Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges is the largest association of YMCAs in the state of New Jersey. For over 150 years, the organization has served the community with the mission to support youth development, promote healthy living and encourage social responsibility. The association believes that a strong community can only be achieved when its kids, health and neighbors are taken care of.
The Problem
The Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges had been relying on email campaigns, phone calls, blogs, print media and in-house digital marketing to share information about the multitude of programs the organization has with the community and its 100,000 participants. Digital marketing was taking up a large amount of time with only an average return on investment. With the task of centralizing communications across its numerous locations, the marketing team needed to shift its focus.
The team also struggled with proving to senior executives that digital marketing can play a large role in revenue stream and awareness.
The ACTIVE Difference
The partnership between Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges and ACTIVE’s Digital Marketing Services began in late 2019. The digital marketing team took over every aspect of paid social campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Google Search campaigns and consulting services.
Greg Albers, Vice President of Marketing Communications at Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges, admits he had trust issues at first. However, after ACTIVE followed through and significantly increased ROI, Albers has become an advocate.
“I'm one who likes to have my hands in a lot of different areas, and I like to control a little bit,” Albers says. “It's big for me to say I rely on them and I trust them.”
Recently, ACTIVE’s Digital Marketing Services helped Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges pivot its offerings for many programs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. One that stands out is summer camps, which take place at the Fairview Lake location.
Usually, during the summer season the organization holds camps, and parents are able to rent cabins on location for the family to enjoy during that time. However, with the camps canceled because of the pandemic, the private cabins became socially distant vacation rentals where families could enjoy everything the property has to offer in a safe way. Plus, parents could work from their computers using the location’s WiFi.
ACTIVE’s Digital Marketing Services team was able to get the ads up and in front of the right people in record time. According to Albers, 100% of the families who rented a cabin learned about the offering from the paid social ads executed by ACTIVE, and the return on ad spend for the campaign was over 7,000%, which impressed the association’s executive team.
“I've been happy, extremely happy,” Albers says. “I was shooting for 300%. That was my benchmark, and it's far exceeded that benchmark by hundreds of percentages. Thousands.”
