When I was younger I used to work at a summer camp. A friend and myself were the leaders of the games station. As we planned out how the week would go with each team. We developed times for each game, set up breaks for snacks and water, wrote out instructions (that, to us, made sense), and got a sticker chart system together.
By the time the week of camp came around we felt like we had it in the bag.
On Monday night we were exhausted after only the first day. The campers weren’t listening, and we were feeling more like we were herding sheep than leading game time. We sat around the table with the other counselors and leaders and talked about our days. Many of the activity leaders reported having the same first day experience as we did.
The counselors, however, had some powerful insight to offer us. As counselors, they were with the kids all day. Leading them through activities, meal times, and back to the cabins. They’d had nothing but time to figure out the best ways to open lines of communication with the kids. They gave us pointers on what to try to get the kids to listen and participate. They knew how the kids needed to be addressed in order to get the right response.
The rest of the week was a breeze as we put the counselors’ tips into action. The kids were interactive, responsive, and aside from the bug bites and sun burn, we all had a great time at camp that year.
The problem with the first day wasn’t that we were unprepared, that we were completely oblivious, or that the kids were there for something other than games that week. It was that we didn’t know the best methods of reaching them.
Often this can happen with a business. You know who you want to target, you think you know how to market to them, but your efforts seem to fall on deaf ears despite your attempts.
This is why utilizing your company’s data is so important. You are collecting buckets full of data with every post, “like,” or share that your company’s content gets every day. All that data is to you and your company what the counselors were to the activity leaders at camp: there to tell you exactly how to be more effective to those you’re trying to communicate with.
Schedule a demo with Peerview Data to learn more about how we can help you tap into your company's data and reap the benefits of getting intentional with your content and marketing efforts, making you a happy camper.