Camp Classen
CASE STUDY
Reels-Led Social Media That Helped Drive a Record Enrollment Year
How a consistent, reach-first content strategy opened the door for families who had never heard of Camp Classen — and fed a marketing system that delivered the strongest season on record.
THE CLIENT
2,200 Acres. Decades of Trust. A New Audience to Reach.
YMCA Camp Classen sits on 2,200 acres in the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma. Operated by the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City, the camp serves children ages 7–16 through overnight summer programs — plus year-round retreats, family camp, school outdoor education, and leadership development.
For decades, Camp Classen built its reputation on word-of-mouth: earned through camper experience, returning families, and the trust of the YMCA brand. But word-of-mouth alone couldn’t reliably bring in the next generation of campers in a market where parent attention is scattered across feeds, screens, and shifting media habits.
THE CHALLENGE
Reaching Families Who Don't Know You Exist Yet
Camp Classen needed to reach families who had never attended before — without diluting the brand or losing the warmth that has defined the camp for generations.
Acquiring new campers meant getting in front of audiences who didn’t follow the camp on social media, weren’t searching for it on Google, and weren’t already in the YMCA network. It required a content strategy that could compound — building reach and resonance month over month, not just one viral moment.
Most importantly, social media needed to play its real role: not the closer of registrations, but the front door of awareness.
THE STRATEGY
Own the Top of the Funnel
Reels-led content for reach
Short, vertical video drives discovery on Facebook far more efficiently than static posts. We built a Reels-first content calendar designed to surface the camp to non-followers — the families most likely to be future first-time campers.
Emotional resonance over volume
A camp like Classen doesn't win attention with promotional noise. It wins by showing what the experience feels like — laughter at the lake, staff who remember every camper's name, the moment a hesitant kid tries the high ropes course. The content was built to make people feel something, not just see something.
Consistency over spectacle
A single viral Reel does not build a brand. Intentional, repeatable posting does. We replaced reactive content with a planned editorial cadence — every week, every month, all season.
THE RESULTS
The Strongest Enrollment Season on Record
Through March 29, 2026, the numbers tell a clear story:
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+37% Revenue Revenue up year-over-year — $510,675 vs. $372,842 at the same point in 2025.
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+8.3% Campers Total registrations up to 601 from 555 a year ago.
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+10.6% New New camper enrollment outpacing returning camper growth (+7.4%) — a strong signal that the camp is reaching families it has never reached before.
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5.7% -> 6.4% Social media referral share grew — the second-largest share gain of any acquisition channel.
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60 - 92% Of social media views came from non-followers — clear evidence that content is consistently reaching new audiences.
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+226% Views Views grew dramatically over the prior period.
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77.8% -> 81.9% Reactions share climbed — content is landing more deeply, not just more often.
THE HONEST PICTURE
Social Media Didn't Do This Alone
Camp Classen’s success is not the result of any single channel. The camp runs an integrated marketing system — retention calling, targeted direct mail, email blasts, a refer-a-friend promotion, branch-level YMCA referrals, and a strong product backed by improved staff engagement and new amenities.
What strong social media does is feed every other channel. It built awareness, kept the camp visible to non-following audiences, and grew its share of attributed referrals while every other channel did its job. Together, the system delivered Camp Classen’s strongest enrollment season on record.
SCOPE OF WORK
- Social Media Strategy
- Social Media Management
