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THE STATE OF CAMP MARKETING: FOUR KEY TAKEAWAYS

This past week, Our Kids’ marketing manager James Shi led a webinar on “The State of Camp Marketing in 2024.” Drawing from our data on over one million annual website visitors, the webinar focused on three current trends, while applying our 28 years of industry experience to delve into three unchanging principles that should continue to guide you.

Presented in partnership with the Ontario Camps Association (OCA), this was the first of three Our Kids’ Marketing Academy events that will help you maximize your marketing mojo in 2025.

Five key takeaways from the webinar

❯	People’s shorter attention spans require clearer, more impactful communication. To stand out from the crowd, you need to communicate your value proposition clearly within the first 8 seconds. Drawing inspiration from YouTube’s thumbnail design best practices, high-impact communication should be pithy, focused, curiosity evoking, and tell both the WHAT and WHY of your offerings.
❯	There are more ways for parents to find answers. Make sure you’re there. Google SERPs offer answers directly. AI tools like ChatGPT draw information from the web to provide more accurate responses. Be aware how families find you, and how you’re presented when questions are asked. Look to your own Our Kids report, specifically at the brand identity Q&A for inspiration.
❯	Hyper-personalization is intensifying. Parents want information relevant only to themselves. If you can’t create individualized communication streams, at the very least, segment your email lists to send different messages to first-time prospects, past participants, referrers (parents that champion your brand), and current families.
❯	Trust is still king when it comes to camp & program decisions Two key components of trust are credibility and transparency. Showcase your badges, certifications, reviews, and testimonials. Tell your story from the perspective of campers, students, or parents, instead of presenting bullets and lists.
❯	Choosing a camp or program is an emotional decision While selling features is important, align your offerings to people's emotional triggers. For example, instead of showing how many activities you have, show the transformation of your participants after these activities

Did you miss it?

The one hour presentation looks in-depth look at three current trends:

Customers’ shrinking attention span driven by an ever-faster culture aided now by AI.
The search-reliant mindset, not always leading to clicks and broadened to new sources.
Personalization at scale that helps parents inundated by options, by individualizing messages.

That’s followed by a review of these enduring principles:

The primacy of trust, including a case study of Patagonia, with applications for camps.
How emotions drive decisions, with a case study of Coca-Cola that applies to your campaigns.
Consistency is key, including lessons from Apple that apply to your marketing.

Watch it now

Want to increase your program registration for 2025?

Our Kids helps camps and programs in Canada and beyond to connect with highly interested, local families. Your information will be packaged to be relevant and digestible, allowing you to build brand awareness and trust from the beginning.

Early-bird registration is now open until Oct 31. Gain $300 discount plus other perks when joining before the deadline.

Don’t miss the opportunity to elevate your marketing in a way that’s proven effective for 300+ organizations—big and small—for the last 27 years.

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THE STATE OF CAMP MARKETING: FOUR KEY TAKEAWAYS

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