10 Things Every Camp Should Do on Facebook

​There are a few simple things that summer camps can do to make the most of marketing themselves on their Facebook Fan Page. 10 Things Every Camp Should Do on Facebook

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  1. Make sure that your landing page includes a Welcome video - preferably from the campers
  2. Include a picture in every post. That will make you stick out on people's newsfeed (their wall)
  3. Allow Fans to sign up for your newsletter directly on your Page
  4. Post and tag alumni photos weekly. You will be surprised at the amount of traffic and new fans this will generate
  5. Use Facebook ads to draw attention to your camp
  6. Schedule your updates (using a program like Hootsuite) so that they come out around 2:30 in the afternoon. That is when the most people are using Facebook
  7. Claim your Place
  8. Ask a question twice a week. A good question about people's camp experience will draw them back to your page (which Facebook likes and therefore helps you show up in searches better)
  9. Add the Reviews Application and ask camp families to review you
  10. Have a tab that allows people to request more information about camp. This will allow you to gather the information of people interested in sending their kids to your camp.

Stay tuned to CampHacker for more information in the coming months about using Facebook for effective summer camp marketing.

5 NEW Tips for Social Media Marketing Your Summer Camp - Part 6

How do I use social media to market my camp?

On January 29th, 2010, Travis presented his 5 NEW Tips for Social Media Marketing Your Summer Camp to a packed room at the Ontario Camps Association conference.   The presentation is full of practical tips for camps who are looking for immediate actions that they can take to improve their online marketing campaigns.

5 Tips

The five tips include (click here to watch the AWESOME! introduction):

  1. Tell visual stories
  2. Love your alumni
  3. Be a better blogger
  4. Remember your "call to action"
  5. Make the most of your Facebook Fan Page

**Please note: some of these posts are password protected but will become open to anyone to read in the next week or so.  If you would like early access to CampHacker.org content then sign up for our newsletter (it's free).

Tip 5 -  Make The Most Of Your Facebook Fan Page (part 6 of the series)

Summer Camps need to understand and use effective social media marketing techniques. This is the 6th and final video in this series. Part 1 - Introduction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87-fJItLXw Part 2 - Tell Visual Stories http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK6hDrLB6LM Part 3 - Love Your Alumni http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB16eOn8ht4 Part 4 - Be A Better Blogger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gShUqd2Je54 Part 5 - Remember Your CTA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYRhuVZXP0 Part 6 - Make the Most of Facebook Travis Allison from Walking Maverick Consulting - 2011 Ontario Camps Association conference.

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If you are interested in ways that 

your camp can improve your social media marketing strategy

 please 

fill in the form (click here)

 for a free 15 minute consultation.  You can also call (519.532.7366) or email Travis (travis@walkingmaverick.com).

Great Story for Summer Camp: Love You Forever

When I was a counsellor at the Celtic Sports and Arts Centre, our directors (a husband and wife team named Lumpy and Hainey) read to the entire camp the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.  It was a GMIC (Great Moment in Camping - hat tip to Jeff Bradshaw for that brilliant idea).

Love You Forever

Since that time I have kept Love You Forever in my Kid Kit for quiet moments at camp.   One thing that I never got quite right was the tune of the song that the mom sings to her son.

Happily, I can now refer back to The Man.

Robert Munsch sings Love You Forever.

Robert Munsch is a beloved Canadian children's author. His books like The Paper Bag Princess, Murmel, Murmel, Murmel and Love You Forever are popular books for parents and children alike. He's speaking to Cheryl Jackson about literacy, encouraging reading at home and his own books.

It's funny... I have very strong associations of Robert Munsch stories and camp.

What stories do you associate with camp?

Giant Jenga

I am just finished my Social Media marketing seminar at the Canadian Camp Directors Course. What a great group - thanks everyone for making me feel so welcome.

I always love coming to Tim Hortons Onondaga Farm. The site is amazing and the staff are wonderful. I was happy to see this Giant Jenga up where the session is. Great memories from a conference here a few years ago.

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I am a CampHacker

Hello, My name is Travis Allison and I am a CampHacker.

Hello, My name is Travis Allison and I am a CampHacker I tried to leave summer camp just like it was in the 70's I sang nothing but Kum ba Yah and ate nothing but pork & beans but I was just never satisfied In my heart I just didn't think it was a good idea to leave a cabin full of boys alone while I went down to the dock with my girlfriend I tried.


I tried to leave summer camp just like it was in the 70's

I sang nothing but Kum ba Yah and ate nothing but pork & beans but I was just never satisfied

In my heart I just didn't think it was a good idea to leave a cabin full of boys alone while I went down to the dock with my girlfriend

I tried. but I just couldn't leave things the way they were

It's not my fault that regulations change every year and I believe camps have to change with them

I AM a camphacker, I think camp SHOULD change and use new technology and take better care of kids

Even as a child, while other kids were building sand castles and playing capture the flag, I was writing creative announcements with costumes and lighting cues and building better cabin designs out of lego

As a teenager I began to _experiment_ with experiential education and new adventure programming games

I would sneak out of the cabin at night to the archery range to test the arrows to find the best brands for hitting bull's eyes

Throughout high school I would do essays on the best way to make s'mores - always put the marshmallow on, THEN the chocolate chips

In math class I would run equations to test my theory about Hand Washing and Health Practices for a "small community situated on a lake"

In University, I found that all of that was really just a gateway to the harder things:

Teaching others to be camphackers, in the dark and the damp with nothing but fire to light our nights

I don't what it is... I always just wanted camp to get better and more kids to know that experience

I often worked until the wee hours of the night and got up at sunrise... just to make things better at camp

I just get such a thrill when I see campers laughing until they cry

That high I get when I know that because of what I taught one more camp is going to be full this summer:

It's magical

I just can't help but search for my next fix, the next hit,

a new camp who wants to get new campers in an inexpensive way

seeing a client who's happy and has loyal campers coming back year after year after year

I'm constantly searching

for that new camp director client and the satisfaction in their face when their whole staff works together as a team and loves to be with each other

It's all I think about

I'm here now to try to change, to try to get clean

I've been clean now for weeks, I haven't jumped in a mud puddle or played a camp game until I got sweaty for...

Who am I kidding?! my pant legs are soaked - that puddle was AWESOME.

The truth is I think night and day about camp. I can't help it.

I appreciate your support

I'm Travis Allison and I am a CampHacker.

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