Good Sam - what's in it for the campgrounds?
There are a lot of good Sam participating parks that give discounts for this very cheap membership. I'm just wondering, what's in it for the park? Is it just hoping to get a little extra business by...
Forum Discussion
A park is listed in the book without any cost. To increase their exposure the park can buy a display ad. The larger the ad,, the higher the cost. Ads cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to multiple thousands depending upon size, colors, complexity etc. Goodsam also has tiered pricing depending on the size of the park. Small parks get a discount and large parks pay a premium.
To be a Goodsam park requires a few steps. First, the park must meett minimum scores when reviewed by the rating team. Second, the park must buy an ad. Third, the park must agree to offer the 10% discount. Fourth, the park needs to pay a membership fee. That fee is only a few hundred dollars a year. No way the minimum fees for any size park would exceed a few thousand dollars. That $20K someone tossed out would be the total a large park would be paying to have a large, full color, display ad as part of their package. If they so desired, they could easily remain a Goodsam park and reduce the size of their ad, lowering that total cost dramatically.
The benefits to the parks are the value of the ads they buy. The value they gain by being a"Goodsam" park which includes placement of their park as a Goodsam park on the Goodsam website. A listing in the GoodSam cover page for each state and some signage and marketing materials. Finally, Goodsam parks can sell memberships and retain that fee. (Not really that big a deal, we might sell 20 to 30 in a good year, but it is something).
In my opinion, 20 years ago it was a must. Books were vital to most parks. Today the internet is much more important. But we still have lots of customers who say we were found via Goodsam. Do the advertising benefits outweigh the costs? I am not sure either way. We have chosen to cut back to smaller ads but continue to be in the system. Time will tell going forward.
To be a Goodsam park requires a few steps. First, the park must meett minimum scores when reviewed by the rating team. Second, the park must buy an ad. Third, the park must agree to offer the 10% discount. Fourth, the park needs to pay a membership fee. That fee is only a few hundred dollars a year. No way the minimum fees for any size park would exceed a few thousand dollars. That $20K someone tossed out would be the total a large park would be paying to have a large, full color, display ad as part of their package. If they so desired, they could easily remain a Goodsam park and reduce the size of their ad, lowering that total cost dramatically.
The benefits to the parks are the value of the ads they buy. The value they gain by being a"Goodsam" park which includes placement of their park as a Goodsam park on the Goodsam website. A listing in the GoodSam cover page for each state and some signage and marketing materials. Finally, Goodsam parks can sell memberships and retain that fee. (Not really that big a deal, we might sell 20 to 30 in a good year, but it is something).
In my opinion, 20 years ago it was a must. Books were vital to most parks. Today the internet is much more important. But we still have lots of customers who say we were found via Goodsam. Do the advertising benefits outweigh the costs? I am not sure either way. We have chosen to cut back to smaller ads but continue to be in the system. Time will tell going forward.
