Should My Summer Camp Advertise Through The Fall?

As visiting day approaches and camp starts winding down, I get asked one question A LOT by my clients. “Now that summer is over, can I take a break from advertising?” Is it really worth spending money on ads through the the fall? The answer is (obviously) a resounding yes, but I wanted to explain why we think it is so important.

Don’t Lose Momentum

Summer is the most important marketing time of the year. You create daily content for social media, you include videos and high-quality photos, and you have A LOT of attention on your platforms. Then summer ends and many camps take a break and lose all of the great marketing momentum they had. DO NOT lose momentum. Keep advertising, keep posting and keep showcasing what makes your summer camp unique. Even as we head back into school, summer is still very top of mind. If you fall off the face of advertising and social media, you will fall off the radar of your camp parent. Advertising success is all about exposure and frequency. You must keep frequency up to stay relevant with potential customers.

Focus on Re-Enrollment

While many camps see a lot of their re-enrollment in August, it isn’t unusual for strong re-enrollment to continue through September, October, and November. At this point, you should be doing a ton of Facebook custom audiences ads to reach those who have not yet enrolled. We want them to not only be reminded to enroll but to see all of the great photos and videos from the summer. You should be hitting your un-enrolled camp families 2-3 times a week with great content.

Move Tour Takers Down the Funnel

If your camp had families take a tour this summer, it is SO important to start moving them down the marketing funnel in the fall. Especially if your camp has early bird rates that end in December, September & October are prime months for getting these tour families to enroll. Similar to above, you should be hitting these families with ads 2-3 times a week with videos, blog posts and photos from the summer. Don’t miss out on this low-hanging fruit by not marketing to these families.

Maximize Retargeting

Summer Camp shopping starts in the summer! That means that families are on your website during the summer, looking around. Once they hit your website they are officially a member of your website retargeting audiences on Google and Facebook. Maximize the efforts you made during the summer, by showing them display and Facebook ads in the fall. Start encouraging these families to take advantage of your early bird rates and hit your enrollment numbers much earlier.

These are just a few of the reasons to continue advertising during the fall. It is not worth saving a little bit of budget to miss out on huge marketing success and camper enrollments.