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Social Media Roundup for Camps- September

Posted on September 4, 2013
in Social Media Roundup
by Nick Middleton
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Here are some interesting articles on social media and summer camps from this past month! Mashable: A marketer's guide to retargeting on Facebook- This is a great beginners post on how FBX (the Facebook Exchange) works for retargeting. American Camp Association Blog: Famous campers and camp staff share thoughts on character- Did you know Michelle Obama went to summer camp? Me either until I read this blog post! Mashable: Social media project monitors keywords to prevent suicide- This is a very interesting article...

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Why Facebook ads for summer camps?

Posted on September 2, 2013
in Social Strategies
by Nick Middleton
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I've written a lot in the past about how to use Facebook ads and how to track conversions on Facebook using their conversion tracking pixel. Still almost daily I get asked why any camp would want to run Facebook ads, so I decided to write up a few quick notes. Remember that I worked at Facebook for almost three years before starting Social Summer Camp, so I feel pretty confident in the following reasons that Facebook ads really work for...

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Being your authentic self

Posted on August 30, 2013
in Camp Inspiration
by Nick Middleton
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I hear a lot from camp directors how many of their campers feel like they can only be their authentic self at camp. I know from my own camp experience too that there is something special about camp that lets you be closer to who you really are than the persona you have to hold up at school. Camp directors hold so dearly the idea that their campers can be so real at camp, yet I often see those same...

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Marketing your personal brand

Posted on August 28, 2013
in Social Strategies
by Nick Middleton
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Yesterday I wrote about how to cultivate your personal brand as a camp director or assistant director. Today I am going to quickly cover how to promote your personal brand (if you wish!). Like I mentioned in my previous post, having a personal brand in non-negotiable, you have one even if you don't want one. Which is why it always makes sense to think through your goals both short term and long term in regards to your brand. You don't...

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Personal branding for summer camp directors

Posted on August 26, 2013
in Social Strategies
by Nick Middleton
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Each person has their own individual brand that represents how they portray themselves to the world. For a camp director or assistant director, this personal brand can go very far in helping establish their credibility to new and returning parents. Not all directors are going to want to promote their brand (I'll cover marketing your personal brand in my next blog post), but it still is important to actively cultivate your personal brand. The first step for defining your personal...

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Custom Facebook Cover Photo

Posted on August 23, 2013
in Social Tools
by Nick Middleton
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Having a custom Facebook cover photo is extremely important for your summer camp. This is a great place to show your logo, brand, and general photos of the summer camp experience. It is one of the first things visitors to your Facebook page will see, so you want to make a good impression. Presenting a clean, professional-looking banner across the top of your page could make or break a new camper signup. Below, you can see the cover photo I...

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Implementing the Google Conversion Tracking Pixel

Posted on August 21, 2013
in Social Tools
by Nick Middleton
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Tracking actions on your summer camp's website is an extremely important part of tracking ROI (return on investment). A few days ago, I wrote about implementing the Facebook Conversion Tracking Pixel. Today, I created this video to help you learn more about implementing the Google Conversion Tracking Pixel on your website. Watch the video below to learn more about why this is an important tool for your camp's success. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqk1GzdJir4&feature=youtu.be...

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Make your Facebook posts engaging: Content

Posted on August 16, 2013
in Social Tools
by Nick Middleton
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This is the last post in a series of posts around how to make your Facebook posts more engaging. I have already covered imagery and post type, but today I want to focus more on content. I specifically want to cover the following three questions: What should your posts say? What links should you drive to? Which videos/photos should you promote? It can be tempting to post anything and everything to your summer camp's Facebook page. But you should definitely be selective and only...

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Make your Facebook posts engaging: Post type

Posted on August 14, 2013
in Social Tools
by Nick Middleton
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The next entry in this series on how to make your Facebook posts more engaging revolves around post type. According to SocialBakers, who looked at over 5,000 Facebook posts in the past year, the most engaging posts on Facebook include photos. However, depending on the kind of content you create, other types of posts can be equally engaging for your summer camp: Photo: As mentioned above, this is the most engaging type of post. Camps have amazing imagery and photo collections, so use...

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