The Guide to Low-Cost Marketing for Child Care Providers
By Child Care Accelerate Marketing
Originally published on July 1, 2024 (www.childcareaccelerate.com)
Making the time to market your business can yield incredible results, but can also be overwhelming when you consider the many different ways to reach new families. In addition, it is challenging to develop an effective marketing plan when you have a small budget (or sometimes, no budget at all) to support your efforts. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a large amount of money to boost your business. In this blog we will explore four low-cost marketing channels to help amplify your child care center to your community and beyond.
First things first — do you have a marketing strategy in place? If not, this is your sign to create one! Start with your goal — what do you want to achieve? Drive more traffic to your website? Better engage existing parents? Once you have confirmed your goal, consider how you are going to accomplish it — the how is your strategy. For example, should you use social media to attract new parents? Email to engage current ones? Update your website with SEO-friendly web copy? Could it be a combination of ideas? It’s also important to keep in mind your constraints like people resources and budget. Once you have solidified your strategy, it is time to act, so let’s examine a few marketing channels that can make an impact.
Social Media
Many business owners think of social media as a tool to attract families. However, your social presence is available to anyone who visits your social accounts, including community stakeholders and jobseekers. As you think about content to post across social channels, don’t forget to sprinkle in content that connects with a variety of audiences and highlights your strengths. Here are a few topics to consider — company mission/vision, company culture, employee benefits, employee highlights or reviews, news features, awards and recognition, parent reviews, upcoming job fair and events. It’s important to post consistently in varied ways (i.e. Facebook post versus a Facebook reel) and evaluate what performs best. Also, creating an outline of topics and planning in advance will help you to execute efficiently.
Email is a fantastic, free channel to nurture individuals who already exist in your database. If someone opts in to receive emails from your center (their permission is required), leverage it as an opportunity to build a relationship with them. Segment your database so that your email content is tailored to the right audience. For example, you may send monthly newsletters to parents with topics specific to their interests and a separate email to potential job candidates to keep them engaged. If you aren’t currently collecting emails from website visitors, consider integrating an email platform like Mailchimp or Constant Contact into your website to streamline.
Website
What search results return when you Google your center’s name? If you haven’t searched your company recently, give it a try. Hopefully you will find a few options that highlight your digital footprint — a website, Facebook page, perhaps Google reviews? If your website does not appear at the top of the Google search results page, it may be time to rethink your digital strategy. Your website provides a space for you to craft an amazing experience for your online users. It can serve as a one-stop tool to share your brand story, highlight your offerings, and further engage new and enrolled families as well as other stakeholders. Using search optimized copy on your website will help to position your center higher in Google search results.
Reviews
A review reflects a customer’s experience with your center’s services. Reviews can be found on sites such as Google, Amazon, Yelp, and Facebook1. Good reviews can enhance your brand’s reputation and build credibility amongst your audience. Families often check reviews to gauge your business’s reputation among families you are currently serving. To ensure you provide the most accurate reflection of your brand, take time to set up or claim your business on associated review sites. If you don’t yet have business reviews, ask customers and even employees (to appeal to jobseekers) to leave an honest review of their experiences.
No matter the channel you decide to reach families and community members, it is important to evaluate performance based on key metrics (i.e. website visits, email opens, social impressions or engagement) and its impact on your overall business objective. Understanding the data will enable you to pivot and optimize performance and also better understand your audience.
1 Baker, K. (2022, May 18). The ultimate guide to customer reviews and testimonials. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-reviews-testimonials
Child Care Accelerate is an innovative business support program designed to help child care providers optimize their business operations in two months. Our customized coaching journey allows us to partner with providers on their self-identified goals and priorities and share tools to improve their operational efficiency, build financial capacity and sustain a competitive edge. To learn more about Child Care Accelerate, please email info@seedconsults.com.
