Updated – Instagram for Summer Camps

Want to reach your campers with a targeted message on social media? Instagram is the place to be! Over 1 billion people actively use Instagram each month, and 500 million use Instagram stories every day. Here are some quick tips to get active on Instagram.

1. Set up your account – Go to Instagram.com and set up your camp’s account. Find a few camps to start following and see what types of photos are getting good engagement. Post to your other social networking sites to let your community know that you’re on Instagram and they can follow you for updates and fun photos.

2. Start posting – The more pictures you can load into your Instagram at first, the better! Aim for loading at least 10 so your followers get a good sense of what sort of content you’ll be sharing. Start posting pics from around camp to get kids excited about what is going on in the offseason. Try to post one new photo every day.

3. Master the hashtag – Using a hashtag is what separates the Instagram noobs from the experts. Start using some simple ones at first, such as #ilovecamp, #40daystilcamp or #campfriends. You can even challenge your followers to come up with a custom hashtag for your camp, then invite them to use the hashtag when posting their own camp photos. Hashtags make it easier for other users to find your posts and to sort posts into categories.

4. Add to your story –  Over 500 million Instagram users watch stories every day, making it one of the platform’s most popular features. There are tons of ways to keep your stories engaging, fun, and interesting for your campers. You can pose questions, conduct polls, share music, highlight new posts, repost campers’ stories/posts, share links, and create a countdown to opening day. Stories last 24 hours before they expire, so it’s a good idea to post new story content a few times a week.

Source: Our Social Times

5. Create story highlights – Once you have added some great content to your story, you might want to keep it on your profile for longer than 24 hours. To do this, you can create a story highlight. The highlight will appear below your bio, as shown in the example below. Highlights won’t expire, so your followers can watch them anytime. Read more about how to make the most of your highlights here.

Source: Instagram

6. Follow back your followers – Once you have started gaining traction with your camp community, make sure to follow back all of your followers. This is a great way to stay plugged into what your campers are doing during the year.

7. Stay engaged – Using a tool like Instagram drives great engagement between you and the camp community you have built. It is important to stay top of mind to your campers and remind them of the amazing camp community they are a part of. Engagement over time leads to loyalty, which for a camp is the most important place to be.

Comment below if you have any questions on Instagram or examples of great camps using the tool!