Find a gap and fill it.
No matter your industry, that’s a basic premise for success … even (maybe especially?) for digital-first brands that are looking to expand to print. And according to Janine Pettit, founder of GirlCamper.com, their new print title is needed now more than ever.
“We initially planned to publish our first issue in the fall of 2020,” notes Pettit in a press release. “However, with the surge of interest in the camping lifestyle from people reluctant to stay in hotels or travel by plane or on cruise ships, we were inspired to put the pedal to the metal and move our launch date up.”
She continues, “We created the magazine we looked for on the newsstand but didn’t find. We wanted to create a publication that spoke to women of all ages, shapes, colors, orientations and states of life and let them know we saved them a seat around the campfire.”
While the site has been popular and growing online, the addition of print makes absolute sense. Consider the reasons why people camp – to unplug for a while, to disconnect, to reconnect with more tangible experiences. With a print magazine, their audience can stay connected to the brand even when they can’t charge their phone or get a signal.
Their audience is remarkably devoted to the brand if their social metrics are any indication; according to the release, “Girl Camper has an 84% engagement rate on their Facebook page compared to the average of 28.3% of all Facebook pages.”
That kind of engagement seems to appeal to advertisers — Camco Manufacturing, Keystone RV, Lance Campers, Forest River, Ford Motor Company, 99 Walks and Go RVing have all signed on as print ad partners.
Kudos to Pettit and team for making the move into print; we can already see your magazine around the campfire, and it looks great there.