Once the summer ends, and camp directors take a month or so to catch up on sleep and go through emails neglected during the busy summer, it’s time to gear up for NEXT summer!
Every camp has some tried and true recipes for marketing success, but you are either the type of camp who is looking for some new tricks, or you’re a new camp looking to understand where to start with marketing.
I’ve found the following blogs to be INCREDIBLY helpful in my own research supporting Camps on marketing their camp programs effectively. I hope you enjoy them too!
#1 American Camp Association Blog
The American Camp Association, or ACA, is the number one camp association in the U.S. They have a TON of amazing resources on their website.
Some of my favorites include:
Diversity and Inclusion in the Camp Setting
Celebrate the Sun and Moon with Campers
Mental, Emotional, and Social Health Situations at Camp
#2 Greg Hunter Blog
Greg’s blog is “thoughts on life, leadership and Christian camping”. Event if you aren’t a religious based camp, his blog is still full of great insight and some great ideas for any camp.
Greg is also the Founder and CEO of CCCA (Christian Camp and Conference Association).
Some of my favorites by Greg include:
Work/Life Balance: What is it, really?
The Power of Camp: Friendship
The Impact of a Camp Counselor
#3 Ultimate Camp Resource
The Ultimate Camp Resource is just that: a resource with a ton of resources on camp activities, camp staff help, staff training and more.
They have an excellent marketing plan post that is a must read!
#4 Camp Hacker
With Camp Hacker you get not only a great blog, but great podcasts as well. All posts are focused on camp marketing and professional development for camp professionals.
You can sign up for a free, bi-weekly summer camp newsletter full of great info on their website.
#5 Summer Camp Coach
Tyler’s blog and website is a treasure trove of great information for camp directors on camp marketing and and growing your camp community. He not only has a great blog, but podcasts as well.
His email marketing post is super helpful!
#6 Dan Loves Camp
Dan is the Director of Camping Services at the Frost Valley YMCA.
His blog is all about summer camp and youth development. He also writes for the great blog, Unplug at camp that feature posts great for summer camp professionals and parents alike.
Some of his posts I love include:
How Summer Camp Builds Character
Summer Camp and Comedy
Hiring Summer Camp Staff
#7 Summer Camp Programming
Curt Jackson has been working at summer camps for over 20 years and has a lot to say! His website is full of great camp program ideas, camp traditions, camp marketing, and staff support.
He also has a podcast with CampNerd.com called “Rec Heads and Camp Nerds” which is a great resource for camppros.
#8 Social Summer Camp
Social Summer Camp is a great resource for any camp looking to up their social media game. They have tools and resources for building, managing and monetizing social media campaigns for your camp.
Some posts I’ve found helpful are:
Using Instagram Stories for Marketing
Summer Advertising Ideas
Using Facebook Live for Marketing
#9 Go Camp Pro
The Go Camp Pro blog offers “Marketing Mondays” every month with actionable marketing ideas for camp professionals. You can sign up for Marketing Mondays here.
Their website is full of great resources for all camps including webinars, daily discussions, and more.
If you’re interested in this topic, also check out our brand-new ultimate guide to camp marketing!