Everyone loves to support a local business. For outdoor experiences, it's becoming increasingly important to connect with your local community to let them know your business wants visitors! Here are ways we have seen parks have success growing a local audience and bringing people back to their properties.
Start With What You Have:
Try events that use the space you already have with easy or little to no change like Candy Bingo, Cookout Competitions, or a Movie Night - events like these are great for having fun with your guests. It gives those traveling something to look forward to, and those local a reason to come visit.
Charge for Daily Visitors - It doesn't need to be much! You can always add group discounts as well for a local senior group, youth or non-profit activity. If your property has scenic routes, a daily pass can be perfect for those who need a good place to go running or hiking who live near by, or even take their family on a fun day outing.
Stock your Point of Sale - Stock your point of sale for these events, and with day visitors in mind. When your guests visit, especially families it can be an incredible ease off their shoulders if you have some of the last minute items needed like baby wipes, snacks, or sunscreen.
Grow your Experiences and Offerings:
We have seen parks have success turning unused spaces into RV/Boat Storage, or turning an open space into a vendor market - you can manage your storage and vendor market in an app like Firefly for your site reservations - bringing increased revenue and traffic to your property.
If events are a direction you want to explore, we have also seen parks grow to throw larger parties and community events. Locals love themed events they can plan to put on their calendars and invite their friends. These can be a fun draw, and a great way to include other local businesses to partner with as well such as DJs, food vendors, or corporate event partners who are also looking to market to the local audience.
Local partnerships are a great way to keep visitors coming back. You can look into partnering with your chamber of commerce, or a transportation company to help engage your guests and give them more opportunities to fall in love with the area you are in.
Tracking for Success:
As you make changes to your marketing strategy, we recommend tracking the outcomes! You can do this for your park by reporting on referral sources and coupon usage, and opening up the conversation for feedback in person, and in your automated emails that send after a reservation has completed.
People love experiences, and love to return to experiences they love! Have fun trying these ideas out, and growing your local audience.