What are the Best Ways to Market a Camping Site Online?
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What’s the best way to go about marketing my campground? If you own a small campsite that struggles to compete with large campground chains, chances are you’ve asked this question at least once. Indeed, having the right approach to promoting your services and facilities is vital. It can do a lot to help you adapt your strategies and meet the needs of modern campers and your target audience.
Whether it’s about having a direct booking website or using the power of referral programs, multiple ways to campground marketing can help you make your business stand out.
Top 10 Ways to Market Campgrounds
To secure your success as an owner of a campsite, it is necessary to apply proper campground advertising strategies. These may include various approaches to advertising family-friendly amenities of your campsite, maintaining loyalty with your first-timers and regulars, and creating an overall appealing impression for your potential guests. Thanks to the varied ways of marketing for campgrounds and their accommodation services, you can easily create a unique marketing campaign based on the solutions and methods mentioned below, such as:
- Engaging with local campers and tourism websites;
- Establishing & optimizing a direct booking website;
- Investing in partnerships and brand identity;
- Upselling extra services;
- Applying social media strategies.
1. Think Local
If you’re just starting campground marketing, we recommend researching local promotion opportunities first. By engaging with the local community of travelers and camping or glamping fans, you can easily attract new visitors to your campsite. For example, you can attend local travel events, fairs, and tourism expos. They help build relationships with potential visitors and meet travel influencers who may be interested in telling their fans and subscribers about your campground and what it provides. Additionally, you can try partnering with local tourism websites to ensure that your campground gets featured in regional travel guides, reviews, and related publications. As a result, you’ll be able to enrich your clientele with guests who prefer to explore destinations close to home.
2. Monitor Review Sites
The next technique of campsite marketing is closely connected with reviews of your guests. They play a crucial role in creating a positive reputation for your campground. We recommend regularly monitoring and addressing negative reviews and responding promptly to feedback from your guests. This will not only improve your level of service but will also help you better understand your clients. Some of the platforms recommended for gathering reviews are
- Google Reviews;
- TripAdvisor;
- Campendium;
- KOA;
- The Dyrt.
Engaging with reviews shows potential guests that you care about their experience and are committed to continuous improvement. Also, don’t forget to interact with guests and encourage them to leave positive feedback, as this helps boost your campsite’s credibility and reputation. If you have an established website for your campground, it is highly recommended to share reviews using it or even create a separate page for this purpose.
3. Create a Direct Booking Website
Websites can be useful in more than just one way when it comes to campground marketing. For example, you can use it to get bookings directly without any third-party camping websites that require various commissions. However, to attract new guests, your site should include essential information like rates, amenities, campground map, and high-quality photos. Another must-have feature for your website is a built-in booking system. Luckily, it is available in various WordPress themes that you can use for an affordable price. One such theme we recommend to use is Campterra.
Campterra camping WordPress theme is a flexible solution designed for effective presentation of your RV park accommodations. With a built-in reservation system and modern responsive design, this solution provides everything you need to promote your camping online. From ready-made pages for campsites and activities to sections for testimonials and an easy-to-use accommodation search form, the theme can assist you with building your online presence for campgrounds without any extra investments in costly booking management software. Besides, the theme comes with these extra features:
- Impressive homepage slider
- Full customization support with Elementor
- Works well with online payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Braintree)
- Multicurrency support;
- Integrated blog functionality.
| Name | Developer | Price | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campterra | MotoPress | From $89/year | 1k+ |
Additionally, multiple campground booking platforms allow for easy integration with your website. To make your booking website even more attractive and useful to your customers, feel free to add blogging functionality and add FAQ pages. All this can make your website not just a place for RV resort marketing, but also a resource for sharing tips and tricks for campsite fans and regular travelers.
4. Use Social Media
No hospitality business can do marketing properly without involving social media in the process. That’s why using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok is often mentioned alongside campground advertising ideas. Posting quality images, videos, and content with testimonials helps you promote and showcase the unique experiences of the campground to potential guests. Besides, social media allows a lot more than just marketing for campgrounds and services. For example, you can
- Advertise events;
- Conduct polls and giveaways;
- Inform your followers about discounts.
- Set up Q&A sessions and live streams.
Through such an approach, you can build a community and have direct interaction with soon-to-be campers. By combining this campground marketing technique with other methods, you’ll be able to maximize the result of your promotional campaign and increase the efficiency of your campground services.
5. Submit Property to Google Maps
Another useful step to take towards campground advertising is to connect with Google Maps. By adding your campsite to this map platform, you can ensure that travelers easily find and navigate to your location when looking for a new place to stay in their RVs. This also improves online search visibility, especially for those using Google Maps actively and looking for nearby camping spots. By having a well-optimized listing with accurate contact details, operating hours, and photos, you’ll be able to boost your business’s credibility. Additionally, there are other benefits to including your campground on local Google Maps:
- Improved search rankings;
- Boosted trust;
- Direct access to contact information (for customers);
- Better engagement with potential guests.
6. Build a Stronger Brand
Creating a strong brand for your campsite is an integral part of campground marketing as well. Just like establishing a website or showcasing upcoming events and activities, it can help your hospitality business to get noticed. Note that consistency reinforces branding identity. That’s why it’s necessary to use similar logos, color schemes, slogans and other brand elements throughout not only your website but also on social media and when designing your RV park’s decorations. Besides, crafting a compelling brand story that includes interesting facts about your campsite, as well as special features and values can help you connect with your potential guests. Other ways of enhancing your brand include:
- Signature experiences with tailored activities for campers;
- Usage of customer reviews and testimonials;
- Offering merchandise with the campsite logo and colors;
- Hosting regular events.
7. Partner with RV Dealerships
Another way of marketing your campsite is by partnering with RV providers. It can be a great strategy for both businesses. For example, buyers of recreational vehicles for camping often look for great camping spots. This makes them a perfect target audience for your campground. By offering exclusive discounts through local RV dealerships, you can easily attract new guests to help them test out their vehicles. Moreover, by featuring dealership promotions on your website or social media pages, you’ll be able to strengthen and improve the partnership. This will also encourage long-term cooperation with dealerships.
8. Introduce Referral Programs
Word-of-mouth marketing has always been a highly effective way to advertise services of any kind. This is also true for advertising campsite facilities and related services. The best way to make it work for you is to introduce a referral program. It encourages past visitors to spread the word by offering discounts or perks for successful referrals. This way you’ll not only get more guests but also ensure your current guests turn into regulars. As a part of your RV park advertising campaign, the referral program bonuses can include:
- A free night’s stay;
- Discounts;
- Exclusive access to amenities;
- Tiered rewards system;
- Priority bookings etc.
9. Upsell Extra Services
One more step to successful campground marketing lies in offering additional services that enhance the guest experience and increase your profits. From firewood bundles and guided nature tours to equipment rentals, there are a lot of options for upselling services. Guests who need extra convenience while staying at the RV park are often willing to pay extra for these services. No wonder that promoting such services during the booking process or upon arrival can increase your average revenue. Besides, it will provide campers with a more enjoyable stay. Here are some examples of services you can upsell:
- Accommodation upgrades: Premium campsites and full-service RV sites.
- Recreation packages: Water activities, guided tours, bike rentals.
- Themed experiences: Special decorations & activities, kid-friendly games, or romantic bonfire setups.
- Food & beverage: Meal kits, on-site dining, grocery delivery.
10. Run Online Ads
This list wouldn’t be complete without one of the well-functioning campground advertising ideas – online ads. Investing in them can boost campground bookings to a great degree. With platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads, you can target specific demographics, such as families or outdoor enthusiasts. Besides, paid ads ensure that your campground appears in front of the right audience at the right time. This is especially useful during peak travel seasons. We recommend testing different ad designs, keywords, and promotions to optimize your campaign for a certain target audience to make sure you get a cost-effective marketing strategy.
Top SEO Tips that Work for Campgrounds
Aside from applying effective campground marketing ideas, you should not forget about search engine optimization. If you already have your campground website established online, you’ll need to promote it, and SEO can help with it. Thanks to its various methods, you can achieve higher rankings in organic search results without having to pay extra for advertising. Here are some useful tips we recommend following if you want your campground booking website to be noticed faster:
- Use relevant keywords: One of the main tips for optimizing your website for search engines is connected with integration of proper keywords to your campsite’s online presence. With a multitude of available keyword research tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Serpstat, finding keywords that fit your site won’t take much time. Try to use the chosen keywords naturally by incorporating them into headings, blog posts, service descriptions etc.
- Improve website speed: Make sure your site performs well and is mobile-friendly. Both of these factors can not only improve your SEO rankings but also make the overall browsing experience more enjoyable for your customers.
- Create high-quality content: Providing quality content is also important as it is a perfect way to increase engagement and build trust through providing informative materials, such as FAQ, blog posts, guides, etc.
- Build backlinks from reputable websites: Another useful campground marketing technique of increasing your campsite’s SEO potential is connected with gathering backlinks for your online presence. Connect and partner with local tourism websites, bloggers, influencers, and RV manufacturers. This will help you promote your campsite and increase your site’s credibility and online reputation.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile: One of the few extra tips that fits almost any modern business, including campgrounds, is connected with optimization of your company profile on Google. To do it, add the correct contact details, fresh campground photos & amenity descriptions, and encourage your guests to leave positive reviews. This will help you to boost your site in local search results and appear on Google Maps for local users.
Best Tips for Off-Season Campsite Activities
While you can get more visitors to your campsite using SEO and marketing techniques during the season, your campsite also needs to stay occupied during off-season periods to remain profitable. This will not only help you generate revenue but also provide new guests and potentially turn them into regulars with a proper approach. Here are some campground ideas and off-season activities we recommend offering to your guests:
- Winter Camping & RV Stays: Those campsite owners in the regions with mild winters can benefit from offering heated cabins, RV hookups, or winter camping areas. Besides, snow-covered landscapes are quite a unique experience for those enjoying cold-weather camping, hiking, or ice fishing.
- Corporate & Group Retreats: Your RV park can also be a great place for corporate clients and groups of travelers. To attract such a target audience, providing meeting spaces, workshops, and recreational activities can attract off-season bookings for corporate team building or educational field trips.
- Discounts & memberships: In addition to above mentioned activities, it is always smart to provide discounts or introduce memberships for locals who want a quiet getaway during the off-season. This way, you’ll be able to earn on long-term stays for snowbirds, digital nomads while keeping your campground occupied.
- Astrophotography events: Many photography enthusiasts use campgrounds with great locations for clearer views for stargazing. That’s why you can organize astrophotography events for such guests or even host stargazing nights with telescopes and hot drinks.
- Workshops: It is also worth mentioning that many travelers prefer taking part in various classes and workshops happening on campsites. For such guests, we recommend hosting outdoor cooking classes, winter survival workshops, or related events. These and other related activities often appeal to adventurers looking to sharpen their outdoor skills or try something new.
Conclusion
With such a wide range of campground marketing ideas and recommendations, we hope you’ll surely find something that fits your business. By using modern marketing methods, any hospitality industry business can boost its potential and create a memorable experience for its guests. This is also true for campgrounds, as applying the abovementioned tips will help you to not only attract new visitors but also retain current guests and remain competitive regarding other hospitality businesses. This is possible thanks to the numerous benefits that marketing for campsites provides, including:
- Higher bookings: If you apply a proper approach to campsite marketing, boosting bookings thanks to targeted promotions and reservation systems won’t be a problem.
- Improved brand reputation: Through addressing local tourism websites and using SEO to your advantage, you’ll get to establish your campground’s brand and provide positive guest experiences to your regulars as part of your RV park marketing strategy.
- Increased visibility: With multiple marketing techniques, your hospitality business will reach a broader audience and increase the business’s online visibility.
- Stronger customer engagement: Finally, we recommend engaging with your customers directly, using social media, email marketing, and personalized communication to increase their interest in your campground brand.
