Over the past decade there’s been a noticeable increase in the amount of organised activities for children, such as sports camps, football or rugby schools, or arts, crafts and drama camps; especially during the school holidays.
There’s a variety of reasons for this:
- Lower number of stay-at-home parents
- Increased requirement for childcare provision
- The continued high-profile of the ‘big’ sporting brands
- The requirement for organisations such as schools, councils, local teams or qualified coaches to increase revenue streams
- The ‘competitive’ parents determined to see their daughter or son become the next Serena Williams, Lionel Messi or Kate Winslet.
Of course, there’s a lot of societal positives here. It offers young people opportunities to exercise, focus their minds, indulge their passions and keep boredom from the door. Certainly, it presents a better view of the world than the image of bedroom dwelling teens spending all their time on the X-Box.
Photo by Liam Macleod on Unsplash
It does mean, however, that competition for places grows ever fiercer. Faced with a broad choice of camps, classes and activities, it’s easy to get lost in the internet crowd. Like any other business, in any other industry, you need a way to attract, to appeal and to get parents selecting your camps to put their money, their trust and their children.
Let your customers know the quality of your products
Seems obvious really doesn’t it?
A quality product – in this case, a first-class, highly enjoyable and rewarding experience for the kids partaking – is a sure-fire way to attract future bookings.
However, if you’ve taken the time to develop a brilliant camp, then you need to make sure people know about it.
- Use quality images and content on your web landing page that reflects the quality of the camp
- Provide clear information about the activities
- Use a welcoming tone of voice in your content
- Use testimonials and endorsements from satisfied customers
- Share these on social media
Positive experiences promoted online at thinkBooker customer, Stubbers Adventure Centre in Essex.
Create a community on social media
Part of the attraction for kids and parents alike, when it comes to involvement in sports or activity camps is that sense of being a part of something – a small community of like-minded people.
This is something that successful sports camps generate through effective use of social media.
The sports clubs that spreads the word by sharing what fun they’ve had that day, or who scored that ‘worldie’ in the five-a-side match, will often find themselves further endorsed when the joyous parents like, share and comment; all too eager to show how much fun (and unbridled talent) their son or daughter is having.
Make it fun, share the joy and let your customers become your advocates on across the social platforms.
Make it easy to make a booking
A slow, time-consuming or generally complicated booking process is a good way to get people looking elsewhere for their child’s holiday entertainment and activity.
You might have amazing coaches, great facilities and plenty of options. But if you have a clunky booking process, with parents having to wait for replies or confirmations, submit reams of paperwork and jump through all manner of hoops to get their child registered and paid for, then the risk is high they’ll give up and find something else to do, with someone else.
A smooth, easy to navigate and speedy way to make a booking, not only encourages people to book there and then, it also reinforces the positive, welcoming and user-friendly image that you have fostered at the events themselves.
Which means that customers will be more inclined to come back, re-book and become advocates of your organisation – telling all of the other parents in the school yard about the great experience that you offer.
At thinkBooker, we specialise in online booking systems for training courses, classes, activities and events – optimised for efficiency, growth and ongoing client satisfaction.
Browse the site to learn more about course booking systems, sports booking systems, event booking systems and more, or get in touch directly to find out how we can help you.
