Thank you all for chiming in on my 2014 Reader Survey. The last one I did was back in 2011, so it’s been a while and we’ve definitely grown around here! I’m so appreciative of your time, your input, your kind comments and your constructive suggestions!
I’ll be working through some of the meatier stuff over the next few weeks and sometime between now and, oh, Chanukah, I hope to have a second post about some of your suggestions and questions — and any fine tuning that I’ll be going here on the blog. While I always value your input, and recognize that without YOU, there’d be no KOAB, I don’t want to jump into making changes either — since I have to know that they feel “right” to me as well.
(Don’t worry – I’m not talking about HUGE changes in any way. Really just a fine-tuning of some things. Particularly in terms of store match-ups- where based on the answers about how many of you use which ones, I really want to make sure that the time/usefulness scale is balanced as much as possible.)
One of the comments that came up time and again — and made me so happy to read! — was that KOAB feels like a community to you. YAY!! It does to me, too!
Given that, I thought it would be fun to share some of the demographic information gathered from the survey, so we can see just who the members of our community are. Now keep in mind that any survey is self-selecting. We had a great turn-out of nearly 700 responses (wow!), but considering that KOAB gets some 7000-10,000 visits per day (Sunday – Thursday), there are obviously many more members of our “community” beyond those who responded here.
Would you check out how many of you have been reading KOAB for at least one to three years? The vast majority of you! As in 411 responders!
What I love about this question is that it shows that you guys STICK around — and in Blog Land, a loyal group of people who STICK with you is actually surprisingly rare. I once heard a blogging “expert” speak at a conference and he said to assume that your blog readership turns over once every 12-18 months. But it looks like the KOAB community proves that assumption wrong!
I love all of y’all — newbies and old-timers alike. And I’m grateful that so many of you have found Kosher on a Budget — and have chosen to keep coming back!
So, here’s another interesting one. Barring those who can’t remember (I hear you!), the majority of you found out about KOAB from a friend — a real, actual human being. Social media helped and no surprise that of the big three, Facebook led the pack. A few of you even happened upon KOAB from a Google search, but the fact that so many of you are telling people — in real life!!! — about this blog makes me so proud! Thank you!
Who’s surprised by this one? It looks like 95% of KOAB readers are women! I love those few male readers, though – and I’m glad you’re here, despite the overwhelmingly X-chromosome-vibe this place apparently has! 🙂
All I have to say about this one is that y’all make me feel old! Okay, so 70% of you are younger than me, but that just means I’m like a cool aunt, right? Or older sister?
I’m also loving the fact that so many of you commented to me that you are grandparents – and even one great-grandmother! And I had three high school students comment – kol ha’kavod for being aware so young. (I wish I had been…)
Looks like the vast majority of KOAB readers are married…
… And most have at least one or two children at home…
… With the ages of those kids being pretty well evenly split across the spectrum from newborn to teenager+.
How do you identify religiously?
As far as the religious background of people reading this blog, most identify as Orthodox Jews – but there was a strong showing of other backgrounds and beliefs as well. And even among those who call themselves Orthodox, as I gleaned from the comments some of you left, that definition is pretty wide ranging as well. I really love that this community is so inclusive — and that everyone feels comfortable here!
By the way, of those who are Jewish, 92.5% of you said you belong to a synagogue. Just sayin’ that maybe those Pew Researchers should recommend blogging to their communal leaders. 😉
Last but not least, 93% of respondents said they kept kosher (with many commenting about the specifics — everything from kosher meat, but no separate dishes, to chalav yisrael and pas yisrael only). What I found especially interesting is how much you guys spend on groceries.
I’ll be honest – I was surprised it was a low as it is, with the majority of people being at or under $649/month. Remember — for those of you who are over that (like my family is these days!) — that more KOAB readers had one or two kids than three or more kids… and most were under 11. (Says the mom of two boys who aren’t teenagers yet, but sure eat like they are!)
So there you have: A quick look behind the veil of the KOAB community. Thank you again for taking the time to complete the 2014 Reader Survey. And stay tuned for more insights from your responses!
P.S. The 5 Amazon gift card winners will be selected tonight — if you win, you’ll get an email from me and have 48 hours to respond! Be sure to “white list” kosheronabudget @ gmail.com
I didn’t fill out the survey until almost the very last minute, and being pressed for time, I didn’t add any comments then.
For any future survey: perhaps, instead of “unaffiliated Jewish,” use “other Jewish.” It was hard for me to answer, because my brand preference is Reconstructionist, but the congregation of which I’m a member is unaffiliated.
LOVE how you posted these results for us to see. Looking forward to hearing more about the changes you will be making. Keep up the good work. I LOVE KOAB!!!