Are you a campground owner trying to figure out how to promote your business? Perhaps, you took over an established campground and are wanting to rebrand. Check out these top 7 marketing tips for your RV Campground.
1. Have A Relevant Website
When a customer hops on your site and the only thing they see is something from 2016, it might raise a yellow—or even a red—flag. It can create the belief that the campground is either closed or not worried about maintenance. You know you are working hard and have an amazing place, but your website might not communicate that.
Stay Up-To-Date
At least quarterly, you will want to ensure your website is refreshed. This means making sure your important information is correct, you've removed your Christmas in July celebration, you've updated pricing, and are looking forward to the next camping season.
Area Attractions and Events
The reason your campground exists is because there is something in the area that people are attracted to. What is it? A local river, mountains, rock formations, cute town, or other area attractions are the lifeblood of your campground. Be sure to promote those area attractions with testimonial experiences and great photos.
2. Build An Email Database
Emails are cheap to send—a.k.a. free. This is a great way to stay in touch throughout the year and remind people of how much they loved your campground. Here are a few ideas on how to build out your database.
Get Creative in Acquiring Email Addresses
You can easily acquire email addresses from registrations, but a lot of people avoid giving those out. By offering a discount or incentive to give you their email address, you are creating the opportunity for communication in the future. Offer a free stack of firewood, a modest discount, a free round of putt-putt, or a discount at a local creamery. It doesn't matter how you get the email address, just get it.
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Now that you have their email address, do something with it. Don't be obnoxious with it, but find ways to encourage, equip, and empower campers on a regular basis. Sending out a monthly newsletter is the most doable option for busy campground owners. You can send out funny pieces, engaging pictures or stories, and even updates to your facilities.
3. Become Human To A Digital World
It is easy to stay vanilla online and just provide the necessities. But becoming human in a digital world is incredibly important to an overly saturated social world. We need to stand out, make people stop scrolling, like, comment, and even share with their network.
Tell Stories, Share Pictures, Be Engaged
People love stories and pictures tell stories. By offering up engaging pictures of people or pets expressing emotion, you'll create a buzz around your social media posts. By sticking with this on a regular basis, your brand will begin to create a personality that people will grow to love.
Interact With Your Followers
If you can set aside time to respond to followers, you'll be surprised how many people will respond to it. Some of your posts can be questions, surveys, or requesting a response—then you'll have the opportunity to engage with them.
4. Encourage Engagement on Your Social Media Platforms
Another way to get your social media accounts to work for you is to create an online community. We aren't talking about online gaming or video calls, just back-and-forth interaction on your preferred platforms.
Post Regularly
If you regularly post—at least once or twice a week—you'll create an expectation from your followers. It will create opportunities for people to comment, share, or like your posts. This will then create a playbook because you'll quickly realize which types of posts get the reactions you are wanting.
Get Engagement from Campers
Ask campers to tag you in their social media posts. Having campers tag your campground's page in their post will get you more exposure, and it allow you to comment on their posts. Again, this shows the caring nature of a campground owner.
5. Connect Locally & Cross Promote
Be a part of the community where you live. When someone shows up to a small town, they want to know where the best place to eat is, the best coffee, where they can find a nice dog park, or more. Know your town and let your town know you.
Encourage Campers to Get Out There
Encourage campers to leave the campground. I know a lot of campgrounds have transitioned to this resort feel, but a lot of campers have the itch to explore. And if you can help them do that, it is even better.
Publicize Other Businesses
Connect with other businesses in your slow season, ask for flyers, coupons, or other things to help you share about them—and they will typically do that for you. You can do this on social media too. Cross-promotion on social media allows you to get in front of an entirely new audience—and vice versa.
6. Create Relevant Blogs
Blogs are proven to drive online traffic, keep your website relevant, and continue to keep you as an authority in your area of profession. By maintaining a blog, you will grow your business and create an avenue to share things to empower, equip, and encourage your camping community.
Self-Publish
You can create a blog on your own right on your website, and self-publish it on a regular basis. Though blog posts can be time-consuming on the front end, you will find ways to get more efficient and create better content over time.
Outsource It
A lot of companies who commit to posting blogs will outsource this. They hire professional writers to create a blog strategy, optimize for online traffic, and create a voice for your business. If you go this route, be sure to hire someone who is a good listener, wants to tell your story—not theirs—and is willing to stick with you for a while. You need to be able to connect with them as an extension of your business and not just transactional relationships.
The easiest and best thing you can do is to sign-up as a CampersCard campground. CampersCard is the newest RV campground discount program. CampersCard has an audience of over 800,000 RVers and will promote your campground to their community. Your participation is free, and all you need to do is offer a discount for their members. It is an easy step to maximize traffic to your campground.
Harvest Hosts is a unique RV camping membership that offers self-contained RVers unlimited overnight stays at 9,600+ unique locations across North America with no camping fees. Stay at farms, wineries, breweries, museums, golf courses, attractions, and other one-of-a-kind destinations while enjoying memorable travel experiences and the peace of mind that comes with knowing a safe place to stay is always nearby.
