As a camp leader, you wear a lot of hats (and not just to protect yourself from the sun!). Not only are you responsible for success during the camp season, but also you need to do all of the planning, communicating, and marketing in the lead up to camp.
An understanding of camp buying behavior, as well as camp registration and management software, will help you streamline your work and make it as easy as possible for parents to make a purchase.
Analyzing Camp Booking Behavior
The first step toward finding new customers and increasing your enrollment and revenue is to gain an understanding of how and when parents decide to purchase camp. Camp, especially summer camp, is usually a large purchase, which means customers will spend time researching and considering their options before making a decision.
We analyzed 9.1 million activity bookings, including thousands of camp bookings, made in 2023, and determined camp buying trends from parents.
Parents Research and Book Camp Early
Parents start researching camp six-plus months and book two-to-four-plus months before the summer
With so many camps on the market. Parents want to make sure they are sending their children to the right camp for them. We recommend publishing your camp listings as early as possible and making sure they look professional and really pop. Include high-quality photos, sample schedules, parent reviews, and everything else you can to give families a clear idea of what to expect.
Pricing and Booking Flexibility Is Important
Offering options like buy now, pay later (BNPL) and camp by day, week, or month help parents make the decision to book
Options can help parents decide which camp is right for their family and make their registration decision easier. Pricing flexibility with BNPL and monthly installments can help manage the burden of such a large purchase. In 2023, 19 percent of parents utilized a BNPL option when making a purchase on Sawyer. Similarly, offering booking options like camp by day, week, or month and free trials or drop ins can help parents fill their summer schedules and you fill your sessions.
Parent Reviews Are the Key to Success
Millennial parents trust user-generated content (UGC) and parent reviews when making camp purchasing decisions
Adweek found that 47 percent of millennials say that they trust UGC versus 25 percent who trust branded content. Similarly, according to Hootsuite, 92 percent of consumers trust recommendations from people they know and 70 percent trust online consumer opinions. That means highlighting customer reviews on your camp listings, in your marketing, and on your website can help prospective parents make the decision to book.
How Camp Registration and Management Software Supports Growth
Millennial parents live their lives digitally. They need to be able to easily discover your camp, do their research, and make a booking. With a camp registration and management software you can be sure that it is easy for parents to see your listings, be wowed, and, most importantly, make their bookings.
Mobile-First Booking Experience
Parents are busy. They need to be able to easily book camp when they have the time, whether that is waiting at school pickup, during halftime at a flag football game, or after bedtime. In fact, we found that over 60 percent of the bookings made on Sawyer in 2023 were done on a mobile device. Using a camp registration and management software that is built for mobile booking allows for seamless experience.
24/7 Booking Access
Don’t rely on email or phone calls to take bookings because you will miss out on sales! Forty-two percent of bookings made with Sawyer in 2023 were made outside of regular business hours (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Registration software lets you take bookings any time, any place, which benefits both you and your customers.
Professional Look and Feel
At the end of the day, parents are looking to sign their child up for a camp that they trust. Using camp registration and management software makes your camp look even more professional and impressive. Parents will see intuitive design, clear listings, photos, parent reviews, and so much more. They will know that they can trust your team to take care of their children and provide a safe and welcoming environment.
It might be fall, but summer camp booking season is all year long! We hope these insights help you as you prepare for another wonderful summer full of happy campers.
This article was sponsored by Sawyer. Sawyer is an all-in-one camp registration and management software that helps camp owners and children’s activity providers efficiently run their businesses so they can spend more time doing what they love. Looking for more ways to supercharge your camp enrollment? Speak with one of our camp experts.
Lizzie is the content marketing manager for Sawyer. She helps connect camp owners and educators with the resources they need so they can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time working with children. A lifelong lover of camp as both a camper and counselor, Lizzie is thrilled that she gets to spend her days helping providers discover and use Sawyer to make camp more accessible.
Periodically, the American Camp Association (ACA) makes timely and relevant information about products and services available to its members so they can make informed decisions for their camps. However, the ACA does not endorse products, services, or companies.
