Retreat & Camp Growth Roadmap Step: Define Your Strategy
Many retreat centers and camps feel the pressure of an empty calendar—but aren’t sure where to start fixing it. You might be seeing a trickle of weekend bookings, relying on returning groups, or networking with churches, but your bookings still feel unpredictable. Or maybe your team is pouring energy into marketing tactics—like updating the website or posting on social media—without seeing much return.
The truth is, marketing only works well when it’s guided by a clear, well-defined strategy.
That’s why Step 1 of the Retreat & Camp Growth Roadmap is all about getting strategic. It’s the foundation that makes everything else work—from website content to advertising to lead follow-up. Without it, even the best tools can fall flat.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the three essential focus areas that make up Step 1:
Identifying your ideal guest groups
Crafting clear and compelling brand messaging
Clarifying your lead follow-up process
Each of these is critical for reaching the right people, communicating your value clearly, and turning interest into actual bookings. You’ll also find links to full-length articles for each area to dive deeper when you’re ready.
Let’s begin where all effective outreach starts: with clarity.
Why Defining Your Strategy Matters
Imagine trying to plan a mission trip without knowing the destination. That’s what it’s like running marketing without a strategy. You might be busy—but not necessarily going in the right direction.
When you define your strategy, you create alignment between your ministry vision, your target audience, and your marketing activities. You stop chasing random opportunities and start building sustainable systems that grow your impact year-round.
Here’s what strategic clarity does for you:
Focuses your team on the guest groups who bring the most value and alignment
Simplifies decision-making when it comes to messaging, platforms, or outreach
Improves conversion rates because your content speaks directly to the people you’re trying to serve
Strengthens stewardship by eliminating wasted time, money, and energy
Most importantly, a strong strategy helps you build relationships with the right groups—the ones you’re best equipped to serve.
Is Strategy an Area You Need to Work On Right Now?
Use these reflection questions to assess your current level of strategic clarity:
Do we have a clearly defined list of our ideal guest group types?
Can our team describe our unique value in a way that resonates with those groups?
Is our messaging consistent across our website, emails, and personal conversations?
Do we have a documented process for how we respond to inquiries?
Are our follow-ups timely, consistent, and effective?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of these, this focus area can help you bring greater clarity, alignment, and impact to your outreach.
How to Apply Step 1: Define Your Strategy
Identify Your Audience
Not every group is the right fit for your center—and that’s okay. Trying to serve “everyone” usually leads to serving no one well.
Start by reviewing your past 12–18 months of bookings. Ask:
Which guest types brought the most alignment with our mission?
Who tends to book midweek or off-season?
Which groups brought energy, referrals, or repeat bookings?
Then, prioritize 2–4 ideal group types. These could be youth retreats, men’s and women’s ministries, leadership teams, Christian schools, or recovery groups—whatever aligns with your facilities, schedule, and mission. Getting specific helps you focus your messaging, content, and follow-up process.
Example: One retreat center identified women’s ministries as a top audience but hadn’t intentionally marketed to them. After building a page specifically for women’s retreats and tailoring their copy to common planning pain points (privacy, meeting space, comfortable lodging), they saw a 30% increase in women’s ministry inquiries within six months.
Craft Brand Messaging
Messaging is more than a tagline. It’s the way you talk about your center in every conversation, webpage, and email. Clear messaging answers the guest’s silent question: “Why should we book with you?”
Start by creating a brand messaging guide, which might include:
A one-liner (simple statement summarizing your center’s value)
Descriptions of your ideal group types and how you serve them
Key benefits you offer (not just features—focus on outcomes)
Sample language for emails, the website, and printed materials
This guide doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should be consistent. That consistency builds trust and makes your center feel familiar—even to first-time planners.
Example: A center serving youth and men’s ministries created distinct sections on their website for each audience. They used language that reflected the planner’s perspective—talking about spiritual renewal, leadership support, and easy event planning. This helped each group feel “seen” and increased web inquiries from both demographics.
Clarify Lead Handling
Every inquiry is an opportunity—and how you respond can make or break the booking.
A clear lead process defines how inquiries are received, responded to, and moved through the booking journey. This is especially important for busy teams or seasonal staff who may not all follow the same steps by default.
Your lead process should include:
Who handles each type of inquiry
What happens within the first 24–48 hours
Email templates or phone scripts to maintain consistency
A method for tracking inquiries and follow-ups (CRM, spreadsheet, etc.)
Example: A mid-size camp was taking days to follow up on inquiries—if at all. By setting a simple goal to follow up within 24 hours and providing the team with a follow-up checklist, they increased their booking conversion rate by nearly 40% over the next quarter.
Putting It All Together
The Define Your Strategy step sets the foundation for every other step in the roadmap. Without a clearly defined strategy, your marketing is likely to be reactive, inconsistent, or ineffective.
Defining your strategy is an investment in clarity—and in the health of your ministry. When you know who you’re called to serve, how to speak to them, and how to guide them toward a booking, you position your center to steward its facilities and team with excellence.
And best of all? You’ll build momentum without burning out your staff or diluting your mission.
If you are serious about digging into your strategy, we have developed in-depth guides for each one of the three focus areas covered above. Each has in-depth context, practical examples and downloadable worksheets you can use to work on your organization.
A Christian retreat center was struggling with inconsistent bookings despite having a beautiful facility and a strong heart for ministry. Their marketing approach was broad and generic—trying to appeal to all potential guest groups at once. As a result, their messaging lacked clarity, and they often attracted groups that weren’t the best fit.
After evaluating their past bookings and guest satisfaction, they identified three core group types that consistently brought positive experiences and aligned with their mission: youth groups, men’s ministry retreats, and women’s ministry retreats.
Rather than trying to appeal to everyone, they took a focused approach:
They created distinct messaging and web content tailored to each group type.
They added pages to their website that highlighted relevant facilities, sample retreat schedules, and group-specific testimonials.
They ran targeted outreach campaigns and improved their follow-up process for inquiries.
The result? Bookings began to increase across all three audiences. More importantly, the groups they attracted were a better fit, leading to stronger relationships, repeat bookings, and more word-of-mouth referrals.
This simple shift—from general marketing to strategic clarity—transformed their guest engagement and gave their team more confidence in their outreach efforts.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Getting strategic is one of the most impactful things you can do to grow your retreat ministry with intention. With clarity around your audience, message, and lead process, you’ll lay a foundation that supports sustainable growth and stronger guest relationships.
If you found this helpful, here are four great next steps to continue your journey:
🧭 Move to the Next Step: Build Your Platform Design a website and lead management system that turns your strategy into action. [Read Build Your Platform]
📘 Download the Retreat & Camp Growth Roadmap eBook Get the full 3-stage system we use to help Christian retreat centers and camps grow with clarity and purpose. [Download the eBook]
🌱 Learn More About How We Help Retreat Centers & Camps We’re a Christian-owned marketing agency that helps ministries grow attendance, bookings, and impact through practical strategies rooted in clarity and stewardship. [See How We Can Help]
🤝 Schedule a Free Discovery Call Want help applying this to your unique situation? Let’s talk. We’ll explore where you are now, where you want to go, and how to take the next faithful step. [Book a Discovery Call]
You don’t have to figure this out alone. Let’s build something meaningful—together.
Frequently Asked Questions
How detailed should audience descriptions be? You don’t need a 10-page persona. Focus on what matters most: the group’s ministry goals, event type, preferred season, decision-makers, and what they value in a retreat experience. A short paragraph per group is usually enough to guide messaging and planning.
What if we serve a wide variety of groups? Many centers host diverse groups, but not all deserve equal marketing attention. Start by identifying the top 2–4 groups that are most aligned with your mission, are profitable or scalable, and have room to grow. You can always expand later, but starting with focus leads to faster results.
Do we need professional branding for our messaging to be effective? No. What you need is clarity and consistency. You don’t need a fancy rebrand—just plain language that speaks to your ideal guests, reflects your mission, and is used the same way across your website, emails, and conversations.
How often should we revisit our strategy? We recommend reviewing your strategy annually—or whenever you launch a new outreach campaign, add a new facility, or notice a change in your audience. It’s also wise to revisit it after seasonal staff transitions to maintain alignment.
What if we don’t have someone available to respond to inquiries quickly? If you’re short-staffed, consider using shared inboxes with templates and auto-responders. You can also set up a basic CRM (even free ones like HubSpot) to track inquiries and schedule follow-ups. Quick acknowledgment—even if the full response comes later—can make a strong impression.
Can volunteers or seasonal staff follow a lead process? Yes, especially if you document the process clearly. Provide them with a checklist, message templates, and a point person for questions. Some centers even use a printed inquiry script at the front desk or a shared inbox that routes to multiple staff.
What tools can help us manage the lead process? Start simple. A shared Google Sheet or form can help if you’re not ready for software. If you’re looking to scale, a CRM like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or even Mailchimp’s audience tools can track conversations, schedule reminders, and centralize data across your team.
Should our board or leadership team be involved in strategy? It’s helpful to keep your board informed and aligned, especially if they have expectations around outreach or bookings. But the day-to-day strategy should be developed and managed by your internal team or point person, since they’re closest to the guest experience.
