In most parts of the country, parents have many options for where to enroll their child in daycare. That means that daycare centers face harsh competition. Marketing can help make your daycare center stand out among the many businesses in your area.
We’ve put together leading tips for daycare marketing strategies that help attract and retain parents.
8 Daycare Marketing Strategies
Learn how to market your daycare effectively to reach more parents and keep enrollment full. Here’s what you should be doing to ensure success.
- Start with an Impressive Website
Your website’s design makes up 94 percent of the first impression that a parent will have of your daycare online. Start by ensuring your website is attractive, loads quickly, and is easy for parents to navigate.
Then ensure all the right information is available. Your website should include the following details.
- Rates
- Hours
- Registration process
- Curriculum overviews
- Parent Handbook
- Age requirements for programs
- Attendance options, such as full-time, part-time, or flex time
Evaluate whether upgrading your website to a platform where you can offer virtual tours and other digital tools might be worth it. And talk to your childcare software provider about how you can add digital enrollment forms to your website so parents can register with ease and you can eliminate the need for paper records.
- Build a Social Media Strategy
Social media allows you to share information in a very real and down-to-earth way. Plus, it offers simple ways to reach new parents thanks to current parents sharing posts that involve their children.
Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for daycare centers. Consider how involvement in Facebook groups and hashtags on Twitter and Instagram could enable you to increase your following and build awareness for what you offer.
Part of your enrollment paperwork should include a photo release form that allows you to share images of students on your social media accounts. This will help you showcase the value you offer and create a personal experience for parents seeking care for their children.
- Evaluate Printed Media
Evaluate whether your business might succeed with printed flyers or postcards. While there are ample digital marketing opportunities, don’t count print out just yet. Some businesses still find success with print media.
Exchanging marketing opportunities with local businesses that serve parents or children in another way can help you reach your target audience and collaborate in your community. That’s not to say you should blanket surrounding neighborhoods with postcards because that could be expensive. But perhaps you could build a partnership with a local doula or children’s activity center to find parents in your community with young children.
You can use flyers to hang up at local coffee shops or hand them out during community fairs at local workplaces or events. This gives parents something tangible to remember you by.
- Use Paid Daycare Marketing Strategically
While you want to take full advantage of the free marketing activities available to you, don’t forget that paid marketing can pay incredible dividends.
Google ads can help you reach parents seeking information about childcare solutions in your area. You can be very specific about these ads’ geography, down to ZIP codes.
Facebook and Instagram ads also allow you to target local residents who show an interest in information and activities for young children. Online ads offer a clear strategy for reaching parents during enrollment periods or common times of the year when parents seek childcare resources.
- Start a Blog
If you don’t want to pay for the top position on Google, you can earn your way there with an effective blogging strategy. Blogs help introduce your center, its policies, and what makes it so great. Plus, you can target common keywords parents use to find high-quality early childhood education programs near them.
- Work on Your Online Reputation
Ask current parents and families to review you online. This will give you more content for your website and social media. But it also offers a vote of confidence for potential parents considering whether your daycare might be right for them.
Allow the voice of parents to shine through in your marketing by collecting their candid feedback online. Once a parent has been with your center for a few months, automate an email to them requesting their feedback on Google. This public forum offers verifiable information for potential customers considering your center.
You might offer incentives for parents who review your center, such as an entry into a monthly raffle for a gift card.
- Build a Referral Program
The best marketing for your center is the students and parents already enrolled there. Offer incentives for parents who refer their friends to your school, such as a free week of tuition or a $100 gift card to a local retailer.
Referrals speak volumes and are highly influential in parents deciding where to enroll their children. Just be sure that the incentives you offer are lucrative enough to encourage parents to put in the effort to refer their friends.
- Implement Best-in-class Technology
Parents want to send their children to a daycare center that is easy to work with and provides ample communication. To be that center, you must implement best-in-class technology.
iCare Software offers premier communication tools alongside valuable tools like developmental milestone tracking and billing to solidify your relationship with parents.
Schedule a 15-minute consultation with the iCare Software team now to learn more about how our software sets up your marketing strategies for success.