How to Market Your Summer Camp | Summer Camp Marketing | CampMarketingNews.com

Most people I know aren't too fond of Google's social network, Google Plus. Yet it's growing like a weed and is probably among the top things you can do to market your summer camp in terms of SEO (optimizing your camp's website for Google). Do you use Google plus to market your camp? Take the poll and let us know.


Do You Use Google Plus to Market Your Camp?Yes, we use Google Plus to market our summer campNo, we are not actively using Google Plus as marketing toolWhat's Google Plus?
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I apologize if you've emailed me with a marketing question or comment and I haven't responded. I'm inundated with them and try to get back to as many as I can, as fast as I can, and I am so sorry I haven't gotten to yours. If you have a question or comment, you're always welcome to email me, but if you're inclined to leave a comment on the blog I think I will get back to you faster.

Meantime, just wanted to share something real quickly regarding an email I got from "Mary H." who runs a kids soccer day camp in Philadelphia. Mary asked what I thought was the best way to reach EVERY SINGLE FAMILY in a given area quickly and cost-effectively with her summer camp's marketing message. She only has a VERY limited budget for a one-time shot to get the word out.

What I told her was that she should first do as much FREE promotional stuff as she can. That means lots of community involvement, seminars, PR, blogging, that kind of thing.

But what she was really…

Most summer camps have different enrollment goals. Some camps are just trying to add a couple new kids here or there, while others just want to maintain their status quo, while others need hundreds of new kids every summer just to keep afloat. At Aloha Beach Camp, we set a goal of increasing enrollment by at least 10% each summer. It's not easy to do, but that's what we shoot for.

What are your enrollment goals for this year? We just posted a new poll asking this question on our Summer Camp Marketing Tips group on Facebook. Take the poll and make yourself heard!

The principal way people will access the internet in 2014 is through their mobile devices. Even though most websites can be viewed on mobile, how they look and function are different stories unless such websites are optimized for mobile devices.

How to Optimize Your Summer Camp's Website for Mobile

Mobile users are on the go. They generally don't have time or patience to pinch, scroll, widen or otherwise manipulate their mobile screens to view or use your website. If they get too frustrated, you're likely to lose that potential enrollment.

But even if your website is not currently optimized for mobile, you still have options.

The first is to simply do nothing. Just keep things status quo with your current website while basically ignoring mobile visitors. (I probably don't need to tell you this isn't a great option, but it's technically an option nonetheless so I'm just putting it out there.)

Another thing you could do is upgrade to a full-feature "re…

Video marketing is one of the top marketing strategies summer camps can use to create awareness for their programs and build emotional bonds with customers. In fact summer camp video marketing is one of the best social networking strategies I know.

There's almost nothing you can do wrong when marketing your camp with videos. Let's face it, some of the absolute worst, most unprofessionally made videos EVER often get the most views.

(So that's video marketing tip #1: If you want your videos to look more "homey," "down to earth" or have a more "personal feel," then you don't need to pay some expensive service to create your videos. Make your own videos instead.)

Another point about marketing your camp with videos: Search engines love them almost as much as people love watching and sharing them with their friends. (So here's another summer camp video marketing tip: In addition to posting  your videos on YouTube, share them on Google + to …

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about how to increase camper retention by hosting a "Camper Appreciation Day" at the conclusion of camp. As long as we're on the subject of marketing when camp's not in session, here's another way for you to get noticed in your community while helping others and get some good marketing exposure too: Host a food drive at your camp in the fall.

Encourage camp families to bring canned foods and other non-perishables to your facility for distribution to your community food pantry or soup kitchen. You can reward campers who contribute something to the food drive with a free t-shirt, hat, water bottle, or something else from your camp store that won't cost you too much money but has high perceived value to campers. To really max-out your marketing exposure, hold your food drive between Halloween and Thanksgiving and tell the local media who might pick up the story and get your camp in the news.

As we approach the high point of camp marketing season, I’d typically share summer camp marketing ideas here about how to get more kids into camp. Of course I’ll continue doing that leading up to summer. But as long as it’s on my mind, I wanted to share with you a marketing strategy I’ve been using the past few years at Aloha Beach Camp at the CONCLUSION of the camp season which has really helped boost my camper retention rates.

At the end of each summer, we hold an organized “Camper Appreciation Day” right on the beach (our campsite). We invite all camper families who participated in the summer-just-ended to enjoy a carnival-like atmosphere with games, BBQ’s, camp staff and more.

Not only is it a total blast, it’s also one of the very last things, and happiest memories, campers take away before heading into the school year. When we survey families as to what they enjoyed the most at camp, the Camper Appreciation Day event always tops the list.

There’s no reason you can’t have a Camp…

One of one most frustrating marketing problems every camp director shares is how to turn leads into paying campers.Want to know the quickest way to improve lead conversions off the bat?

Increase your response time when you get a lead.

When prospects want information, they want it now. When a potential customer takes the time out of their busy schedule to reach out to you, THAT VERY MOMENT signifies your best opportunity to convert them into a paying camper.

You must be easy to reach and quick to respond. Here's what I mean.

Last summer I was looking for a camp for my three kids (they go to other camps besides mine). I narrowed down my interest list to three or four different camps and called each of them for info. Not a single one had a live person answering the phone. I had to leave voice messages for all of them -- very frustrating as you can imagine.

Finally, two of the four called me back…2 or 3 days later. Waiting was their downfall.

I guarantee you, if they’d called back so…

Here's s a summer camp marketing idea that will give you get direct access to lots of new camper prospects while costing almost nothing but your time in doing so. It has a nice philanthropic, community service component, too. Here’s what you do.

Sponsor an Ice Cream Social Fundraiser Event

Approach a local ice cream store to propose an affiliation. Tell them you’d like to host an ice cream social at their store, in the form of a fundraiser for local schools, with your camp as the sponsor. In general, you and the store owner/manager will pick a convenient day or night (preferably a weekend so more kids will come) for the fundraiser. Your arrangement will be that 50% (or whatever amount you two decide) of the proceeds will be donated to local schools.

It won’t be too hard to convince the ice cream store to get involved. To sell them on the idea, just tell them it’s a chance to make a bunch of new sales, acquire new customers, and support local schools.

(Then approach the schools to g…

Summer camp marketers have so many marketing tools to choose from, it causes anxiety just wondering if you picked the right ones.

Assuming time and money weren’t issues, you could experiment forever with marketing tools and strategies until you’re blue in the face without thinking twice. But let’s face it, most of us aren’t in that position. Even if we wanted to advertise our camps on prime time TV, we don’t have that luxury. Many additional marketing tactics, for obvious reasons, are out of our reach too.
But it doesn’t matter. You can still create a marketing program that puts you on the fast track to success irrespective of what your resources might be. It comes down to your creativity and ability to out-think your competition, not outspend them.
In a broad sense, you should be using as many free or low-cost marketing weapons as possible while striving to meet customer expectations and staying within your budget.
In a more narrow sense, the primary goals of your marketing plan sho…

Here are the Top 10 Commandments of Summer Camp Marketing. (If I've overlooked any please add your own in the comments section.)


1. Thou Shalt Test EVERYTHING
Testing and measuring ALL your marketing activities can be the difference between failure and success. You should test and measure everything to find out which of your marketing tactics are working and which might be underperforming. The results of your testing may surprise you. You might have the impression a given marketing tool is working great, but in reality it’s bleeding your promotional budget dry and you didn’t even know it. Perhaps your favorite print ad is pulling so well you wouldn’t think of changing it. But what if you’re wrong? What if your marketing test revealed the ad could do even better with just a simple tweak? The key takeaway here is if you’re not testing, you’re just guessing. And once you have the data you’re looking for, you should eliminate the marketing tactics that aren’t paying off and double up o…

Forward-thinking summer camp marketers understand mobile marketing is here to stay, that mobile is disrupting every industry known to man, and they are eager to embrace the full potential of mobile marketing especially as it relates to social media.

Indeed, forward-thinking summer camp marketers realize mobile is the future of social media networking and marketing.

Camp marketers who don't understand, or bury their heads in the sand regarding mobile, are in for a rude shock. Camps that don't employ mobile marketing, and more specifically social mobile marketing, risk becoming obsolete sooner rather than later.

Think I'm wrong? Then just imagine what your camp will be like 5, 10 years down the line. Did you know that a camper's first experience with the internet these days is more likely to be on his/her smartphone or tablet than a traditional computer? Do you really see an environment where mobile devices aren't allowed at your camp? If you do, I assure you a…