Happy Holidays from SSI: Celebrating a Year of Achievements
December 23, 2023
As we bid farewell to 2023, we at SSI want to wish you happy holidays and reflect on a year filled with remarkable achievements and innovations. This year, SSI reached new milestones, introduced exciting programs, and implemented features to enhance your training and dive experiences.
As we embrace the holiday season, we want to express our gratitude for your continued support and share the joy of our collective accomplishments. So let us dive into some of our highlights from 2023:
1. We have cracked the 1 million follower mark on social!
This year has been nothing short of extraordinary for SSI, as we proudly announce that our social media family has now surpassed one million followers! Through engaging campaigns like "A Day in the Life of a Professional or Center" and the "Dive Site of the Month", we have not only showcased the diversity of our community but also provided a platform for our Centers to shine.
With our "Dive Site of the Month" and "Best Dive Destination" campaigns, our Centers can describe a beautiful dive site in their area as a blog post, present their destination, and promote their Center at the same time.
We have also launched a new dive community on Facebook; Underwater Explorers Worldwide.
Our mission is to create a vibrant and supportive network of divers who are eager to share their experiences, insights, and tips to enhance your diving adventures. Be sure to join us!
2. We launched seven exciting new programs
Our commitment to diversifying the underwater experience led to the launch of seven new SSI programs. These include Computer Diving, Try CCR, and Freediver, plus Public Safety Diver and Rescue Team Diver in partnership with Dive Rescue International. We have also updated the Advanced Freediver and Performance Freediver programs.
Our Online Learning Platform has also been completely revised and enhanced, with new helpful features. The integration of machine translation now allows us to offer every program in over 40 languages, ensuring that diving education is accessible to a global audience.
3. We streamlined our training support
In the realm of training support, we have streamlined processes related to digital training records, simplified our Affiliation Management, and ensured users are shown events in the vicinity on the product pages of our website.
These advancements save time and effort at Centers, allow pros to join several Centers and teach abroad for a short time, and make it easier to complete the certification process.
All of which makes the journey from novice to expert scuba diver more seamless and enjoyable.
4. We created more support for job seekers in the dive industry
To support our SSI Professionals and Centers, errors can now easily be reported directly using our Feedback Tool for quicker error resolution. We have Extended User Profiles for Professionals to streamline the job application process, and we have a new and user-friendly Job Offers Page to support job seekers in the dive industry.
Our auto-renewal process ensures hassle-free renewals, allowing our community to focus more on their passion for diving and less on paperwork!
5. Our App and Email Marketing has seen outstanding success
The MySSI app has undergone exciting updates, including the introduction of the Dive Log Challenge, which rewards users of the MySSI for entering their dives in the digital logbook.
We have enhanced logbook features and introduced an Award Share function - a newly achieved level is now recognized with an award in the SSI app, which can be shared on various channels. We also have in-app notifications for customer generation and course promotion campaigns.
Meanwhile, our email marketing campaigns have seen outstanding success, with email open rates far exceeding industry benchmarks. The benchmark open rate for the sports industry is 23% and our Nitrox, Renewal, and Dive Guide campaigns, among others, have resonated well and far surpassed this:
- Nitrox Campaign; Open Rate 61% : This campaign automatically messages every new Open Water Diver not yet registered or certified for Enriched Air Nitrox and promotes the course.
- Renewal Campaign; Open Rate 56% : All pros who have not yet renewed are automatically reminded to do so regularly.
- Dive Guide Campaign; Open Rate 72% : All Dive Guides in inactive status will be contacted and informed about the advantages of active status.
6. The SSI website has experienced significant growth in user engagement
The SSI website has experienced exponential growth in user engagement, with over two million users (+100% growth) and 14 million sessions (+115% growth). We have received 34 million page views in 2023.
We have also enhanced our Job Offers Page, ensuring that job seekers in the diving industry find opportunities seamlessly. Since the start of July 2023, this improved Job Offers Page has had 93,000 impressions (+33% growth) and 44,000 users (+39% growth).
As the holiday season approaches, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks and wishes to you, our valued SSI customers. Thank you for being an integral part of the SSI family and for trusting us with your diving education and adventures.
As we eagerly anticipate the coming year, we look forward to seeing you in the water, exploring the depths, and creating more unforgettable diving moments.
Happy holidays, and may 2024 be filled with exciting underwater discoveries!