By listing with ActivityHero, your business gains immediate access to over 2.5 million families nationwide who use ActivityHero to plan camps and activities for their kids.

What this means for you: Each month, ActivityHero provides you with thousands of opportunities to attract additional families. The key to turning those first glances into registrations? Making sure your listing truly reflects who you are and what you offer.

Here, 5 best practices for making your business shine.

1. Entice the parent in 3 words

The name of your activity is very important. ActivityHero search results and emails give you about 3 words to tell parents what your camp or class is about and entice them to click to view more. How can you use those words to your advantage? We recommend that you include at least one word that describes what kids will do at the camp or class.

For example, if kids are cooking at your camp, instead of Winter Break Camp, call it Winter Cooking Camp or Winter Culinary Camp. In the Spring, imagine how many camps will say “Summer Camp ” in their name and try to make your name stand out.

2. Write Like You Talk

No parent wants to read a listing with lots of formal language. When you craft your business or activity description, write the way you speak in conversation. Imagine that you’re at the grocery store and meet a parent who is a prospective customer and she asks you, “Tell me more about your camp?” What do you say? Give your pitch online the same way you’d give it in person. You probably don’t use phrases like “enriching children’s lives” or “enhancing interpersonal skills,” right? What do you say instead?

If you’re feeling stuck, you can overcome writer’s block by recording yourself while you talk to a friend (or to yourself in the mirror). Describe your business and each activity you offer. Then, transcribe the recording and edit it to smooth things out.

Specific questions you’ll want to answer with your Business Description:

• What’s your mission? Make sure you hit on the points that matter most to you. It will help parents know if you’re a good fit for their family.
• What sets you apart? Share what makes your business unique so you’ll stand out from the crowd.
• What accomplishments are you most proud of? Share your successes with parents, how you engage with your community and what matters most to you.
• Who are your instructors? Are they former college athletes, art majors, or pre-school teachers? If you have a low teacher to student ratio, mention that too.

A few questions you’ll want to answer with each of your Activity Descriptions:

• What happens at this activity? You can describe the itinerary, highlight the parts of the activity that are most popular, describe what students will create, or describe what children will learn/know by the end.
• What makes this particular activity special? How does this activity differ from the other activities you offer? How does it differ from activities offered by other businesses?
• Any prerequisites or equipment required? Can anyone sign up, or do they need to have some experience to make the most of it? Do you provide all materials and equipment?
• Why do kids like this activity? Provide a student perspective of what your activity means to them and what they like about it.

One last tip: Go easy on the exclamation points. Parents who are looking at multiple camps will get tired of seeing so many sentences end with a bang. Again, think of how you talk, and stress the sentences that really matter.

3. Show Photos That Inspire and Excite

Pictures do a great job at giving parents an overview of what you do — and some pictures are better than others. We asked professional photographers for tips, and here’s what they recommend.

For your Business Photos, capture and post these five types images:

• A focus shot. This is basically a photo of a child engaging in an activity at your facility, with the child in focus in the foreground and the background out of focus. The focus-shot composition is especially helpful if your activity takes place in a busy setting — the focus helps draw the viewer’s eye toward the child and away from distracting elements in the background.
• A group shot. This can just show happy kids smiling in a group, or it can include counselors, too.
• A building shot. Show the exterior of your facility, if you have one, so people will recognize it when they drive up.
• A materials shot. Showcase the supplies used by your business, such as a wall of art supplies, a giant box of LEGOs, a crossbow leaning on an archery target, a bag of soccer balls and cones, etc.
• An overview shot. Capture a typical moment during a group activity. For instance, you might show kids and counselors singing songs around a campfire, a group of kids engaged in sports practice, theatre campers on stage in costume, or a room full of kids engaged in building robots.

For Activity Photos:

• Kids in motion. You’ll want to upload at least one unique image per activity, and only use that image for that activity. The photo should show kids in motion as they engage in the activity — concentrating and having fun!
• Avoid having just a group of kids where you don’t know what they are doing. If you could use that photo on any listing on ActivityHero, it’s not special enough for you.

Finally, please make sure that you secure permission from parents before posting any photograph on ActivityHero.

4. Include Parent Reviews

There are two reasons why parent reviews are important. You can probably guess the first one: Reviews help potential customers learn more about you from their peers. But the second reason may be a surprise: Parent reviews help you with organic search engine traffic. Search engines love the natural language found in comments and reviews.

If you’re nervous about asking your customers to write reviews? Don’t be. Many will be happy to help you out. (And if your customers are not sure what to say about you, you can point them to “Be a Hero: Review Your Favorite Camps!” for review-writing tips.)

 

5. Accept Registrations Online via ActivityHero

ActivityHero isn’t just a directory — it’s a planning tool. Parents use their ActivityHero account to buy activities from multiple providers, scheduling sessions for each week of summer, plus winter breaks, spring break, weekend workshops, and after school enrichment activities. Parents love how easy it is to research, register and pay for everything for all their kids in one place.

To make the most of your listing, make it easy for ActivityHero parents to add you to their plans. Become a MarketingHero and you’ll be able to accept online registrations from ActivityHero parents. (Without this feature, you run the risk of losing customers to competitors who DO accept online registration on ActivityHero.) Learn more about all the benefits of MarketingHero, or call us to at (800) 437-6125.