Industry insiders acknowledge that most private park operators and RV dealers do not do as much as they could to develop reciprocal marketing relationships.
But park operators and dealers who take the time to cultivate such relationships can develop close ties that not only produce referrals for each other’s businesses but enhance guest experiences by making it easier for them to find dealerships, service centers and even other campgrounds that meet their needs.
Some park operators have established relationships with dealers that stretch back over decades.
Pam and Todd McCreary, who co-own and operate the Cleveland/Sandusky Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Nova, Ohio, are a case in point. They started developing a rapport with James Crow, of Jim’s Trailer Sales in Grafton, Ohio, when they bought a 23-foot Jayco hybrid travel trailer with a slideout.
“That was probably 18 or 20 years ago, before we bought our campground,” Pam recalled, adding, “By the time we bought the campground, we were still very tight with Jim, his son, Jimmy, and his daughter who now run the business.”
In fact, in their early days in the campground business, before the McCrearys joined the Jellystone Park franchise network, they would invite Jim’s Trailer Sales to bring a few units to their campground over Father’s Day weekend and have what amounted to a mini RV show.
“They’d bring everything from small travel trailers to big units. Jim would do seminars on safety and maintenance,” Pam recalled.
Jim even sold the McCrearys small quantities of RV supplies and accessories that they could, in turn, sell in their campground store.
Then, during the winter months, when their campground was closed, the McCrearys would help Jim sell trailers at RV shows.
“He paid us a commission for selling trailers,” Pam said, adding that she also passed out brochures to market their campground to prospective trailer buyers at these shows.
Over the years, Jim’s Trailer Sales has also provided the McCrearys with guidance and information to help their campground guests who have trouble with their vehicles.
“We don’t fix anything, but we can troubleshoot problems,” Pam said.
And when a guest has a significant repair need, the McCrearys refer them to Jim’s Trailer Sales knowing they will be well taken care of.
While the depth of individual relationships between dealers and campground operators varies by park and by dealership, many campgrounds use their guest guides to cross-promote RV dealers and other businesses in their local areas.
A third of the nation’s privately-owned campgrounds use guest guides as a way of instantly connecting their guests with RV dealers and other local businesses, according to a 2019 survey of 1,000 campgrounds, RV parks and resorts by Crowley, Texas-based AGS.
The survey also found that 80% of them find it worthwhile to do so because of the high levels of business they receive from park guests who might not otherwise connect with these businesses, according to Brian Schaeffer, AGS president.
One such reciprocal marketing relationship that is facilitated by the guest guides that AGS produces involves CrossWinds Family Campground in Linwood, N.C., and Bill Plemmons RV, which has dealerships in the Winston-Salem and Raleigh markets.
Bill Plemmons RV not only pays for advertising to help support the CrossWinds guest guide, but it brings out a mobile sales trailer to the park on busy weekends.
“They approached us about coming out on weekends,” said park co-owner Glenda Morrison, noting that the mobile unit has everything from sewer hoses and plumbing parts and many other RV accessories. “It’s like walking into their accessory shop.”
Other RV dealers have seen the benefits not only of advertising in campground guest guides but of visiting parks and using them as staging grounds for mini-RV shows that highlight their businesses.
Prescott, Ariz.-based Affinity RV Service, Sales & Rentals is an example of a dealer that is cultivating relationships with campground operators in a big way.
The 23-year-old dealership, with locations in Prescott, Prescott Valley and Dewey, not only advertises in 22 campground guest guides produced by AGS and other companies, but it regularly provides campgrounds with promotional inserts, about the size of rack cards, which highlight promotional discounts on parts, service, and rentals. Park owners may display these inserts in their lobbies or pass them out to guests along with their guest guides.
Affinity RV holds two weekend RV shows a year at different campgrounds across Arizona in which it not only showcases its latest RVs but RV parts and accessories that are available at the dealership. The dealership also provides educational seminars on different topics at these shows.
Parks that have hosted Affinity RV shows over the years include the Flagstaff Kampgrounds of America (KOA) in Flagstaff, Horsepitality RV Park in Wickenburg, Distant Drums RV Resort in Camp Verde, Verde Valley RV and Camping Resort in Cottonwood, and Page Springs RV Resort in Cornville, among others.
Bob Been, Affinity RV’s president and general manager, said he personally visits these and other Arizona parks, so he knows firsthand what kind of activities and amenities they provide. He also stays at different parks from time to time to fully experience what they have to offer. He then uses this knowledge and experience when his dealership customers ask him and his staff for recommendations on places to camp.
In effect, Affinity RV has developed its own list of parks that it has pre-screened for its customers, much like campgrounds and RV parks pre-screen the RV dealers they work with or use for guest referrals.
Been, in fact, said he and his staff regularly help snowbirds find places to stay during the winter months, when many Arizona parks are sold out. They do the same thing during the summer months, when parks in the high elevations of northern Arizona are filled up with people trying to escape the desert heat in the southern part of the state.
“We know exactly where to send them,” Been said, adding that developing firsthand knowledge of Arizona’s campgrounds has helped him help his camping customers when they are looking for great places to camp at any time of year.
Been advises dealers to get to know the campground and RV parks in the markets they serve. “You’ve got to get out and go walk the parks, get out and meet people,” he said.
Campground operators, for their part, need to take the initiative to reach out to dealers, he said. It can be as easy as having someone from park management make a phone call to the dealership and follow it up with a face-to-face visit.
“I visit all the parks,” Been said.
Many park operators, of course, have also found it worthwhile to provide dealers with free camping or discount camping coupons as a way to promote their parks to consumers who purchase new or used RVs, while also familiarizing dealers with parks in their market area.
Denny Quigley, who co-owns and operates the Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Harrisville, Penn., has significantly expanded on this concept.
While Quigley initially offered area dealers coupons for one night of free camping to give to people who purchased new or used vehicles, he later recruited about 20 other campgrounds within a 150-mile radius of each other in western Pennsylvania to do the same thing. This gives dealers a powerful promotional tool to introduce their RV buyers to different types of campgrounds in their market area.
But instead of handing consumers 20 different coupons, all of the participating parks are listed on a single coupon. Dealers cover the cost of printing the coupons, as well as the cost of posters that are used to promote the night of free camping at participating campgrounds.
Quigley said a single coupon provides more than $500 worth of free camping. The coupons also encourage consumers to visit the different participating campgrounds in western Pennsylvania, which include the Jellystone Parks in Harrisville and Mill Run, the KOA campgrounds in Meadville and Connellsville, Kalyumet Camping & Cabins in Lucinda, and Rose Point Park Cabins & Camping in New Castle, among others.
Having so much park participation in this promotion is also enticing for RV dealers, about “eight or nine” of whom currently support the cross-marketing program, some of which include Campers Inn RV in Ellwood City, Boyer RV Center in Erie, B & R Camper Sales in Butler, and Brooks Camper Sales in Connellsville.
Quigley said some park operators resisted the idea of giving away a night of free camping. But he looks at this as a strategic investment that pays big dividends in the long run.
“I know if I get them in once, we’ll get them back,” he said, adding that he typically sees about 85 to 90 new campers coming to his park using the coupons each year, many of whom wind up camping at his park whenever they go camping.
Park operators and their associations are also finding opportunities to promote each other’s businesses at RV shows.
The Wisconsin Association of Campground Operators (WACO) started developing cross-promotional opportunities with dealers eight years ago at the Madison RV Show, said Lori Severson, WACO’s executive director.
“We sat down with the dealers to determine what they felt might be lacking in their show and what we could bring to the table,” Severson recalled. “One of the things they wanted more of was low or no-cost entertainment and excitement to bring additional people to the show. We provided seven Superbowl tickets and a $5,000 camping package where you could camp at any WACO campground, and that started the ball rolling. Today, we have control over where our members are placed and have reduced fees from $650 to $325 for WACO members. We have our own lemonade stand that produces about $2,500, so we are able to offer our members a discount on their drinks and raise money for our WACO charity, The Gilbert Brown Foundation.
“We have created stations for the campers that show the fun and energy you can see at a WACO campground, like “color me” T-shirts, spin T-shirts, spin-to-win games, and whack a mole, just to name a few,” she added. “We assist in things like getting campers to sign up for the prizes and setting up the booths. The dealers, in return, allow us to be part of the advertising, with a live TV spot and mentions on all the advertising. We have more of a social presence than the dealers do, so we help do social media to promote the event. All the names of people registered are then shared. We work hard to think about how to promote each other.”
While WACO developed this concept at the Madison RV Show, it has since been adopted by dealers at four other RV shows in partnership with WACO, thus increasing the exposure for both dealers and campgrounds.
WACO’s close ties with Gilbert Brown, the former Green Bay Packer known as “The Gravedigger,” and his appearance at the show helps hype the RV show, Severson said, particularly during Superbowl season.
“Creating excitement and hoopla is really what it’s all about,” she said, adding, “Learning that synergy between these great industries is the key. Together, we can create more customer interaction, better ideas, and more business for everyone concerned.”
