Hey there, Ben here.

Sam Shankman (@samtravels) is the journalist behind farm hospitality, with over 59,000 followers as of this writing.

Back in 2021, Sam started telling her farm's story on Instagram, and that year, her farm in Spain booked out.

And one of the key content types she used to grow her own bookings is called Base Camp Content.

Sam’s a rockstar who introduced me to farm hospitality years before we started building Baya.

So a few weeks ago, she agreed to join me and my Content Lead Makenna for a live workshop to go deep on that.

And today, I'll break down how Base Camp Content works and how to build your first one in three steps (even if you don't run a farm stay yourself).

But first, the problem…

Most hospitality operators post their property (and only their property)

It makes sense.

Your hotel, resort, or property is the thing you built, and it's the thing you want to sell.

So your feed turns into:

• The cabins
• The harvest
• The dinner table
• "Book now"

But the trip your customer is planning is bigger than your property (so your content should be too).

If you only post about your property, you only reach people who already know they want to stay with you.

You’re missing out on attracting:

• First-time visitors who are searching for the best beginner itinerary
• Day trippers who want to pack in as many activities as they can, but don’t have a lot of time
• Group or family trip planners who want to visit, but need a variety of activity options to convince their group chat

As Makenna, put it during the workshop:

“When you only post about yourself and your property, it feels like advertising.”

But instead, if you post about local itineraries, you become a trusted guide. That’s the power of Base Camp Content.

What is it?

Sam described Base Camp Content as "a guest book of everything they could do, before they even get there."

For example, her guests come for the regenerative agriculture tour and the farm-to-table dinner.

Then they go kayaking on a lake.

Or drive into a mountain town nearby.

Base Camp Content gave her guests with a local itinerary (with her property as the “base camp” for their trip).

In other words, your content acts as a guide to help a guest plan their trip, with your property as the central jump-off point for it.

This is great because it…

• Helps strangers find you on Instagram
• Gives them a reason to follow your account
• Tempts them to visit (before they’re fully bought into your property)

Here's how to start using Base Camp Content to turn curious strangers into ideal guests:

Step 1: List what your guests do off your property.

Think about your last 10 guests.

• Where did they eat, swim, hike or grab a drink?
• What did they ask you to recommend on their first morning?
• Which spot do you send guests to that most visitors never find?

Write them down.

Because next you’ll…

Step 2: Turn each answer into a reel about the area.

For example:

• “3 swimming holes within 20 minutes of [town] for your girls trip. Send this to the group chat.”
• “First time in [town]? 5 places we send every guest for dinner.”
• “5 beginner-friendly things to do in [town] that work for a group of [number].”

Every hook…

• Calls out the specific viewer it’s for
• Teases what they’ll get
• Gives them a list of the information they’re looking for in the caption.

And, if your information is valuable enough the viewer will…

• Save the reel (which signals to Instagram to keep pushing it out)
• Send it to their friends (which drives more people to see your reel)
• Follow your account (which lets you market to them over time)

Step 3: Anchor every stop to your property.

This is the step that makes it Base Camp Content.

For each stop on the list, say how far it is from you:

• "Only 7 minutes from our property"
• "A mile hike from our front door"
• "Just down the street, walkable from your cabin"

Your property never has to be one of the stops.

Because it's already in the hook.

For example, you could recommend…

• “Five wellness experiences in Vermont, 20 minutes from our front door”
• “3 swimming holes within, a mile hike from your cabin”
• “The best Dark Sky spots to view the eclipse near [your property’s location]”

So when the viewer is ready to pick where to stay, your property is the obvious answer.

Because that’s what their whole itinerary was already built around!

Bonus: Partner with the places you recommend.

You don't need this to run base camp content.

But when you reach out and partner with the places on your list, it's an easy way to get extra juice on your content.

For example at Onera Fredericksburg, we book guests onto a bison ranch tour nearby, plus a stargazing guide and wine tours, all through our own direct booking site.

This way:

• The guest who would never have heard of that ranch now books a tour through us.
• The ranch sends its own event guests back to us, so both sides point to each other.
• The reel about the area becomes a stop on our guest’s itinerary, with Onera as the base camp.

Win-win.

Base Camp Content is content that helps strangers plan their trip itineraries (which inevitably includes you).

If you want to see how we create this content from start to finish, here's the resource hub we shared with everyone who joined Sam, Makenna and I live:

• The full workshop replay and slides
• 43 viral educational Reels and carousels to swipe from
• Our Single-Shot Reel Copywriter GPT
• The Single-Shot Reel Content Vault (10 Reels broken down, with links to the live posts)
• The videography templates our Accelerator members use to brief a shoot

​Click here to get the free farm hospitality workshop replay and resources.​

Hope this helps.

Ben Wolff

Founder, Oasi & Modern Hospitality Accelerator

P.S. Every Thursday inside the Modern Hospitality Accelerator, my content leads Makenna and Josh help members upgrade their hooks and turbocharge their content.

If you want our team in your corner as you build your demand engine…

​Fill out this 2-minute form to see if the Accelerator makes sense for your property.​