A family packs up Sunday morning after a weekend at your campground. They bought firewood, spent Saturday at the pool, and told you at checkout that they had a great time.

Then they headed home.

You already know something about this family that you didn’t know before they arrived. You know when they traveled, what site type they chose, and how long they stayed. Over time, those reservations can build a valuable history of the people who have chosen your park.

So what do you do with that information next?

Your guest database can help you stay in touch with past visitors and reach smaller groups with messages that fit the way they travel. 

Give Past Guests an Invitation to Come Back 

Getting someone to visit your campground for the first time takes work. Guests have to discover your park, decide if it fits their trip, and choose from all the other places they could stay.

Once they’ve visited, you have an opportunity to continue that relationship. 

Past stays can help you reconnect at times that make sense. If families stayed over Memorial Day weekend last year, you might reach out early in the year as they begin making plans for the next one. Guests who regularly visit in the fall could hear from you mid-summer to remind them that autumn is a great time to visit.

You can also use previous stays as a starting point when something changes. New cabins, a playground expansion, additional premium sites, an added dog park, or a new seasonal event give former visitors a reason to take another look.

The timing and message will depend on your park, but you’re starting with people who already know what a stay with you is like.

Send Emails That Fit the Guest

A campground’s email list includes very different kinds of travelers. Someone who regularly books a cabin likely isn’t interested in information about your tent sites. A surprise cancellation on Labor Day weekend may not be relevant to a guest who has a seasonal site. 

Sending the same email to everyone doesn’t always take those differences into account. 

Reservation data gives you a way to divide a larger audience into smaller groups. For example, an RV-focused promotion could go to guests whose previous reservations fit that type of stay. This keeps you from having to reach out to the entire guest list and hoping it lands with the right people.

Use Your Database to Help Fill Slower Dates

An open Tuesday night creates a different marketing challenge than an open holiday weekend.

Your existing guest data can help you think more deliberately about who might be able to take advantage of those dates. Guests who live nearby may be better candidates for a quick midweek getaway than someone who has to travel several states to reach you.

Past booking behavior can offer clues, too. If certain guests have previously stayed during the week or booked shorter trips, they may be more likely to consider similar openings. Then the message can fit the opportunity. You might highlight a midweek promotion, a local event, quieter days at the campground, or activities that happen during that period.

Put the Information You Have to Work

The guest history already stored in CampLife can help shape your next marketing campaign. 

With CampLife’s built-in Email Marketing feature, you can choose an audience based on reservation details, then create and send targeted messages without having to build separate lists somewhere else. 

So before you send your next round of emails, ask one question: Who in your guest database is most likely to care about this?

Then build from there.

Ready to put your guest data to work? Members of the CampLife Community can reach out to Customer Success to get started with the Email Marketing feature. Considering CampLife? Reach out anytime to learn more about our Email Marketing feature and how it can become part of your marketing strategy.