85% of camps run a CIT program but very few camps ask their CIT’s to help with promotion.
Your CIT’s can be your best ambassadors, so how do you get them to promote what you do?
How we run our CIT program…
All our C.I.T’s have to apply for a position on our camp. They do this through an application letter telling us their motivations very similar to a job application. We write on the job description that being a C.I.T they become ambassadors of the camp and must help with promotion as well.
This helps us set the role up properly and define expectations before they begin. That way they know what they are signing up for and they are not surprised when we ask them.
We then give them a job interview with the Director who makes sure they have the right sort of profile for the role.
Being a CIT is a prestigious role and they have many opportunities to develop their leaderships skills. They become very respected by staff and other campers.
Having this position on the camp makes them perfect ambassadors so we also build into their training how we want our camp to be promoted.
We get them using our referral system which rewards them each time the introduce a friend to our camps.
Each member of our camp is given a unique URL, which they include when they share photos and videos of their experience on our camps. When their friends click their link they are rewarded with hoodies, free wakeboarding sessions or free camps.
We focus on doing it with our CIT’s so when everyone else sees them doing it they want to do it as well.
Each month there is a competition for who introduces the most amount of people to the camp. It is set up on a leader board and each month it is emailed to all our participants.
Since launching this referral scheme, we have reduced our marketing costs and are growing each year.
It’s a much nicer way to market our camps as well as its organic and natural. We can just focus on creating great experiences.