The American Camp Association recently camp out with their 2015 Camp Enrollment Survey Results. While many of the trends were very positive, there were a few areas of concern to me and I am going to cover all of them on my blog in the next few weeks. The first area I noticed is highlighted in the chart below and shows the percent of campers who were returning from prior summers. 19% of camps had less then a 50% retention rate...
Read MoreWe are absolutely loving Instagram ads over here at Social Summer Camp! In addition to being a brand new advertising platform for us, they have some unique advantages that we really enjoy: 1. Targeting: The targeting of Instagram ads is exactly the same as targeting of Facebook ads. Facebook's targeting is some of the best in the business, so we were absolutely thrilled to see so many great targeting options for Instagram. 2. Creative: In addition to doing one photo, you can also use...
Read MoreOur number one focus at Social Summer Camp is helping our customers sign up new campers. Today I am so excited to present some anonymous results from one of our clients. All of their leads came directly from Facebook Ads and Google AdWords. This camp was able to sign up 9 families at a cost per customer of just over $1,000. These are fantastic results for camps, who have a lifetime value of MUCH larger than $1,000 a camper. If you aren't...
Read MoreI've mentioned it a few times before, but summer should be the biggest time for marketing your summer camp. During the summer I spend a lot of time looking at what other camps are doing and, of course, refining the strategies of my current clients. I've noticed a few things that really back up my recommendation for how important summer marketing can be. 1. Many camps are not posting during the summer, but the ones who are see large increases in...
Read MoreI've said it before and I'll say it again: the summer is the best time to market your summer camp. If you have ever wondered when the best time to start a social media program is, the answer is right now! Here are some of the benefits of marketing during the summer: 1. You have a large audience- Parents, friends, aunts and uncles are all online looking for information about what their camper is up to! This is your best chance...
Read MoreI really think that Tumblr will be a huge opportunity for camps in 2015. To give you an idea of some Tumblr blogs that are very popular, here are the top 25 viral Tumblrs from the year. Tumblr is dominated by a younger, female audience, which makes it perfect for a lot of summer camp's target audiences. From their webpage: "Tumblr has over 200 million blogs to date. Tumblr was one of the fastest growing platforms in 2014. Its audience is 51% female and 55% between the...
Read MorePinterest recently announced a beta test for Promoted Pins! While Pinterest is still working out the kinks of the initial test, promoted pins are a great way to gain awareness for your camp and drive site traffic, while reaching a new audience. Interested in testing promoted pins for your camp? Below are a couple of things we will work with you to set up to ensure your camp has everything it needs before being whitelisted to test Promoted Pins! 1) If your...
Read MoreOne of the biggest questions I get asked by summer camps is "What is my Camp's Brand Voice?" For each camp this means a different thing, but most often they are asking...
Read MoreFor summer camps that are interested in expanding their reach on mobile, the launch of the Facebook Mobile Ad Network could be a huge deal for you all. According to Mashable: "Audience Network, which was first announced in April, allows businesses to use Facebook's ad targeting tools to better serve ads on mobile applications not named Facebook. In one example offered by the social network, Shazam used Audience Network to sell native ads in its own app, including an ad for...
Read MoreNow that camp is officially over, it is time to put together a fall marketing plan for your summer camp. One big component of this plan is what message your camp will use to market to returning campers. There are a few ways to do this: 1. Reach Parents- Parents are the ones who are most likely re-enrolling their camper for next summer. Appeal to them with a few different types of messages during your early bird period. A few messages you...
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