Marketing Your RV Park / Campground Online: Modern Marketing for Outdoor Hospitality, #1

By Evanne Schmarder

You know you should be marketing your RV park and/or campground online but, with so many moving parts, it can be overwhelming. This latest book by the outdoor hospitality industry's marketing consultant and mentor, Evanne Schmarder, will show you the way. 

From strategies and tactics including calculating customer lifetime value and marketing ROI to identifying ideal customers to recognizing timely marketing opportunities, Evanne tells all. How do you want your guests to think of your business? What does your operation say about your brand? When should you measure your program's results and what should you be benchmarking? There's nothing nebulous about the information you'll find inside.

This valuable modern marketing handbook is a boon to novices and experienced marketers alike. Begin at the beginning if that serves you. Pick and choose individual chapters if you have a specific need. Bookmark, highlight, and make notes as necessary. Return to the content where you most need a refresher and reinforce your knowledge on digital marketing topics that you've already aced.

Modern marketing is a series of well-thought-out steps. Understanding your product and your customer, developing and executing a detailed plan, and creating a program that measures your progress is vital to a thriving bottom line. Marketing Your RV Park / Campground Online is the perfect companion to your business' success.

Volume One in the Modern Marketing for Outdoor Hospitality Series

Marketing Your RV Park / Campground Online

Laying the Groundwork: Strategies and Tactics

Updated for 2019

• Language: English
• Publisher: SchmarderU
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781536593662

Book preview

SECTION 1: BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING

Chapter 1

TEST YOUR MODERN MARKETING MASTERY

Looking back over the past two decades we see that the mechanics of how we attract business and create long-term customer relationships have changed. The meat of the marketing matter, however, remains the same.

IN 1997, THE FIRST recognized social media site, Six Degrees, was created. Over two decades later, rather than a novelty, social media – and more broadly, digital marketing – has become a major element of marketing programs and budgets across the U.S. and beyond. The days of relying on direct mail and local TV ads have morphed into an always-online world where your reach can span the globe with a press of a button. Facebook, email, video, and blogging among others are important tools to reach your customers, prospects, and business goals. Audiences have become more sophisticated and segmented while the allure of an outdoor getaway via tents, RVs or cabins has skyrocketed. The trick is in finding the right customer/product/marketing fit. That’s where smart modern marketing comes into play.

The more you know, the more successful your marketing program becomes. Whether you’re new to the game or an old hand, take this quick quiz to discover what kind of marketer you are.

1. My target market is...

a. very clear to me...it’s (boomers, families, snowbirds, etc.)

b. I’m working on it but it’s still a bit of a mystery

c. duh, campers!!

2. When I think marketing I think...

a. is my written marketing plan meeting its intended goals?

b. I just placed an ad somewhere, hope it works

c. honey, where’s the grocery shopping list?

3. Using the same avatar (image) and bio/description on all of my social media accounts is...

a. critical to branding my business

b. something I’ve considered doing

c. really, really boring

4. My content strategy plan...

a. clarifies my message and streamlines my program

b. seems like a good idea but I haven’t found the time to create one

c. is all in my head

5. I know customers/prospects want to hear from me because...

a. they gave me permission to email them

b. a list broker told me so

c. well, who wouldn’t?

6. My park does not use video yet because...

a. what are you kidding...of course we market with video

b. I’m still looking for the right videographer

c. I’m not a technical kind of person

7. When I hear about a new social media network I immediately...

a. add it to my watch list

b. add it, grudgingly, to my daily social media to-do list

c. try to ignore it and hope it goes away

8. I’m interested in developing a Messenger chatbot program because...

a. this automated tool performs for my business and is increasing in demand by my guests

b. lots of marketing gurus are talking it up

c. NOT...this isn’t a space station, it’s a campground

9. I know my digital marketing program is successful because...

a. I measure it against my written goals on a regular basis

b. once in a while a post will get good engagement

c. I feel it in my bones

If you scored mostly A’s you are a Modern Marketing Master – keep making modern marketing magic

If you scored mostly B’s bravo for the effort – your Marketing Mastery is burgeoning

If you scored mostly C’s you are a Marketing Novice – time to kick it up a notch 

Modern Marketing Mastery Details

So what is it that Modern Marketing Masters know that makes them the cream of the digital marketing crop? Here’s the rundown on the A-list as it corresponds to the above quiz questions:

1. It is critical to target your market in order to funnel your marketing dollars to the proper audience. Marketing without knowing your target is like trying to hit a bulls-eye blindfolded. Have you ever heard the saying, even a broken clock is right twice a day?

2. Having a written marketing plan helps you design marketing methods that will meet your needs, structures and defines your marketing spend, and allows you to track the effectiveness of your program.

3. Using a consistent avatar and about us type of description across all channels creates an easily recognizable brand and helps keep your park top-of-mind across the vast online landscape.

4. By stepping away from the operation to map out an in-depth content strategy you leave no guesswork to determining what your message is, when it should be delivered, and the parties responsible for creating, posting, and measuring success.

5. In most cases, the only people that will open, read, and respond to your email marketing campaigns are those that are interested in what you have to say. These are qualified customers and leads, not names on an ambiguous list sold to you by an email broker.

6. Videos are today’s TV. They have the power to put viewers in the picture, answer common questions, and help park owners/operators connect with others in a valuable way. Modern Marketing Masters use several avenues to create video including staff members and campers shooting short clips on their smartphones. They understand that each platform encourages platform-specific uploading and rewards that effort with higher visibility.

7. Smart modern marketers keep a close eye on changing trends and are open to new platforms and ideas. Yet they make it a point to capitalize on their top performing platforms, growing their audience and driving business back to their websites.

8. Like website adoption before it, chatbot acceptance and usage is skyrocketing. These useful human-esque conversationalists perform a plethora of customer-facing tasks include answering questions, helping onboard new subscribers, and offering a valuable back and forth between your business and your customers.

9. Everyone knows you need a map to arrive at a new destination. It’s the same with digital marketing. Setting written goals, establishing a measurement system, tracking results, and making changes over time is the only way you can concretely measure the success of your efforts.

The Heart of the Modern Marketing Matter

Looking back over the past two decades we see that the mechanics of how we attract business and create long-term customer relationships have changed. The meat of the marketing matter, however, remains the same. Knowing your audience, putting together a plan to reach them, remaining consistent in your methods and messaging, and making adjustments as you follow the performance of your efforts is what successful businesses have done for centuries.

If you are an A-list Modern Marketing Master take the time to share your knowledge and perspective with others in the industry. Write articles for your state association newsletter, participate in roundtables at the national confab, and make yourself available to others that need a little coaching.

By continuous, forward-thinking innovation you can play a part in renewing the interest in the great outdoors, creating a life-long love of camping/RVing, and benefiting your business’ bottom line. Master that!!

Chapter 2

5 SOCIAL MEDIA MYTHS

It’s easy to fall prey to marketing misinformation. There are very few shortcuts. The old adage applies: if it seems too good to be true it probably is. Act accordingly.

WERE YOU ONE OF THE businesses that thought the Internet concept was overblown? Did you scoff at the notion of electronic mail? Today these are indispensable business tools. Face it, so is social media marketing.

While seasoned digital marketers know better, several small business owners are just beginning to develop an online presence and may be pondering these five social media myths that simply refuse to go the way of the dinosaur. Let’s clear a few things up, shall we? 

Myth 1: Social media marketing is free.

Yes and no. It’s true that you can sign up and create a profile on popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube for free. However, a monetary value must be placed on the time spent to develop the platform and the creation and implementation of an online social media strategy.

A strong plan will include assigning responsibility, creating content, exploring productivity tools, monitoring your outreach, building relationships, putting in place and measuring key performance indicators, etc. Social media marketing is must be nurtured, grown, picked, and pruned; shaped and reshaped to deliver the highest yield possible. That takes time, and time is money.

Myth 2: I’ll get a neighborhood teenager to handle my social networking, they know the ‘net.

Sure, it might be a good idea to recruit a youngster to show you the ropes: how to develop a profile, some tips and tricks on how to get the most from the many applications available, and how to search for an audience but after that it is your responsibility to shape your brand and your message. After all, you’re running a business, not a high school dance.

Your social media communications plan must be as carefully crafted as any of your other marketing efforts. Not only should you not cede responsibility of your social media messaging to some young