1. Instagram
With over 400 million active users, Instagram is a great way to connect with potential clients and past clients. People love to see look at pretty photos and videos, which is why Instagram dominates social media platforms. Posting visually stunning photos of sunsets, fun videos of activities, or just a great image of cooking s’mores by a fire, will get a ton of likes.
Just posting an image will not get it in front of the RIGHT people. Therefore, you need to add hashtags such as #ourcamplife or #wanderlust. This will help it to reach those who love to camp and just might want to camp at your park.
Additionally, you can look up people who have visited your campground and posted to Instagram. Just perform a search for your campground name or address in the search bar. Instagram will then show you everyone who has posted within that vicinity. You can then go in and thank patrons for visiting and invite them to return.
Don’t forget to add a link where people can make online reservations within your Instagram bio. Then, at the end of every post, type “link in bio” so they know where to go to book.
2. Facebook Business Page
Even if you have not created a Business page on Facebook, your park has one. How? Facebook allows users to check into an address or a business even if the business has not set one up. The business can then go in and claim their page.
Facebook’s algorithms change frequently so we will address how to get your posts seen after this. So if not to post, then why use Facebook at all? To engage with customers and answer people messaging your business. Because people interact on Facebook so much, when people google search your business, your page might pop up. They then can go to that page to ask questions, read more about you and check out reviews. You need to be able to engage back.
Remember, even if you never set up a Facebook page for your campground or RV Park, FB already has. You need to take control of it!
3. Facebook Ads
You read about how Facebook doesn’t really show your page’s posts to a lot of people. Yeah, they can be real jerks to businesses. This is so people’s feeds are not just of business posts, but their friends. So, how do you get in front of people? Run ads.
I am not talking about spending a crazy amount of money. Maybe $10 a week. You can target people based off age, location (suggest starting in the same state or within 3 hours travel of your business) and likes (like camping, RVing, etc). Check out the post below for an example.
If you then run an ad to people within 3 hours driving distance and who love camping or RVing over 30, you will get clicks with the goal being pushing more reservations.
4. Conversion Tracking
So, how will you know if ad money is worth it? Place a little code on the page people reach after people book a site or contact you. Facebook walks you through it. You then can see how much it cost per conversion or people booking spots, to see if ads are worth it. If done right, they always will be! If this is too complicated for you, reach out to our go-to marketing partner, Beknown. Based out of Austin, they know all that tech mumbo-jumbo.
5. HootSuite
One way to make FB posting easier is to use Hootesuite. You can schedule posts out for the whole year if you want for all platforms with just a couple of clicks. Best part, it is free!
7. Review Sites
Just like Facebook, even if you have not set up a business page on sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp, you still have one. The bad part is that people are reviewing and are going without engagement back. The best way to get repeat customers is through providing the best experience possible and this includes after they leave.
Also, you HAVE to be listed on Google. 65% use Chrome (Google's search engine) or google maps to look up more info on businesses. If your business is not listed, you do not show up. Request a listing here.
8. Email Marketing
Chances are you are collecting emails for those who have stayed in your park if not, you should be. Why? So you can send them emails to remind them why your park is so great and to come back! Email services like MailChimp are perfect and are free for up to 2000 email addresses. They come with easy to change templates and look professional. Offer a coupon for their next visit or pictures of cool new park features.
9. Website
On every site, your website is listed. People WILL go there. So if you are spending money and time marketing, you need to make sure you are sending people to a professional site.
SEO or search engine optimization helps out a lot when people search for parks in your area. With SEO, your site might not ever show up organically. Check out this article to learn more about how Google works.
Also, most people are used to instant gratification. Therefore, you need to accept online reservations. Over 40% of people in 2016 booked their stay 1-5 days in advance and 24% booked stays the day of. Most people who are looking to book the day of don’t have time to call around. They are looking for convenience. So why not let your campground or RV park can give that to them while making money? Luckily, sites like Bonfire makes it easy.
10. Yourself
Without a great campground, you will have nothing great to market. If you oversell your space, people will feel disappointed or fooled and leave bad reviews which are hard to bounce back from. What features of parks would convince you to visit? Perhaps start there.
We hope these marketing tips help your RV Park or campground have the most successful year yet! If you need help, reach out to our go-to marketers at Beknown Austin. They have not only created park maps and built websites, but have also managed Facebook campaigns and claimed countless park pages.
