Want to grow your business? These three marketing tips can help.
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At the annual Funnel Hacking Live Conference hosted by Clickfunnels, Emily Richett sat down with Tyler Shaule, a teacher, camp director and entrepreneur, to learn how he revived a struggling summer camp and helped it reach seven figures in revenue. Here are the three things Shaule did to scale the camp.
1. Leverage video content in online marketing.
Shaule says that focusing on video content in his online marketing helped generate excitement about the summer camp. This is especially effective due to the emotional marketing value of a camp. Parents don’t just want the facts, like the schedule and cost. They want to actually feel what their children will experience, and what better way than to show them?
“We’re able to use online marketing in a really new and exciting way,” Shaule says, “to do what we’ve always tried in the past to do in an offline way, which was build trust and get people excited about an experience for their child.”
2. Don’t underestimate the power of testimonials.
“If we were just out there all the time, telling them [parents] that we had the best camp experience around, nobody really cares,” says Shaule. He says people value recommendations from their friends and family most.
So, how do you go about getting such great testimonials?
Shaule offers an incentive to parents through what he calls a “viral share funnel.” When parents register their kids for camp, they are encouraged to share their registration on Facebook or Google Reviews to earn points and win prizes, like a free week at camp.
“Facebook has an online community that does an incredible job of making sure that people who know each other know more about each other,” Shaule says. “So if we’re able to be a part of that conversation, then we’re actually the winners.”
3. Use the right marketing channel.
There are a lot of options when it comes to marketing your business.
Shaule explains that “offline business owners have a really hard time getting online and figuring out what to do. They either waste a lot of time and money trying to … work with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Instagram. Or they market really well in the wrong way and they get really bad prospects on the phone.”
For his offline summer camps, Shaule uses a phone funnel and SMS (text message) marketing to increase sales.
“The phone funnel system is really carefully designed to be a mobile responsive advertising method that captures interest, captures a phone number and then we use SMS or text marketing to nurture that prospect and book an appointment,” says Shaule.
Here’s what the article is saying, explained in a simple way.
A man named Tyler Shaule helped a summer camp go from doing poorly to making a lot of money. He did it mostly by improving the camp’s marketing (how you get people interested and convince them to buy). He used three main ideas:
## 1) Use video to show the feeling, not just the facts
Instead of only posting a list like “camp times, prices, activities,” he used videos.
Why? Because parents don’t just want information—they want to *imagine* their child having fun and being safe. Video can show:
– kids smiling and playing
– friendly staff
– fun activities
– the camp atmosphere
This builds excitement and trust much faster than plain text.
## 2) Let other people advertise for you (testimonials)
If the camp says, “We’re the best camp!” parents may not believe it—because any business can say that.
But if *other parents* say, “My kid loved it, it was amazing,” that feels more real. Those are **testimonials** (recommendations/reviews).
He encouraged parents to share reviews or posts online by offering rewards:
– When a parent signs up their child, they can share it on Facebook or leave a Google review
– They earn points and can win prizes (like a free week at camp)
This is called a “viral share funnel,” meaning it helps the message spread from person to person.
## 3) Pick the best way to reach customers (the right channel)
There are many places to market: Instagram, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, etc. Many business owners waste time and money using the wrong one.
For a summer camp, Shaule found it worked best to use:
– ads or pages that collect a parent’s phone number
– then sending helpful text messages (SMS) to follow up
– then booking a call or appointment to sign them up
This is like a system:
**Someone gets interested → they give their number → you text them useful info → you help them sign up.**
## In one sentence
He grew the camp by **showing the experience with video**, **using real parent reviews to build trust**, and **using phone/text follow-up because that’s what worked best for his type of business**.
Watch the full interview for more.
