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by Steve Cony
Some aspects of camp management are almost automatic. You need food,
you call your food service. You need shirts, you e-mail your outfitter.
You have a question about risk management, you contact your insurance
agent. You need campers, you . . . hmmmm.
Some tasks in camp management are less than automatic, and occasionally
you feel like responding, "Listen, I'm not good at that.
And, besides, I never got into the camp profession to have to do things
like . . ."
That last sentence often ends with the dreaded M word: marketing. When
it comes to marketing, there is bad news and there is good news. The
bad: Everyone has her or his own definition of what marketing means,
but marketing is indeed more complex than "shopping for groceries." The
good news: It is not as mysterious as many think, and it often begins
with simply applying common sense.
Good marketing frequently comes from people who were never formally
trained as promotional professionals; and bad marketing often comes from
the highest-paid corners of Madison Avenue. You can easily see examples
of the latter when you turn away from a Super Bowl commercial and say
"What????" That slice of bad marketing is compounded when you awake the
next morning to remember the strange scenario from the commercial but
have no recall of the sponsor.
Even without the benefit of an MBA, or similar preparation, you can
easily conquer many marketing issues simply by stepping back, squinting
at the problem, and taking the sensible approach. The best place to start
is that all-important first encounter:
Common Sense Rules
of Initial Contact
Operate your Web site
like your camp.
If prospects' first exposure to your camp is your home page, everything
that happens right then and there and as a result of the next series
of clicks should mirror the professionalism of your camp operation. In
short, the navigability of your site represents the organization of your
camp.
Be there for them.
Your Web site should provide all the information that is expected to
be there. I recently visited the Web site of a large nonprofit agency
that operates multiple day camp programs. No matter where I looked, session
dates and fees were nowhere to be found. Somewhat frustrated, I resigned
myself to "Contact Us."
Be there when they "Contact Us."
Continuing the previous incident, I called the agency in quest of those
rates and dates. The operator asked me for the age of my child. When
I said "four," she transferred me to the appropriate person,
but only to encounter voicemail. This was 3 p.m., in the prime of the
workday, in the active camp enrollment month of April. I hung up, and
proceeded to find another camp in the area.
Answer the phone with
a "camp voice."
The greeting a caller receives is often the very first person-to-person
contact with your camp. If there is cheer and exuberance, you are indeed
a camp worth getting to know. After all, you have begun to fulfill the
person's perceptions of camp as a fun place. If, however, the caller
hears a sort of downbeat or perhaps even sullen voice, it will be that
much harder to overcome a negative first impression. Anyone who doesn't
have a real "camp voice" must let the phone ring and wait
for voicemail to do the job. Better yet—because voicemail is always
a disappointment to the caller—train those who tend the phone.
Record your voicemail message with a "camp voice."
You get it by now . . . .
Use your URL as your e-mail address.
Nothing makes you look more like an amateur than continuing to use addresses
such as AOL, Comcast, Hotmail and many more. These are great e-mail services
for interpersonal communications, but you must look like "a player" if
you are to be taken seriously. You must be xxxx@name-of-camp.com
By now you may have realized that no advanced degree in marketing is
necessary to reach these kinds of conclusions. What does form a solid
foundation for good marketing decision-making is simply to take a moment,
figuratively stand back, and think about the marketing issue at hand
with the good sense and logic you possess. Yet how many times is a
first-time caller greeted by a rushed or even gruff or perhaps surly
voice in the camp office? How often does a Web surfer become frustrated
with the navigation on a camp Web site and immediately defect for another
option?
Recognizing the importance of easy navigation, friendly phone contact,
and an e-mail address that makes you and your camp look established are
all conclusions based on common sense, no MBA required.
So for now, on to . . .
Common Sense Rules of Message Creation
Perform a brand identity alignment.
You have never seen the golden arches rendered in green, nor have you
seen the name Coca-Cola® rendered in an Old English font. Yet many camps
choose a font and a visual setting for their name (a logo), then proceed
to type that name in a variety of fonts and styles. You might even call
it "font du jour," relying on whatever happens to be in use
by the word processor when the next bulletin or fact sheet needs a header.
The result is an easily detectable lack of consistency, and this translates
into perceptions of carelessness. (And, to some parents, careless camps
lose campers in the woods.)
Make your accreditation credible.
You worked hard to earn your ACA
accreditation, yet that important symbol communicates very little on
your Web site or brochure unless parents understand its significance.
Until our accreditation is as universally understood as is the Good Housekeeping
seal of approval, you need to explain its importance, in terms of meeting
and exceeding a comprehensive collection of standards. It's a sales-inducing
story; somebody's got to tell it; and that somebody is every single
accredited camp.
Don't deliver everyone else's
message.
If everyone is saying the same thing, and a family is reviewing these
similar or near-identical messages, the end result for your prospects
is confusion. If, however, you choose to deliver the different message—or even
just the uniquely stated version of what everyone else is saying—you
stand a much better chance of careful consideration. Some examples of same-old-same-old:
lifelong memories, counselor-to-camper ratios, number of nurses on site—and
that automatic severing of believability—"the best possible
camp experience anywhere."
Cancel the helicopter and stop panning pine trees.
Aerial photography is wasteful, if you agree with that last rule about
not delivering everyone else's message. From the air, your pine trees,
waterfront, baseball diamonds, and buildings look like those of all other
camps. This message goes for many more photos that are indistinguishable
from many others when brochures are laid edge to edge on a coffee table—and
that's what happens during the decision period.
Don't be cute.
Although parents do like to view photos of cute kids, it is only common
sense that they prefer to see their cute kids. If you use all the photo
"real estate" in your brochure or on your Web site for shots of campers
just mugging at the camera in "say cheese" poses, you bypass
the opportunity to show what really happens at camp. Parents and children
are much more interested in seeing what campers actually do at camp—the
activities.
Tidy up your print materials.
If your envelope is filled with bulletins, calendars, enrollment forms,
health forms, and more that all look like they have been run over and smudged
by a truck, you will create an instant impression of disorganization and
amateurism. Today it is no longer acceptable for anyone – even a
very traditional summer camp—to appear "back-woods," because
consumers understand how easy it is for everyone to look consistent and
professional.
Be perfect.
Camps often go to great lengths to boast that most of the staff are educators
during the school year. Then some of those same camps produce marketing
messages with poor grammar, usage, punctuation, capitalization, and misspelled
words. Common sense says that this is not evidence of the work of educators.
Though camp may be back-to-basics to some, and even "laid back" to
others, the summer lifestyle does not permit typographical chaos. It is
worthwhile to have your materials proofread by professionals once the writing
is complete, and this service is easily and economically available online.
Prove that you're in a kid business.
Camps tell parents that everything done is ultimately for the safety,
fun, and development of the camper. Yet how many marketing campaigns
address the child directly? If a child is part of the decision process,
and we know that children's role in choosing is steadily growing, then
should we not be communicating with them? No, not blatant selling in
their faces, but letting them perceive that we know they are out there.
Even if the child in a family does not pour over our special message
to him or her, the parent sees that we have put our money where our mouth
is about being child-centered.
Common Sense Rules of Message Delivery
Get in their face.
Just like you see most products' TV commercials multiple times, your
message needs to be seen more than once. That means more than a single
isolated advertisement, and it certainly calls for assertive follow-up
after a family makes an initial contact. Once an interested party receives
your brochure and perhaps a video, a next mail piece—perhaps only
one or two colors—should talk about FAQ's and selling points
worthy of repetition.
Capture the data.
Make sure to record complete contact information from every prospect.
Then build a database for future mailings and e-mailings. When people
ultimately turn you down, find out why. You will learn more from these
rejecters than might be gained from talking to loyal supporters.
Keep the site in sight.
Set aside time one day per month to visit your own Web site, confirm
that everything is working, and update any outdated information. Never
use the words 'Under Construction' anywhere on your site; if something
is not ready, remove the button. (You wouldn't print a brochure with
pages 7 and 8 'Under Construction' would you?)
Stay the course.
Too often camp directors press the marketing accelerator when enrollments
slip a bit, but coast along when they are sold out or nearly so. Because
marketing is built on achieving a permanent position in people's
minds, it is a task that must be continuous. You have no control over when
prospects begin thinking about camp, so you must be there at any conceivable
time that their process begins.
The Other 49 Percent
Having presented the case for common sense as 51 percent of marketing
. . . a few words about the other 49 percent:
Common sense is the first step toward sound marketing strategy. However,
strategy is not simply the application of common sense. It is an orderly
process of thinking about your market, your target audience, and your competition.
It is not something that just happens by itself as you publish the annual
details of each camp season. Rather, it is the determination of your "big
story"—what makes your camp experience different and better,
for the camper and for the family.
Remember that rule cited above, the one about not delivering everyone
else's message? The strategic development of your marketing message
will help you to prevent this all-too-prevalent me-too-ism.
The rest of the remaining 49 percent of the equation leads to the need
for creativity.
Too often camp professionals look at other advertising in the marketplace
and respond, "Too cute. Too hokey. Too commercial. Definitely not
camp-like." However, it becomes more evident every year that camp
is being purchased like many other products and services. In the 21st century,
purchasers expect to be "sold" the things that they will buy.
They want to be marketed to. In our increasingly commercial marketplace,
fewer and fewer products and services retain a special status where consumers
excuse them from competing.
Perhaps there was a time when all camp had to do was publish the annual
rates and dates, and the enrollment floodgates would open. In some communities
and/or for some individual camps, that situation might still exist. For
most, however, you need to assertively vie for attention, interest, desire,
and action on the part of the purchasing family.
The first step is attention. There is no better way to turn someone's
head in your direction than to do something creative. For example, consider
a simple print advertisement. A crisp layout can help your message to
outperform the other same-old-same-old messages on the page.
The headline shares the job of attracting attention with the layout,
then it goes on to create interest. The name of your camp is not a headline,
and should not appear as the most prominent words in the space. Instead,
a short and intriguing sentence functions to draw the reader in. The
name of your camp belongs somewhere at the bottom. The same rule applies
to your Web site home page and the cover of your brochure. Translated
to video, this makes a good case for showing something surprisingly different
in the very first scene.
Once you gain attention and take prospects to the next step of interest,
it is time to create desire. This is where you match the camp experience
you offer with the needs of your target audience. What do you do differently
and better than other camps being considered? More important, is this
perceivable difference something that your market values?
To turn desire into action, offer reasons to act now. Announcement of
rapidly mounting enrollments, early bird discounts, and special incentives
put urgency into the selling process.
Your prospects approach you asking, "Why should I choose YOU?" If
you do not attempt to successfully answer that question, be prepared to
lose to your competitors. While common sense can drive many marketing decisions
successfully, there is no substitute for inspired creativity to attract
the attention you deserve for the camp experience you create every summer.
Originally published in the 2006 September/October
issue of Camping Magazine. |
