In today’s business landscape, customers can access information faster than ever to quickly assess their options when booking. As a result, it has never been more essential for property managers to modernize their campgrounds to give guests an excellent customer experience.
While others may try and tell you how to run a campground, we’re here to steer you away from mistakes and toward your ideal campground management processes. To help you, we’ve put together a list of the most common mistakes to avoid and how the right reservation software can help elevate your guest experience.
One of the most common mistakes campground owners make is not updating their website with relevant information, offerings, schedules, availability, etc. Did you know that 76% of consumers look at online presence before physically visiting a business? And 94% of that traffic forms an opinion of your brand within 50 milliseconds of visiting your website. With an inactive or outdated website, you could be missing out on a lot of traffic and conversions.
An SEO-optimized website can convert traffic from an active website into more reservations to maximize occupancy at your campground. If you want to attract campers from your local community, implementing local SEO can help you stand out in search results and give you an advantage over the local competition.
When running a campground, guests expect a modernized experience, especially with their reservations. They now look for ways to easily manage their reservations, payment methods, and cancellations directly from your website.
Campers also expect the ability to check in and check out with their mobile devices. With the right campground software, you can provide campers the option to book a reservation with the click of a button on their smartphones, streamlining the reservation process between your campsite and your guests. You may also earn or save more money with direct bookings compared to reservations made through an online travel agency (OTA).
A common mistake campground owners sometimes make is not marketing their campsite in the most effective ways.
Email marketing is still one of the best marketing methods for driving traffic and generating positive ROI. In fact, email marketing returns $36 for every $1 spent toward it.
When running a campground, a good practice is sending personalized emails to new and loyal campers often. Emails customized to each customer show you’ve taken the time to appeal to what they want.
You can use email marketing even after they’ve stayed at your campsite. By sending out review requests, offers, or points — if your campground management software uses a loyalty program.
Communication between you and your campers is crucial to providing a memorable experience for them.
A guest portal through your campground software can streamline communication with your visitors by allowing them to manage their reservations, payments, contact information, check in, and check out at your campground.
Additionally, your reservation software may allow you to use chatbots or SMS messaging to answer any questions your guests may have. It can also save camp management resources and free up staff to focus on other tasks.
Historical data is vital when making important management decisions. It can provide insight into past and future details for camp management, like:
If your campground software has automated dynamic pricing, it can help identify untapped revenue opportunities and adjust rates for you. This can be especially useful during the holiday season since occupancy and prices will fluctuate.
The right reservation software can transform your campground into a wanted destination and can help streamline management through automated tools.
RMS can help you avoid the mistakes mentioned above, drive more traffic to your website, increase your occupancy rate, make you stand out from the local competition, and give visitors a great experience at your campsite.
To learn more, download our ebook today to find out how our reservation management software can help you achieve operational excellence while running a campground.