by Stephen Branstetter
So you've got a Web site? Perhaps you send out a few e-mails to
announce that you're accepting registrations for summer. Maybe
you even do some advertising. But how could you do this more effectively?
And what are some similar initiatives you could launch to be more effective
with your online marketing efforts? With all the technical lingo surrounding
Internet marketing, it can seem confusing and overwhelming. There are
simple ways camps can execute effective marketing plans through some
of the latest tools and techniques.
Camper Retention
Social networking
sites and online communities such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube demonstrate
some of the simple yet powerful ways the Internet allows people to share
experiences and develop personal relationships with each other. Let's
examine some of the online tools that camps can use to improve camp retention
and enhance relationships with campers and parents.
Blogs
Blogs and online
news postings are excellent ways to keep your camp families informed.
Typically written in an informal and personal style, blogs are like online
journals and serve as an excellent way to display a camp's true
personality. Make sure the author includes his or her name (or camp nickname)
to personalize the message.
E-mail Campaigns
While snail mail has its
place, e-mail marketing is a "greener" and much more affordable
tool that can be used in a variety of ways to retain customers. Use the
following ideas to create an e-mail campaign that coordinates with the
timing, message, and style of your overall marketing plan:
- Newsletters E-mail newsletters (which should also be posted on your camp's
Web site) are great ways to keep the community up-to-date with information
about improvements that have been made, tips for campers, and other
interesting news about your camp and staff.
- E-mail Cycle It's important
to plan out an e-mail campaign that reaches your distribution list at
strategic times during the season. You should send an early e-mail as
soon as registration opens, a follow-up reminder, a "last chance
to sign-up" e-mail, and a post-camp e-mail after the season ends.
- Special
Promotions Advertise your special offers and promotions on the day
they are made available, at the midpoint, and shortly before the promotions
end.
- Birthday E-mails Use your database management system to send
birthday greetings to customers as a way to stay in touch. It's
a simple but effective way to show that you care.
Like blog entries,
keep e-mails short using a friendly and personal style, and make sure
to provide a link back to your Web site for more in-depth information.
If registration is open, include a link to your online registration page.
Additionally, camps should always offer the ability to opt out if customers
are not interested in being on a distribution list for promotional and
news items to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
Online Photo Galleries
Say
it with pictures. Beautiful pictures of camp landscapes aren't
half as interesting to parents as seeing a photo that includes their
child's smiling face. Implement an online photo system to post
new pictures from camp each night (behind a password protected site,
of course, to comply with the Child Protection Act). There is no better
way to help parents relate to their child's experience than by
allowing them to see pictures or video clips from camp on a daily basis.
Other online relationship building tools to consider are message boards,
parent-tochild e-mail tools, and Podcasting.
Camp Seekers
When the world
searches, it uses Google. Parents seeking camps online are no exception.
Google is so synonymous with search that it has become a verb (i.e., "I
Googled it"). The key to reaching prospects on Google is to get
listed on the first page, and there are a number of practices to increase
camp visibility.
Search Engine Optimization
It is important to present
information on your Web site in such a way that search engines can easily
read and index your site. By implementing some basic Search Engine Optimization
(SEO) principles, you can improve your chances of being ranked well for
your most important searches.
Here are some easy SEO techniques you can
implement on your existing site:
- Update site content frequently
with key search terms including the type of camp, various names for
the region, and other camp descriptors that you think would be used
in a typical camp search.
- Make sure important keywords are in your
title tags, H1 tags, and text links (ask your Webmaster).
- Encourage
other sites to link to you, including counselors that may have Facebook
or MySpace accounts.
Additionally, Google recently released a tool
to help developers find problems on their Web sites and help optimize
them. Do a Google search for "Google Content Analysis" to learn
more.
Portals and Directories
Regardless of how well you've implemented
SEO techniques, camp portals and directories will come up higher than most
individual camps in a typical search. But how do you decide whether it's
worth becoming a "Featured" listing on any of them? One of
the best ways to test the value of camp directories is to simply act like
a parent. Try some searches that you think parents would use and see which
directories are ranked most highly. If your camp isn't included in
the directory, contact the site to sign up for a free listing.
If you are
considering advertising on an online camp directory or portal, a good
tip is to reference Alexa.com. Alexa is a ranking site that allows you
to compare traffic statistics from a sample population to see who's getting
the most visits. (It's also fun to compare your site's hits
against those of the camp next door).
Pay Per Click
Online advertising
is a popular and effective way to allow more people to find you. Offered
by each of the major search engines, paid advertisements appear only
when people search for the keywords you sponsor, and you only pay when
someone clicks on your ad.
When implementing a Pay Per Click campaign,
it is important to continually track results and implement conversion
tracking to ensure the campaign is profitable.
User-Friendly Web Site
The prospect's
experience does not end when they find your links listed in a search engine
or click on an ad. Your Web site must easily provide the information the
camp seekers are looking for.
A Web site provides parents with their first
glance into the essence of a camp. The feeling it portrays, along with
the message, the information, and the resources it lists on the site
should provide the same information a parent would receive if they were
to show up in person for a tour. A good exercise is to look at your site
with fresh eyes and put yourself in the shoes of a potential parent.
What's
your first impression of the camp based on the Web site? If you had a question,
would you know who to e-mail or where to get the information? If you were
interested in registering, would you know how?
It should never take more
than one click to answer any of these questions. The best sites have
a clean and simple look, but also find a way to answer each of these
inquiries effectively from the homepage.
Friendly Online Registration
The ability to sign up online quickly and easily is imperative. The last
thing you want is to push away an interested parent because of an intimidating
registration process. If registration is difficult for a parent in year
one, how excited will they be to register again next year? With a simple,
step-by-step online application process, you ensure applicants can sign
up and pay easily. Online accounts for parents also make future registrations
even simpler because their information can be automatically filled in.
In short, you want the registration process to be as easy as possible
for parents while still collecting the data you need.
Target Demographic
While reading an article online about a nonprofit called Karno Kids,
I saw a banner ad for a local half-marathon hosted by the founder of
Karno Kids, Dean Karnaze. After registering for the race, I immediately
received a registration confirmation which also reminded me to invite
a friend. I sent a quick e-mail challenging two co-workers to join me
and before I knew it, five co-workers and spouses had signed up. Word
of mouth testimonials are nothing new to the camp industry, but here
are some ways you can take advantage of this old technique using Internet
tools.
Invite-a-Friend
Include an invite-a-friend feature as part of
online registration and as an option on your Web site. Many camps also
include reminder text in their registration confirmation e-mails. (Example:
Spots are filling up quickly, so remind your friends and requested cabin
mates to sign up today!).
As a final pre-summer push, send a mass e-mail
to registered camp families announcing remaining availability with the
suggestion to invite friends to sign up today.
Share Experiences
YouTube's
massive online traffic has been generated by users e-mailing video links
to friends. Providing ways for campers to share their experiences is an
excellent way to build loyalty and help spread the word. This can be done
by enabling camp families to invite friends and family members to view
your photo site, providing a link to e-mail your newsletter to a friend,
or by encouraging social network bookmarking.
Targeted Ads
This is really
just an extension of Pay Per Click discussed above, but in addition to
leveraging search engines, find sites that share your demographic and
advertise at strategic times. These could include parenting pages of
a local or regional newspaper or sites that can reach specific target
demographics like eteamz.com, CitySearch, or even something like a free
Craigslist listing in the "community" section.
List Generation
Camps can also purchase targeted e-mail lists to reach
desired audiences. You will obviously have a list of campers from previous
years but what about new prospects? In order to continually build your
list, offer visitors to your Web site the ability to sign up for special
offers and newsletters.
The concept behind all of these initiatives is
to utilize new technologies to improve the same tried-and-true camp marketing
efforts that you've always used. Pick and choose the techniques that
would work best for your camp to help fill those final beds or day camp
slots.
Online Marketing Lingo: A Glossary
Originally published in the 2008 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
