“If you have a concern, the App My Community team handles it quickly. And if they don’t have a fix for it, they’ll keep you updated on their process of how they’re going to fix it. That’s been really reassuring.”
– Jessica Stevens, Executive Administrative Assistant at Lakewood Family Camping in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Customer:
A Sizable Oceanfront Campground Situated in a Vacation Hotspot
Sandy beaches and award-winning golf courses lure visitors to sunny Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Lakewood Family Camping is a massive, family-friendly resort offering a half mile of beach, a sizable water park, two pools, a mini-golf course, sports venues, pedal boats, kayaks, and more.
The campground’s location offers easy access to popular local attractions, but with nearly 300 acres of property to explore, including 1,043 campsites, RV and vacation home rentals, and numerous on-site dining options, Lakewood vacationers don’t need to leave this oasis to enjoy the ultimate family getaway.
The Challenge:
Printed Communications Were Costly and Quickly Outdated
With thousands of travelers staying at the campground at any given time, Lakewood employees spent much of their time communicating with guests. When checking into the property, visitors received a printed guide, called “Lakewood Life,” containing activity sheets detailing current happenings. This guide needed to be frequently updated and reprinted, leading to a large amount of waste when outdated guides were thrown out, as well as a hefty printing bill.
Even more complicated was communicating unexpected issues, such as water or cable outages, which often resulted in a flood of calls to the front desk asking for updates. Due to the large size of Lakewood, reaching guests directly was a challenge. Equally challenging was promptly communicating guest needs, such as bathrooms requiring service.
In 2021, the campground was ready for a change. After meeting the App My Community team at a conference, Lakewood was sold on finding an app-based solution to their communication concerns.
The Solution:
An Affordable App That Opened the Lines of Communication
Lakewood worked with App My Community to build an affordable campground app that included current activities, the ability to push timely messages to campers, and allowed for real-time feedback from guests. For Executive Administrative Assistant Jessica Stevens, who manages the app, having the ability to connect directly with campers was an immediate benefit.
“You want to always communicate with your guests,” Jessica said. “Communication is a huge part of what we do. It’s cut down on a lot of people having to come up to the front desk or call the front desk for common questions like, ‘What time does the pool open?’ or ‘What time is the information center open?’ And it’s helped keep everything in one cohesive place.”
The Lakewood app now also serves as an easily accessible tool for internal communication. Campground employees are added to a team portal on the app, which includes helpful information such as the employee handbook, HR documents, operational checklists, and more. Jessica said that having the app as a portable resource has ensured employees always have readily available information to assist guests.
“It’s just so quick,” said Jessica. “With the push of a button, you can send off a message to everybody in the park at once. Also, we have the ability to send push alerts just to people who are on our team. So, if we have some sort of event happening that we want our staff to be involved in, we can just send a push alert to them. The app really bridged gaps in communication, and it’s been very helpful.”
The Results:
A Winning Combo of Money Savings and Ad Revenue
Messaging on the app has not only helped solve Lakewood’s initial communication needs, but it’s also saving the campground big on printing costs. Having a timely digital communication tool has eliminated the need for regularly printed “Lakewood Life” guides and cut down on smaller print jobs, like miniature golf score sheets, which are now available exclusively in the app.
“[App My Community] made a digital scorecard that we use now,” said Jessica. “It’s completely eliminated using pencil and paper. So, we don’t have to purchase those anymore. Kids used to use the pencils to draw all over our putt-putt course. We’ve eliminated that problem by just using the app.”
In addition, Jessica stated that while the services provided by App My Community are already reasonably priced, the app “pays for itself because we sell ads on our app for local attractions.”
The Future:
Monetized Wristbands Offer Even More Money-Making Opportunities
Given the financial success they’ve seen with the app thus far, Lakewood staff is working on even more ways to drive revenue using App My Community. Soon, they’ll launch the ability for guests to load money onto their campground wristband via the app, making it even easier for vacationers to spend on extras throughout the property.
“Our wristband is like a wallet, so people don’t have to worry about carrying their actual wallet,” said Jessica. “Right now, they have to come up to the front desk or go to the information center to put money on [their wristband]. Having the ability to add money via the app will just make it completely seamless for them to do from their camper, from the pool, or from the beach. Wherever they are, they can just load money onto the wristband themselves. So, that’s something that we’re looking forward to.”
Moving forward, Jessica said she’s continuing to work with Rose and Joe Duemig, creators of App My Community, to further increase the usability of Lakewood’s app. She explained that they’ve been crucial as thought partners, often offering advice on how to better organize their app’s content, and they’re always happy to jump in and help when she needs assistance.
“Rose and Joe are very nice people, and they’re easy to work with,” she said. “If I ever have an issue, I email Joe and he responds within 30 minutes, if not 10 minutes, that he’s working on it, or it’s already fixed. They’re very responsive.”
