You know what kills me?
Driving past campgrounds out here in the Hills that should be absolutely packed—gorgeous sites, clean facilities, reasonable rates—but they’re sitting half-empty while the big-name RV resorts down the road are turning people away.
The difference? It’s not always the amenities. It’s the story they’re telling online.
Let me break this down.
The Problem Nobody’s Talking About
There are 93+ campgrounds competing for attention in the Black Hills region. That’s verified public and state sites, plus conservative estimates for private operations (and honestly, the actual number’s probably higher when you count all the small, dispersed locations that pop up seasonally). Every single one of them is fighting for the same eyeballs on Facebook, Instagram, and Google.
And here’s the thing—most of ’em are using the exact same playbook from 2015. A few static shots of an RV pad. Maybe a sunset pic from someone’s phone. Perhaps that one professional photo they paid for seven years ago that’s been compressed and re-uploaded so many times it looks like it was taken with a potato.
You’re competing against that. And against mega-resorts with marketing budgets bigger than your entire operating costs.
So how do you stand out?
Capturing the “Impossible View” That Ground Photography Can’t Show
I’m gonna tell you something that might sound dramatic but it’s true: the first time a campground owner sees their property from 300 feet up, they almost always will say the same thing.
“I had no idea it looked like this.”
Ground-level photos? They show a campsite. Maybe a fire ring. Trees in the background if you’re lucky.
Drone footage shows the experience.
That winding creek nobody can see from the road? Now it’s your hero shot. The way your sites nestle into the ponderosa pines with actual spacing between them (privacy sells, by the way)? That’s impossible to capture from the ground. The proximity to hiking trails, the evening light hitting the meadow, the fact that you’re legitimately two minutes from Needles Highway—drone footage makes all of that undeniable.
You don’t have to change your campground. Change your story.
Converting Browsers to Bookers Through “Experience Visualization”
Now here’s where it gets interesting (and where drone footage absolutely demolishes traditional marketing).
You know that moment when someone’s scrolling through campground options at 11 PM, trying to decide where to book for their summer vacation? They’ve got 47 tabs open. Everything starts blurring together. They bookmark a few places and tell themselves they’ll “decide tomorrow.”
Tomorrow comes. They still don’t book. The decision paralysis is real.
Drone video cuts through that like nothing else because it does something static photos can’t: it lets people mentally inhabit the space before they arrive.
When someone watches a 90-second drone tour of your campground—moving through the property, seeing how sites relate to each other, watching the creek flow past the tent area, soaring over to show the playground and the bathhouse and that gorgeous overlook—they’re not just seeing your property. They’re imagining their vacation there. They’re visualizing their kids running to the playground. They’re picturing their morning coffee with that view.
That’s the conversion moment.
I’ve seen this happen over and over: campgrounds that add professional drone footage to their websites and social media see people commenting “This is EXACTLY what we’ve been looking for” or “Just booked three nights!” The video does the heavy lifting. It answers the questions they didn’t even know they had.
Dominating Local Search and Social Media Algorithms
Okay, let’s talk algorithms for a second—because this matters more than you might think.
Google loves video content. Facebook and Instagram really love video content. YouTube (which is the second-largest search engine, by the way) obviously loves video content.
When someone searches “campgrounds near Mount Rushmore” or “best camping Black Hills SD,” what do you think ranks higher: a static website with a few photos, or a website with embedded video content that people actually watch?
Right. The video wins. Every time.
But here’s what really gets me excited: social media reach.
A static photo on Facebook might reach 5-8% of your followers organically (if you’re lucky). A well-shot drone video? I’ve seen campgrounds get 30-40% organic reach, sometimes higher. The algorithm rewards content that people actually stop and watch—and drone footage of the Black Hills landscape is inherently watchable.
One campground I work with posted a 60-second drone tour during peak planning season (February-March, when people are dreaming about summer). That single video got shared 127 times, reached over 18,000 people organically, and they directly attributed 23 bookings to it.
Cost to produce? Less than they would’ve spent on a single weekend’s worth of paid Facebook ads.
The ROI is almost ridiculous.
Solving the “Site Selection Paralysis” That Causes Abandoned Bookings
You might be thinking: “Jason, my website has a site map. People can see the layout.”
Sure. But can they feel the difference between Site 12 and Site 27?
Here’s a dirty little secret about online campground bookings: a huge percentage of people abandon their reservation right at the site selection screen. They get overwhelmed. They don’t want to pick wrong. They exit the browser and tell themselves they’ll “research more later.”
Then they book somewhere else.
Drone footage solves this in a way that’s almost unfair. When you can show aerial views of individual site clusters—”here’s our creekside sites,” “these are our full-hookup pull-throughs,” “this is our tent-only area under the pines”—people can make confident decisions. Fast.
I worked with a campground that was getting tons of website traffic but relatively low booking conversions. We created short (15-20 second) drone clips for each of their site “neighborhoods” and embedded them on their booking page. Conversion rate went up 28%.
Same traffic. Same prices. Just removed the guesswork.
Creating Year-Round Marketing Assets That Extend Beyond Peak Season
Let’s talk about something most campground owners don’t think about until it’s too late: off-season marketing.
Peak season in the Black Hills runs June through August, maybe extending a bit into September if weather cooperates. But what’re you posting on social media in January? February? How are you keeping your campground top-of-mind during the 8-9 months when people aren’t actively camping?
Drone footage gives you a content library that works year-round.
That autumn shot with the aspens turning gold? Post it in October to remind people to book for next fall. Winter footage showing the property dusted with snow? That’s perfect for February when people are planning summer trips and dreaming about getting outdoors. Spring green-up videos? Ideal for those early-season campers looking for a deal.
I always tell campground owners: one good drone shoot in each season gives you 30-40 pieces of content you can use for the next 12 months (and honestly, years beyond that if the property hasn’t changed much). Break the footage into different lengths, different angles, different focal points. Suddenly you’ve got a content calendar that doesn’t involve you scrambling to take another blurry photo of your sign every week.
And here’s the beautiful part—this content appreciates in value. Every view, every share, every time someone stumbles across your video from three years ago and books a site? That’s your marketing working for you while you sleep.
The Real-World Impact (And Why Most Campgrounds Still Aren’t Doing This)
Now, I’ve gotta be honest with you.
Most campground owners I talk to get excited about drone footage right up until the moment they start thinking about the logistics. How much does it cost? Do I need to hire someone? What if the weather’s bad? Do I need FAA approval? What about editing?
These are all legitimate questions, but they shouldn’t stop you from moving forward—because the campgrounds that are using drone marketing are absolutely eating everyone else’s lunch.
Think about it: if you’re one of 93+ campgrounds in the Black Hills and you’re the only one in your immediate area with professional aerial footage, you’ve just created a massive competitive advantage. You look more professional, more established, more worth the drive. You stand out in every online space that matters.
And the cost? Way less than you’d spend on a single billboard on I-90 for a month—except this works forever, reaches way more people, and actually converts them to bookings.
I’ve seen campgrounds transform their entire marketing presence with a single well-executed drone shoot. Suddenly they’re not competing on price anymore (race to the bottom that nobody wins). They’re competing on experience. On visual storytelling. On giving people a reason to choose them specifically.
That’s a game you can actually win.
Time to Stop Blending In
Look, I get it. You didn’t get into the campground business because you wanted to become a marketing expert. You did it because you love the outdoors, you love hosting families, you want to provide people with memorable experiences in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
But here’s the reality: if people don’t find you online, if they can’t visualize their stay, if your marketing looks exactly like every other campground’s marketing—they’re gonna book somewhere else. Not because your property isn’t great. Because they never gave it a fair shot.
Drone footage levels the playing field. It lets you tell your story in a way that actually does your property justice. It converts browsers into bookers, solves decision paralysis, dominates algorithms, and gives you marketing assets that work year-round.
The campgrounds that figure this out now? They’re gonna be the ones thriving while others are wondering where all the bookings went.
Want to see what your campground could look like from above? See how PatriotDrones.ORG can help you meet your goals. We specialize in aerial videography that turns properties into experiences and browsers into bookers.
Check out our portfolio or get in touch to start transforming your campground marketing.
Until next flight, stay safe and fly often!
Jason Gilmor
www.PatriotDrones.ORG
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