Pilots constantly review their gauges and data to refine their course. In fact, airplanes course-correct 90% of the time, according to blogger Chris Brogan. If they didn't, flights would end up at the wrong airport...or worse! Similarly, camps can always refine and improve, no matter how successful.
In his book Little Bets, author Peter Sims discusses how innovation often springs from small tests ("little bets") that are refined based on feedback over time, not huge risks. So, what does this have to do with Jewish Camp?
Camps have their own gauges to get feedback and data, discover issues, and consider improvements. Data in many forms is all around them waiting to be reviewed, analyzed, and acted upon. Here we'll review four sources: eNewsletter, Website, Facebook, and Survey Feedback.
eNewsletter
Have you reviewed your eNewsletter statistics recently?
| Statistics |
Questions Answered |
| Opens |
What Subject Lines were most successful at convincing readers to open our eNewsletters? Is there a day/time when our emails are most likely to be opened? |
| Clicks |
What content are our readers the most interested in? |
Website
Do you have an analytics package installed on your website to track your web traffic? If not, install Google Analytics (for free!) today.
| Analytics |
Questions Answered |
| Most read content on site |
What kind of information should we focus on for our readers? |
| Referral Sources |
What channel is driving the most traffic to our site? Are your social media efforts resulting in website traffic? Your eNewsletters? How are your Google or Facebook Ads performing? Should we continue to pay for listings on camp listing sites? |
| Mobile devices used to access site |
How should we devote resources to making our site better suited for mobile? Should we consider developing a mobile app? |
Facebook
Your Facebook Page offers Insights - analytics about the posts on your Page and the people who Like your Page.
| Insights |
Questions Answered |
| Number of links, comments, and shares for each Post (Engagement) |
What kind of content is our audience most interested in? What time of day is our audience most likely to respond to posts? |
| Demographics of Page Likes |
Is our audience mostly older men? Young women? Where do they live? Is there different content we should be offering these segments? |
Survey Feedback
Don't forget your camp surveys. And don't ignore the results. This feedback can offer incredible, actionable insights if you review and act on them in an organized way. Where can you improve your programming or communications? What can you refine to become an even better camp?