A few weeks ago, we got together with a group of parks and recreation professionals in the Chicago area. We met at Wood Dale Park District to talk about ways to increase participation in programs they offer and ended the luncheon with group discussions. Here are some ideas presented that you could add to your marketing mix: Continue reading
As tech companies grow and new ones pop up, new verbs continue to be introduced to our evolving vocabularies. New verbs that started off as company names and won’t be found in Webster’s Dictionary. “Google” it comes to mind first. Want to know the name of a song you’re listening to? “Shazam” it. Want to video chat with your family back home? “Skype” them. But here’s an example you may not be so familiar with; has anyone ever asked you to Bitly a link?
This is a guest post by Greg Bruggeman. He is a recreation professional and blogs at Professional Recreation. Check out his blog or follow him on Twitter.
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Have you ever had to buy an item foreign to you? Not something huge like a car or house but something inconsequential and of little cost, like a cleaning solution. As you sit in the aisle weighing the pros and cons of two similarly priced items, something catches your eye: Scrubbing Bubbles! You think to yourself “How could I have been so stupid! All these years, I’ve been doing the scrubbing when these bubbles can scrub for me!” I had to get this product! While I was walking out of the store with my Scrubbing Bubbles, I realized I had become the victim of great benefit-based marketing. Continue reading
Facebook is playing around with a significant Timeline redesign. The new format is being rolled out experimentally and could be live for all members soon. And to cover this change for the parks & recreation community, we turn to Josh Panzer. Josh is the founder of ParksandRecreationSocialMedia.com.
Check out his video guest blog post to learn how your agency should adjust to the pending Facebook change: Continue reading
Recreation professional: we want you. If you are on LinkedIn, we’d love to have you as a member of the “Recreation Management and Technology” group on LinkedIn. Why you may ask? Here are five reasons to join:
1. Get free resources: Members of the group post discussions about recreation tips and trends. If you join the group, you can set up email notifications to receive those updates and view the ones that appeal to you. Continue reading
When a customer registers for a program or books a facility online, what happens? Do you thank them? Do you recommend other similar programs or point them to your Facebook page? Don’t squander this opportunity to turn a new customer into a loyal one.
We covered this idea a few months ago in this article: 3 Critical Web Pages You Are Neglecting. One of the three we covered was the thank you page. To summarize, each web interaction with a customer is a great opportunity for your P&R agency to take the next step. On the thank you page, can you turn that customer into a Facebook fan? Can you point that customer to other similar programs (upsell)? Designing goal-oriented thank you pages should be a part of your marketing strategy. Continue reading
If you’re reading this article, you probably work in parks and/or recreation. Whether you’re a veteran Director, a brand-new Administrator or anywhere in between, you most likely share one common goal: to serve at your best. And one way to continually better yourself is to keep up with industry trends, tips, and resources by reading (or skimming if need be) relevant blogs.
Here are five blogs that can help you, the parks and recreation pro, stay on top of your craft: Continue reading
“Twitter’s weird,” one of our clients said the other day, and it wasn’t the first time we’ve heard it. Many people love it but others don’t see the benefits or like it very much at all. But however you feel about the little blue bird, your parks and recreation agency can use it to its advantage. With millions of users following accounts they want to receive information from, Twitter offers another way to distribute information to your customers for free.
The following 50 city and county park and recreation agencies use Twitter to connect with customers, answer questions, make announcements, discuss fitness and health, release registration dates and more. As a recreation professional, consider following these accounts as templates for what your agency could tweet about. (The list was compiled base on number of followers, content provided, number of tweets, interactions with followers, recent activity and overall use of Twitter to connect with customers. From there, the list was ordered from most followers to least followers.) Continue reading
In mid-January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented Graph Search as Facebook’s new social search engine. Confusing, I know. To simplify the jargon, Graph Search pulls four things into one searchable place for you: people, places, interests, and photos. With those all available, you can search for and find results like, Friends who like Basketball, Pictures I Liked, and Restaurants near Boston, MA my friends have been to. Play around with the search to learn more.
But that’s not why you’re here! Today, we’re talking to the Facebook page manager who is wondering how to change his or her strategy for the organization’s page. Here are 3 steps to make your organization’s Facebook page stand out in Graph Search: Continue reading
This is part two of Archie’s guest blog post. Click here to read the first.
Social Marketing: Different than social media, social marketing seeks to influence social behavior to the benefit the target market and general society rather than the organization. At one time, social marketing was considered to be exclusively for public and non-profit organizations. Primarily it was designed to promote public awareness campaigns, social causes or to introduce behavior change. However, social marketing is also used by commercial organizations. For example, for-profit fitness clubs are not only utilized for exercise and physical development, but also as environments for rebuilding balance to one’s life. Continue reading
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