skeptical about any of the promises, guarantees, or offers you share about your summer camp. The parties generate revenue, and more importantly, Based on your facility or time of year, you can offer themed parties, such, Run some traditional camp games, like Capture the Flag or Archery. The moment you can afford to have your materials designed by a professional. Running, Be sure to provide the host family with party invitations and waivers. The campaign included an email opt-in for the sponsor as well as lead-generation questions. Many schools do not have the ability to run their own Field, Think like a parent. He has a passion for literature and the outdoors, and is a veteran of U.S. Coast Guard, so he naturally loves to get out on the water with his wife and two kids whenever possible. Include frequently asked questions of past parents in your marketing materials. This was a timely way to engage the parents but also grow the station and sponsor audience list with an email opt-in and a Facebook like button on the entry form. Before becoming a camp professional, Glen Greenstone enjoyed many other pursuits. They asked their viewers to submit a photo of how their kids stay healthy and active during the summer for a chance to win two weeks of summer camp. For example, if a number of your campers attend the same church, you might reach out to this church and ask to share pamphlets in their front lobby. For contests that are social media-specific, like photo contests, create a hashtag for participants to use to enter. Its essential to make them feel like their part of the culture and family. Award-winning school marketing for private schools, independent schools, charter schools, and more. However, to really get the most out of this strategy, youll need to invest in a robust camp database software like CircuiTrees. One of the biggest challenges that every owner has is pricing appropriately to bring in plenty of new campers while at the same time having more than enough money to cover operating expenses and make a profit. Make sure you draw people in through creative branding practices that are representative of the experience youre selling! While it isnt necessary to shy away from bad reviews, getting positive feedback builds credibility for your business much faster. Hands down, one of the best marketing ideas for your camp is to be the first camp website people see when they search summer camp in
. It will help you bring more campers to your camp and effectively increase enrollment. The first impression anyone has of your camp is on the line with every piece of branded material you create. You can then use these profiles to identify leads for possible new camp attendees. Take a look at these 5 low to no cost marketing strategies to help your summer camp sell out this year. Create compelling customer experiences for your target audience. Recognizing that your ultimate customer is the camper themselves and their parents, its a good idea to find places that both of those people are going to be at. Have all of your camp forms available for download medical forms, Create a capability to register online. If youre planning an outdoor event, rent a bounce house and giant slide to attract people passing by. Website by Yamaretto, Make a regular effort to collect email addresses. In these profiles, youll record individuals names, biographical information, contact information, health data, and a history of your interactions. Thats just not the way things turn out, though. Try to put the following years, Be sure that all of your main areas (registration, open house dates, etc. Bonus! If you were looking for your type of camp, how would. While a world-class camp location, enjoyable activities, and top-notch counselors are a must if you want your camp to be successful, but those efforts all go to waste if people dont hear about your camp in the first place. You might be wondering: Not only will launching a crowdfunder for camp scholarships help out some lucky kids, but it will also help spread the word about your camp to individuals who may never have heard of your organization before. They asked parents to share a video of their child singing the incredibly popular Baby Shark song for a chance to win one of three summer camp prize packages. If you. As a camp, you should be active on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to interact with these parents. This is great for your team to build rapport while showing how well they work with kids. Parents can then forward the picture to family and friends or print them. Email marketing is a criminally, underused marketing approach by camp owners. This guest post was contributed by our friends at CircuiTree. Few other marketing opportunities bring this opportunity to connect with potential customers. The biggest mistake you can make as a summer camp director is to try to market to everyone. As a result, the YMCA identified 18 people interested in joining and gathered valuable consumer information. Each sponsoring camp received their own one-day sweepstakes and gave away a free week at their camp. These promotions are also great for growing your own list of local parents and families. Referrals are one of the best forms of digital marketing for schools you can get. However, theres nothing quite like a physical newsletter sent out every month or every quarter to get people excited about attending summer camp. On average, each sweepstakes generated over 150 entries and 130 emails opt-ins, which was great for the advertisers. Encourage parents to leave good reviews on your social media and Google pages to increase your camps social status. Make sure that your videos capture all the fun and unique things your camp has to offer. If you have a general idea of your target audience, this marketing approach will be much easier. Chances are the people that see those posts are your primary target audience, other parents. This will help increase your conversion rate because you have a stronger understanding of how to communicate with your audience.
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