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The Social Summer Camp March social media newsletter is now live! You can read it here. This month I cover the following topics: Summer marketing plans, Facebook buying WhatsApp and How to increase your Facebook reach. Don't forget to subscribe to continue to see my newsletter. Thanks for reading!...

Facebook Secrets for Summer Camp Marketing

Posted on February 18, 2014

Travis Allison and I just hosted our second ever Facebook Secrets for Summer Camp Marketing webinar! He focused on the social content side, while I discussed social ads. I absolutely love collaborating with Travis because of his deep understanding of the camp industry. If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIHVrgSd8FI&feature=youtu.be...

Holiday 2013 Wrap Up

Posted on February 13, 2014

I wrote a lot about holiday marketing for camps this past year! Now that the holidays are over, Facebook released some information on how consumers shopped using Facebook over the holidays of 2013. Here are some interesting stats I wanted to share with you all: According to Facebook, this was the holiday shopping lifecycle: "Before: Shoppers start with a plan but are open to discovery During: Mobile is perceived as a hero for shoppers and Facebook is a key companion After: Once the presents...

New ideas for camps using Twitter

Posted on February 11, 2014

in Social Strategies, Social Tools

When I spoke at CampMinder Camp a few weeks ago, I was on a panel discussing Twitter. Prior to the panel I brainstormed a few ways that camps can use Twitter and I wanted to share them below. How camps can use twitter: - Promotion (sign up more campers with conversion tracking) - Real-time information sharing (specifically during camp) - Cross promotion with partners and other brands - Connect with mommy bloggers - Reach new target populations (22% of online African American users are Twitter users,...

What are brands doing on Instagram?

Posted on January 30, 2014

in Social Strategies, Social Tools

Instagram is a social media tool rapidly taking the world by storm. According to Instagram there are 150 million active monthly members with an average of 55 million posts per day. With this many users, it is no surprise that brands use this social media tool as a way to reach customers and potential customers. Many current brands are expanding from traditional media outlets and joining Instagram. Brands from Converse to Starbucks to Nike and even the NFL are joining Instagram...

The marketing funnel for summer camps

Posted on January 7, 2014

It's always interesting to me how old marketing techniques come back to life after they have disappeared for a while. Case in point, the marketing funnel! The marketing funnel is constantly talked about in regards to traditional marketing, but was never really talked about in regards to social media marketing, until recently. I think it's one of the most important strategies camps can use when they are marketing to parents. Most camps are decently good at loyalty. Their campers and moms...

Levers to improve Facebook ads

Posted on December 26, 2013

I presented a webinar a few weeks ago with Travis Allison on Facebook secrets for summer camp marketing. I wanted to elaborate a little on some of the things I chatted about there and provide more information for you, my loyal blog readers. One of the most important things I discussed were the five levers you can pull to improve your Facebook ads. Here are the questions I like to ask myself for each lever when I am running my ads. 1....

Following great brands on social media

Posted on December 24, 2013

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love to follow what big brands are doing on social media. Often big brands set the stage for smaller brands (like summer camps!) to take what they have learned and apply them in a smaller fashion. One of my favorite brands to follow on social media is Oreo. In fact I recently read an article that claims that Oreo "owns" social media" because of the amazing job they do on Pinterest, Instagram,...

Decoding your camp’s marketing budget

Posted on December 17, 2013