Summer camps are the source of countless cherished childhood memories, filled with laughter, adventure, and new friendships. As new AI-powered content management tools emerge, there’s a powerful opportunity for camps to turn their photos into their most valuable marketing asset. Pre-internet and social media, the value of delivering camper photos to families was limited to the enjoyment and appreciation of families to whom they were delivered at the end of camp. However, this has changed dramatically with the emergence of social media and the ability to leverage AI to deliver families their camper’s photos via SMS or push notifications. In this blog, we’ll cover how AI and social media are reshaping the future of summer camp marketing, and the 5 keys to turning your camp’s photos into your #1 marketing asset.
1. Maximize Engagement with AI-powered, Mobile Photo Delivery
Uploading your photos to an AI-powered, mobile-first gallery, will drive more engagement with your content and in turn unlock its marketing potential. Platforms like WaldoCamps, utilize facial recognition and mobile delivery to send your families photos of their camper’s each day. This daily push delivery will drive more social posting.
2. Brand Your Photos
The 2nd most important thing a camp can do is add a brand filter to your camp’s photos taken throughout the summer. Each of your photos, delivered to families in near real-time form a miniature billboard on social media. As your families post your photos on their Facebook and Instagram, your branded photos will create a tremendous amount of earned media. Platforms like WaldoCamps do this automatically before your photos are published and delivered to your families.
3. Fuel Your Social Media with your Most Powerful Images
Tips 1 and 2 will create invaluable impressions across social media with the targeted demographic you seek to engage. This awareness will drive traffic to your site and social media. By leveraging automated tagging and combining it with custom tags applied throughout the summer, you’ll be able to level up your website and social media with authentic moments that tell your camp’s story.
4. Deliver Photos on Holidays & Birthdays
Leveraging the tagging discussed in tip #3, camps that utilize WaldoCamps can quickly and easily identify the best photo, apply it to a birthday card, and mail it right from the Waldo platform. Waldograms are photo cards that feature design overlays for every occasion throughout the year. Sending birthday cards to staff and campers can have a meaningful impact on return rates and referrals which equates to marketing dollars saved.
5. Create Branded Memorabilia
The 5th most impactful tip for turning your photos into your #1 marketing asset is to make it easy for families to turn their camper’s memories into print memorabilia featuring your camp’s brand, WaldoCamps, for example, makes it easy for your families to turn their 5 best camp photos into a camp-branded collage.
Conclusion: Camp Photos Equal Earned Media
The expression a picture is worth a thousand words has never been more true than in today’s digital world. Your camp families have always been your most valuable marketing asset, however, in today’s social media-driven world, their reach is much greater than it was before. And the greatest asset you can provide your families to turn them into an army of unpaid influencers is high-quality photos, delivered conveniently and frequently, throughout the summer. Embrace an AI-powered content management platform like WaldoCamps and you’ll turn your photos into your most valuable marketing asset.
