Retaining Campers Using Social Media

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 while 68% saw a less then 74% return rate.

These numbers only concern me because I know that there are so many ways that camps keep their campers and families engaged using social media. In fact, social media is the most powerful way for camps to retain customers for the next year.

Here are a few easy ways that you can start to engage your camp families on social media that will help lead to retention:

1. Remind them of the great times from Summer 2015:

Make sure to post a lot of great photos and videos from the past summer. Share the most memorable special events and moments from the past summer.

2. Remind them of the benefit of summer camp:

There are so many great articles about the benefits of a summer at camp. Be sure to share these on your social media accounts for your current parents.

3. Excite them about Summer 2016:

The best way to increase retention? Get your families excited about Summer 2016! Share the ways that you are improving camp, bringing back your best staff and adding more fun activities for your campers to enjoy.

What are some other ways you can use social media to retain your camp families?