Welcome to the world of Childcare Marketing and promotion! This is a market opportunity that never stops growing. AND it is a market that knows very little about how to generate new clients. Many run a few poorly written ads and simply throw in the towel when it comes to marketing… Some will just do a few occasional social media posts and hope that “word of mouth” can carry them. Unfortunately, with the competition today, this is not sufficient. As more entrepreneurs become aware of the childcare industry, the number of centers grows and only the strongest marketing can keep centers filled. Jeanne and I are going to outline the strategy we’re following and why we think it’s the perfect one to adapt to your marketing agency. We’ve decided to divide this manual into 2 parts: The first part will show you how to land a childcare center client.(or as many as you want). The second part will show you the best marketing methods to bring the center more enrollments. Like any market niche, Childcare is evolving and their business is changing…and therefore we expect to evolve our marketing strategy, (both to acquire clients) and how best to market the centers. To that point, we may periodically produce updates to this material and make them available to you. Childcare is a BIG business in the United States. Studies show that working parents with young children are spending an average of $6,000 annually for childcare, supporting a national industry totaling $42 billion. Many are surprised to see such a large figure, but it's growing even larger as we speak. Parents are generally willing to pay more for the right daycare option, and usually, they’re thorough in their research to find what’s best for their child. But with so many childcare options available nowadays, how can centers get their daycare name and brand out there? Is it possible to stand out when there are so many well-financed daycare operations, including franchises out there? In short: Yes, absolutely. No matter the budget or the size of the childcare program, there are strategies we can use for effectively reaching new families without breaking the bank. In this guide, you’ll learn all about how to market a daycare center on a budget, yet maintain a quality image, including: ● The fundamental strategies that reach parents today ● How to position your client as a childcare expert ● What can scale up the efforts to boost enrollment

First, let's look at the market for clients and their customers. ● After extensive research, we found that 57% of working families spent more than $10,000 on child care in 2020. ● That’s about $340 per week to send a child to a childcare or daycare center, and $612 per week for a nanny. ● According to a 2020 study that analyzed 25 states across the nation, under the age of five, 8.4 million children needed child care. ● Nearly 70% of young mothers participate in the labor force.

● 72% of families say that childcare is more expensive than it was before the global COVID 19 pandemic, according to a Care.com study. So, the first observation we ought to make is there is a strong demand for childcare services. PLUS, The U.S. childcare market size was valued at USD 60.4 billion in 2022 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.18 % from 2023 to 2030. As of 2022, the number of daycares in the U.S. was estimated to be 634,528. These companies employ approximately 1.5 million people. I don’t know about you, but that size and sales volume came as a shock to us. Note that it’s a big industry and growing as well as any I can think of. 
 

The industry can be divided into two primary categories: center-based daycares and home daycares. Center-based daycares are usually larger in size and enrollment and, therefore, generate the largest portion of industry revenue. Home daycare providers usually consist of a single primary caregiver (a nonemployer) and thus have a much smaller enrollment and staff-to-child ratio.

While there is uncertainty in all industries following the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no doubt that childcare will remain an in-demand service for parents who need to work. Furthermore, you might ask, is the childcare industry profitable? According to IBISWorld, the average profit margin for a daycare business is around 15%. That's higher than the average for most other industries! Anyone thinking about starting a daycare business knows that you are getting into a very profitable and in-demand industry. Also note that labor overhead is one of the main costs of running a childcare center. Many states require a ratio of one caregiver to every three or four babies. This makes labor one of the most significant cost factors in childcare, according to NPR® reports. The most significant factor driving a staffing crisis is low pay for childcare workers, according to experts. A childcare worker in the United States made an average of just $13.31 per hour, or $27,680 per year,

in 2021, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. How much money can an owner make owning a daycare center? The earnings of a daycare proprietor are determined by the number of children they care for. If 36 children are enrolled at a daycare center, the proprietor can expect to make anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000 annually in take-home salary. Great daycare centers go above and beyond to ensure children's safety. This includes childproofing, food safety practices, a well-kept and maintained play space with sets of toys (making sure none of have been recalled) and constant supervision. The challenges facing the childcare industry are many. But it's no secret that heavy workloads are one of the biggest challenges in the industry. Managers, practitioners and owners are not only responsible for developing the children in their care but optimizing the business so that its operations are sustainable – and this can often carry lots of paperwork with it. The challenges that people face when working in childcare: -Not enough time in the day to do everything. -Too much paperwork. -Not enough time spent with the children. -Difficulty recruiting staff who are qualified. -Not getting enough support. -Difficulties in communicating with parents.

The Competition Childcare Centers Face The industry is very competitive with the presence of several large and many, many small players. The launch of new early development and education programs and collaborations are the key strategies adopted by the big market players. For instance, in Aug 2022, KinderCare launched a tuition benefit+ program designed for employers to facilitate affordable daycare service for working families. Some prominent players in the U.S. child care market include: ● Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc. ● KinderCare Education (largest in US) ● Primrose Schools ● Learning Care Group, Inc. ● Spring Education Group. ● Cadence Education ● The Learning Experience ● Childcare Network ● Kids ‘R’ Learning Academies ● Goddard Systems While these listed above are well-known names and do considerable volume, the vast majority of centers delivering childcare services are independent local businesses. In my experience they are definitely approachable, probably one of the easiest niches to talk to. The issue won’t be gatekeepers or attitude, but rather available time. An active owner is very busy during School/center hours. You will have to adjust to their schedule to have a meeting. Childcare really is a booming industry. In the United States, childcare costs typically average $9,589 per year for one child, and $19,074 per year for two children, according to Child Care Aware. It’s no surprise that many parents are feeling the pinch with their budget when it comes to finding adequate care for their children while they’re at work. Fortunately, you can employ some of the best daycare marketing strategies at your center to attract more families and make sure your business thrives. In this training manual, we’ll discuss helpful marketing tips that can help you boost your daycare business, attract more families, and achieve the success that your center deserves. 

The Prospecting That Works In many cases the answer is Direct Mail - if you do it the right way. You can fail at Direct Mail too, but not if you follow our guidance. And listen, we’re not saying you totally abandon all other marketing, just that you give Direct Mail a try, our way. We are confident you’ll find Direct Mail for landing Local Childcare Center clients is a dependable method IF your main focus is RESULTS. Direct Mail often gets shunted to the side because of its perceived cost. Most marketers don’t go to the effort to really establish what the costs are AND what typical results can be… Local Businesses postal mailboxes are nearly empty! It’s the same with residential mailboxes, which you’ve probably noticed, too. Once email became popular, postal mail usage started on a downhill slide…that continues today. …and that’s GREAT NEWS! It’s never been easier to get small targeted direct mail campaigns to show a profit. H

How To Measure Direct Mail The #1 way to measure direct mail is by RESULTS – nothing else really matters. It's irrelevant to compare direct mail costs to email costs. Costs higher for direct mail – no argument. BUT most email campaigns produce little, and still require software use, copywriting, autoresponder costs, list acquisition, time and can entail certain risks, banning from platforms, spam complaints, etc. Building a Local Childcare Target List for Direct Mail What follows is the most detailed way to strategize a list of long term childcare ‘goal clients’…Not everyone will want to do this much research, I understand. So you can always skip steps or just absorb this so you have a better, more refined way of choosing long term client targets. Targeting the right potential clients is more important than a life raft to a drowning man…. that’s not too extreme an analogy. It can also be the most misunderstood part of Offline Local Marketing. Most offline client-getting systems have you targeting a list of local businesses. They tell you to buy the lists or rent them or get them somehow. Then you’re supposed to go after them, with little differentiation from each other. Sometimes, they’ll say, “look for high income or large ticket sellers” …or they’ll push you to go after medical or lawyers since their average transaction is high. All this can be effective, but it still misses the biggest clue to know if the client even is worth pursuing. How do we build an informed and accurate opinion about a specific business and go beyond the old-fashioned clichés about niches. The answer is there, if we just look closely…look not at just a niche but at an individual business. 1. The first test is, are they already advertising? 2. Then, how much are they advertising, (how often and in what kind of media)? 3. What are their typical prices (and customer value)? These are proven tests to measure their advertising ‘dynamics’ and strategize how to best reach them. …And if we mail them the ‘right’ way, we can almost force them to contact us. So, let’s get into more detail. The first reason I like to apply these 3 tests is because when I apply all three, I get a much smaller universe of prospects. That’s actually what I’m looking for. The smaller the target market is, the more I can afford to promote to them. This highly targeted approach does take a bit more research, so let’s look at the three tests we apply in more detail. 2. How MUCH Are They Advertising? If a childcare business advertises, but rarely, they would not be our first choice. Some centers advertise so little they really come to expect poor results, making them a tougher sell also. These centers often advertise out of obligation, but don’t believe they’ll see many results. For instance, buying an ad in a Little League sponsor magazine, is technically advertising, but mostly about looking good in the community. Why Childcare businesses? Because they meet the test of having good margins because they are a Service Business…which will usually have the highest margins…. which enhances the overall High Average Client Value. Three reasons why these are good to focus on: 1. We Can Often Reach the Owner Directly. Much less of the ‘gatekeeper’ thing. With Childcare businesses often we can get to the business owner or Senior Manager easier…. or at least have fewer ‘layers’ to go through. 2. There Is Very Good Demand. In the case of childcare I’ve already pointed out there is very good demand. What I’ve found is owners want to be able to charge higher fees. That’s the Magic Bullet to talk about with prospects. AND they know their trade but are almost always clueless about marketing and usually ‘hate’ to sell. …. Perfect for us! Also, with childcare businesses, it is very easy to deliver for them because there is good local demand yet much less sophisticated internet competition.

The barriers to entry are not high for childcare centers, so many new entrants are always getting ready to open facilities. 3. They enjoy Better Margins Than Retail Stores and Product/Inventory Businesses. As long as a childcare business does some volume, you’ll usually have an easier time getting fees from the higher margin service businesses. They stand to make more profit from what you do for them…. therefore, you become more affordable and justifiable. By comparison, a small local bakery might be nice to help with their marketing, but I’ll bet they can barely afford to pay you. I know a company that sells a machine for measuring the quality of newly manufactured ammunition. It's a $100,000+ machine, but the profit margin is barely 10%...the company makes most of their profits providing SERVICE. Childcare is a SERVICE. That’s why we think these childcare centers can be a very good niche to target. So, if you’re paying attention, what we’re doing is drilling deeper and deeper into this lucrative niche, trying to find the better qualified childcare centers to target our mailings. Let’s continue… What Size of Mailing Should We Do? You could start with 50-piece mailings. And I think that still has its place if you want to follow these targeted approaches. I know, the supposed experts will be quick to tell you there’s no point in it. They still say you need BIG numbers, 500-1,000-2,000 or more to get any results. Well, if you do the research as I’ve detailed earlier and follow the mailing tools and schedule, you can mail small numbers, I mean really small numbers, and get good results. Since our numbers are so much smaller, we can afford to mail more powerful packages, and mail with more frequency. We can probably afford to use Priority Mail services, UPS, and FedEx, and similar high-impact mailers. Our frequency can also increase to at least three mailing contacts but can go to as many as 7. We can achieve a “Top of Mind” awareness for our service niche with each business we pursue this way. COST ESTIMATES (Time & Money- subject to change) Mailing Size Man Hours Material & Postage Cost(estimate) Response Rate 500 10 - 15 $285 Less than 1% to 1% 1,000 20 - 30 $570 Less than 1% 2,000 40 - 60 $1140 Less than 1% Above cost estimates assume using regular US mail, standard #10 business envelopes and up to 2 sheets of paper. Mailing Size Man Hours Cost(estimate)* Response 10-25 1-2 $60- $250 10% to 30%+ 10-25 1-2 $60- $250 10% to 30%+ 10-25 1-2 $60- $250 10% to 30%+ * These cost estimates all assume using Special Delivery Services like Priority Mail, FedEx, UPS, or other premium services. 

Inexpensive But Effective Another effective and very inexpensive mailing container is…colored envelopes. I know it seems simple, but I and others have gotten good results with bright color envelopes. Assuming standard #10 size style you’re only paying current first-class postage, the savings over the true priority packs is substantial.

Three Dimensional Or “Lumpy Mail” (Like a Dog So Ugly That It’s Almost Cute) The #1 objective here is to get the mail opened. That's why we’re pursuing these non-standard ways to mail. Placing small items, like aspirin, toys, pictures, etc piques the recipient’s interest…they want to know “What is this, what’s inside?” Having a label that says, PHOTO ENCLOSED, or CD ENCLOSED works very well, too. Examples would be inserting coins, small toys, packet of aspirin, photo with stiff backing, small sponge etc. It’s easy to find these inexpensive premiums by Googling “lumpy mail premiums.” This can and often does increase response rates quite a bit. A site that Jeanne loves is: 3DMailResults.com The key is to balance your costs against the expected returns…but in Offline Marketing even one client signed can pay for a ton of lumpy mail.

Mistakes Not to Make Don’t use a multi-page letter. Keep the letter to one page and formatting should be spaced well-enough to make reading/skimming easy 2. Don’t use a type-written address. Always hand write the address (even on Priority Mail and such) …legibly, of course. 3. Don’t use any unusual mail container without checking first with your local post office. Trust me, I’ve done this, and it pays to check with them! 4. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Even with a small list, these could be further divided into different mailing methods and then compare results. 5. Don’t test more than ONE variable at a time. For instance, if you are doing a major change to your letter copy, don’t change the mailing method at the same time… you won’t know what caused any change in results. 6. Don’t mail from out of area. Try to Mail from a Local Postmark. 7. Don’t have someone else deliver the mail to the Post Office…do it yourself. 8. Don’t be sloppy about the details. The success of this has much to do with managing the small things. Finding Business Owner/Managers Name Here are some business name sources I use to find the owners name for businesses I want to contact after I’ve done my market research. **Manta.com **Whitepages.com **If they have a website, you can sometimes get the information by using WHOIS (whois.com and similar sites) to find out who registered the domain name. **"Find a Business" part of Dataaxleusa.com/ (formerly InfoUSA.) There is a Free Lookup Tools section. **Go to Google and type this in: site:linkedin.com "the business name" This often gives you people that work for the company and have a LinkedIn Profile. **It may sound crazy, but I have also stopped in at the business next door and just casually asked if they know the owners next door...they almost always do. **I call and say I'm shipping a sample product to the owner and need his/her name for the label. I’ve included a simple flowchart that visually lays out what the steps are and the actions to take… It’s just a simple review for you. 

Develop a simple newsletter to send to Childcare Center owners and do it on a monthly basis. Represent your agency as one that specializes in local childcare centers with proven experience in marketing. You’d be surprised, but the repeat nature of this marketing tool can really uncover solid opportunities in the Childcare industry. NO ONE else is doing this! Today, especially with AI utilities, you can input certain questions and almost have the entire issue for you in minutes. Just edit and send out (by email or print out a hard copy and mail.) I want to conclude this section by suggesting you use the mailing system along with the other systems we’ll be covering. Use a MULTIPRONGED APPROACH to really saturate the market. What To Say What To Say When Prospects Call About Your Mailing or Your Email, Postcard etc… This is about handling the Incoming Call. I promise you if you follow this simple script, you will do fine. I'd advise reading it many times until it feels natural. (There are other scripts available as an upgrade…If you picked those up, you’ll have more options, but this approach DOES work.) Oh, and this first tip is important too: try not to take the call immediately when it comes in. You do want to respond promptly, but the point is to call back within 24 hrs. By not immediately taking their call, I’m convinced you are creating a little bit of anticipation and adding just a bit to your positioning. But, at the same time, don't make them wait too long either! For instance, calling back 3 days later is TOO LONG. Have a decent professional message or message service and check it regularly right after a mailing, obviously. DIALOGUES NOTE: Real people do not speak in perfect sentences. They pause and appear to be thinking as they speak. They don’t sound like they are reading something. That’s what you are striving for. When you return the message, start by saying this: “Hi this is, [your name], and I'm returning your call about the website marketing and bringing you new customers. Is this (his/her name)?” Continue: “Well hello, do you have a minute to talk now? Great! Ok, Bob can you give me an idea of what you were thinking about ... and fill me in on what you're doing to bring in business?” [I've found it's usually better to lead the conversation initially, as many prospects really don't know how to get the conversation started. Of course, don’t monopolize it, just help ‘jump start’ it.] These 4 Questions get the conversation going and tell me much of what I (and you) need to know. 1."What has been working best for you?" 2."What is a new enrollment worth to you in dollars?" 3."What’s the growth you're looking for?" 4."What would you invest to get there?" I'll bet you're smart enough to see where I'm going with these questions. Serious clients want solutions and if comfortable with you, they will give you answers to these questions. A subscriber recently told me if prospects won’t answer these questions, he doesn't bother going further. So… Let the childcare prospect answer/talk... Obviously, in specifics, his or her answers are hard to exactly predict. Typically, prospects will tell you what their frustrations are, and what they’ve been doing to try and improve their position. Trust me, if everything is going great with their business, they would not be calling you. Asking about advertising and promotion, in general, is useful because it gives more clues as to how much they spend. Actually listen to their answers, by the way. :-)

At this point I usually ask logical follow-ups. So, for example, if someone says, "We have a lot of competition around here so the available students get divided up pretty small…” I’ll reply, "Yes I hear that a lot. What has been working to bring traffic to the business?” [Client replies. Take notes.] [NOTE: always try to circle back to those 4 key questions, no matter what they say.] My reply: “Well, I focus on those things that improve the business sales-wise and generate good traffic. I'm usually able to position the business better against their competitors than they were doing before.” … “Does that sound like something you’d want or not?” Client replies: “Sure.” Reply: you can add, (can be in your words): “What my team does is sort of like when businesses used to spread their exposure around between newspapers, magazines and yellow pages. Remember? Client: Yes, I do. My reply: What works much better now, is spreading the exposure throughout the various Internet platforms...and that’s where we're seeing the most success.” Client: “Okay, I see. So, you do everything online, right?” My reply: “Yes pretty much.” Again, when you have gotten a bit of info from him/her, begin to TEST FOR FULL APPOINTMENT. Either by phone, Skype, Zoom, or in-person. This of course will depend on where you’re located and what’s convenient. Say: “Paul, can I give you an idea? I usually find in a brief meeting with business people like you, a lot of this becomes clear. Y'know, sometimes when you see the whole picture of what the business can tap into, it pretty much answers itself.” BTW, I don’t sell this, it’s either something you want or it isn’t. Let clients know you offer integrated digital and offline marketing solutions specifically designed for a child care business. Tell them: “These Childcare Center marketing solutions exist to help you, the center owner, create and maintain your web presence, dominate business directory listings and search engines in your market, generate enrollments through paid advertising opportunities, and put your center on the map.” Then ask, “Is that something you’d like?” Pause and continue: “Anyway, I'm short of time right now so are you open to the idea of a brief meeting where I can disclose everything?” Client: “Yes, I would be.” My reply: “Ok, mornings or evenings better for you?” Client: “Mornings.” My reply: “Can you do it tomorrow at 10?” “Yes.” My reply: “Alright, fine, I look forward to it.” End conversation. [NOTES: this is pretty close to what a lot of my first conversations sound like. The question you may be asking is ‘Why not just close the prospect right there?’ In some cases, that’s certainly possible. You can test this anytime by asking, “Do you think you’re ready to get started with this now?” You may get an answer like, “Well, I need to know the price or I have to check with my partner, etc.” Then answer that and go ahead and close them. Offer to send a simple agreement by email or fax. My point is you don’t need multiple meetings…but sometimes you will. PRICES: If the prospect says, “How expensive is this, I mean we have some budget, but it’s not large?” or something along those lines… Here’s what I say: “Expensive compared to what?” Then add: “Besides, that is not a problem. I work with some very small centers and some fairly good-sized ones. This is flexible anyway.” I’ll work up a quote between now and our meeting tomorrow.” LANGUAGE: Regarding grammar, before I get beat up by those focused on the correct grammar, I should explain. The dialogues/scripts above are written more as people really talk. You do not want to use perfect sentences, grammar etc.THAT will only help to make it sound like a canned script…which people hate! TONE: You should sound friendly, but not needy. Not excited because he called, not tense, not anticipating. More like, ‘I’ll try to offer some help and we’ll see where this goes.” Here’s another way to understand the kind of attitude you should adopt for answering the calls and attending can be summed up by saying, ALWAYS ACT INTERESTED AND HELPFUL, BUT NEVER ACT LIKE YOU NEED THE BUSINESS. 

PART 2 – Promoting The Childcare Center As A Client Understanding The Target Audience’s Behavior You may not know that Millennials make up 90% of the childrearing population today. To market to these new parents effectively, childcare center owners need to understand their buying behaviors — and reach them where they spend their time. Today, that means establishing a significant digital presence. Consider the fact that: ● Most millennials don’t trust traditional advertising ● Parents spend a lot of time researching options, which almost always starts online ● More than half of millennials say social media influences their financial decisions. These parents are out there looking for you. If your client isn’t active online, they’ll turn to their competitors. To reach today’s parents the client needs to have a presence where they are most active. These statistics show that maintaining an online presence is key to enrolling more families. Digital tools also support daycare advertising by growing their authority as a business. By providing answers to their concerns and information that adds value to their lives, parents view the business as a trusted resource — one they’ll remember when making childcare decisions.

Understand The Childcare Center’s Value First things first, take an honest look at their business. What makes their child care center special? Do they offer something other daycare providers don’t? What do they want their child care business to be known for in the community? The answers to these questions represent the unique value they provide. You should use them in all your advertising and marketing efforts. For example, maybe their center is committed to sending parents photos and videos of their children throughout the day—something other centers in their area don’t do. What parent or guardian doesn’t want to look at their phone in the middle of a hard day at work and see their child’s smiling face? By promoting the fact that their daycare will send photos and videos on a regular basis, you may be able to attract more customers. Take a moment to brainstorm the center’s unique value. Then keep these things in mind when hosting an open house, posting on social media or using any of the other media…here’s some related tips below. ● Build a Brand Message For The Center It is important to keep their brand values in mind. For this, you have to start building their perspective and a strong brand message for the childcare marketing strategy. Brainstorm points and highlight the best-suited ones. Remember that you have to think from a parent’s perspective, too.

Answer significant questions like: Why would a parent come to this center? What are their core values? What makes the center different from other childcare centers? How would they attract a large audience? What has worked for the childcare center in the past? These are some of the questions that you need to address before you launch the action plan. Build a unique story for their brand and promote it so that it is on the top of the mind of new parents. Create Or Enhance Their Website A website is the most important tool to establish your identity in the market. This is the first step that leads to the discovery of your daycare center client. Moreover, it provides all the information regarding the center. They need a domain name and hosting that you can procure according to your budget. When building their website, ensure the following points: ● Always create an ‘About Us’ page that gives a fair analysis of their brand values. ● Expand the communication channels by adding your phone number, email ID, address, and links to your social media pages. ● Highlight the different services offered. ● Ensure the content is interesting as it will reflect how interactive the childcare center’s activities are. ● Make the website engaging by adding videos and pictures. ● Build a separate section for the enrollment procedure. Today’s consumers are self-educating, meaning that most of them do their research and know what they want when making a big purchase. Parents expect a childcare center to have a website that can answer their questions — if it doesn’t, they’ll move on…so CONTENT is critical. Use the website to preempt parents’ concerns and interests about the center. Suggest the owner may want to even survey families currently enrolled in their daycare to understand what factors led them to choose them. These parent questions could include: ● Staff qualifications and stories ● The curriculum, hours, and enrichment programs ● Avenues for parental participation ● Special activities or programs like summer camps ● Details on the enrollment process But having a useful website is only part of the equation. You want to boost its visibility so that their business appears in front of the right audience. Effective, lead-generating websites have: ● Fast load times ● An easy-to-understand layout ● Mobile optimization ● Search Engine Optimized (SEO) content ● Clear calls-to-action, making it easy for people to contact you, book a tour, or get more information If you’re an experienced consultant you know this ‘dance’ already, but most center owners are clueless about these steps. Show them how important all this is. I’ve told clients our goal ought to to “Power Up” their website so we can compete better.

Promote Their Business on Social Media We’ll assume the client childcare center is already on social media, and if not, it is high time you build their brand’s presence on social channels. These are powerful tools to increase your reach to the larger community. According to Social Media Marketing Industry Report, creating a Facebook brand page can influence two-thirds of the market business. As Facebook has a larger community of people, we can always inform them about the key events like open houses, important dates, or updated learning services on your brand page. If you’re experienced you know to always maintain a warm and professional tone while communicating with the audience on social media. Remember, we are on social media to make friends, not enemies. Create a Google Business Profile A Google Business Profile is a great tool to attract your target audience and help them get in touch or learn more about your daycare center. It has been shown in the Global Online Survey that 3 out of 4 clients search the business online and make their selection. You need to build the client’s Google My Business Account and answer a sequence of questions. Make sure your information is up-to-date since that is the point of contact between the business and your prospective customer. Some tips to highlight the daycare center are: ● Make your profile visually appealing by uploading photos. ● Put a link to the website. ● Always try to reply to customers’ reviews. ● List your business in local directories One example is Yelp, which, like Google Maps, displays local businesses as well as consumer reviews. Look for childcare centers on local websites or directories. Make sure all the listings that matter mention the center and allow updating center details there. You can look for local directories by either Google searching for daycares and childcare centers in the area, or typing in your competitor’s name in the search bar and going through the directories they are listed in ● Directories are beneficial since they create traffic for the center, but they can often turn out to be inconvenient and irrelevant if the circulation or reach is not very good. This bears checking into before using a paid listing.

Invite Parents to Visit The Daycare Center Host an Open House Invite the community to your child care center for free food, family games and an up close and personal look at the services you offer to customers. Open houses are great marketing tools because they give parents and families the chance to experience your child care business first-hand without making a serious commitment. Just make sure you promote your open house before hosting. Free food almost always draws a crowd, but parents still need to hear about your event to take advantage. You can ask your friends and family to help with word of mouth. It’s a great way for parents to review all the facilities at your daycare. This can be planned twice a year or in alternative weeks according to what's convenient. Try to arrange any fun daycare activity to engage parents and their children to enjoy together while learning. Also, invite parents when the center is in full action so that they can get a clear impression of your daycare center. Take special safety measures, especially during this post-pandemic time, so that the parents are assured that their children will be in a safe environment. Hire Quality Staff & Brag About Them The most important feature that can instantly increase the quality of any daily childcare center is the responsible staff and teachers. While as a marketer you would not be directly involved in hiring (thank God!) it pays to understand what the owner looks for in a candidate and relay that information in your sales copy. Always remember to add the minimum requirements for a preschool teacher. For example, high school diploma or GED, performance and credit points in childhood education, number of hours working with children, child CPR and first aid certification. Further, having a daycare app in place can help teachers spend more quality time with the children as the other work is automated and streamlined. So make sure the staff is at least a little tech-inclined. Share Educational Content Regularly Make it a point to share educational content like informational blogs, infographics, etc. on their social media platforms. Owners can publish content on topics such as ‘How childcare applications are influential in creating opportunities’ or ‘How the parent communication program helps parents monitor their child’s activity’. A simple method here is for you to interview the center owner and manager about these topics and then generate the posts for them. You can write blogs or short articles based on your strategy. Use as many outreach methods as possible such as: ● The blog section on the website ● Guest blog ● Magazines and newspapers ● Regular posts and stories on social media platforms. ● Press Releases Owners can also place certain referrals and discount schemes in place. Suggest the owner can try and increase the signup rate by offering some discounts (but time limited). This definitely needs to be tested. Referral schemes work when the parents who have signed up refer the center's services to someone else. This is a strong marketing tool as word-of-mouth continues to impact the behavior of prospective clients like never before. Google Ads This is without a doubt one of the most successful methods for potential enrollments. As you may know, because it delivers individuals exactly what they need, Google Ads may be one of the most powerful forms of advertising today. Most of you are at least somewhat familiar with Google ADS, and if not we’d advise going through Google’s online training (free) so you can communicate the value to client Childcare centers. When parents search for “daycare” on Google, your client's ad appears. It’s even better if you have a fantastic, relevant landing page to drive them to. Let's be honest, Google Ads has a bewildering amount of possibilities. The client owner is unlikely to attempt it on their own, leaving an excellent opportunity for you to take over. There are several upsides such as you only have to pay if someone sees your site, and you can select your daily budget. It can cost as little as $5 each day, making it a viable alternative even if they only want to try it out

Join Regional Groups on Social Media Search for local groups in the area that provide information about competitors. Open a Facebook page and search according to your city area and group type. When you join that group, you can put up a post about the client’s daycare center. Build trust among parents by answering their queries. In this way, the center and staff can be a valued source for finding the best option for their child. Parents are now incredibly passionate about the special plans or the unique technology that satisfies their choice for daycare centers. They are looking for centers that keep them updated with the new technology and make parenting easier. attendance such as contactless self-check-in/check-out, kiosk setup, and manually on the app. So, depending on their audience and budget, you can strategize your unique set of marketing ideas to promote your childcare center

Distribute Flyers Some families out there don’t use email or social media. Therefore, it’s imperative to make sure professional daycare flyers reach them, too! Hang up attractive flyers for the daycare center in local supermarkets, libraries, malls, restaurants, and anywhere else they may frequent often. It’s a good idea to design a flyer that acts as a coupon, as well. Be sure to include the daycare website address on it so parents can easily find out more about the business. 4. Don’t Forget Paid Daycare Marketing Increasing traffic to the clients daycare center can be ramped up with paid advertising. Owners who want the fastest growth or want to defend their market from competitors should seriously consider investing in TV ads, radio ads, and direct mail. These and other forms of advertising are cost-effective and will target the areas where they get the most daycare requests. Of course, Facebook ads are also a great way to advertise the preschool. They’re highly targeted, cost-effective, and can help you reach more people than ever before. You could start a Facebook ad campaign for their preschool and target potential families based on their demographics. The demographic targeting is generally superb with Facebook. These ads will let them know about all the great things going on in the center. It will also help you attract new members. These ads will require some testing to assess what's working and what isn’t….and you’ll need to adhere closely to FB’s ad content requirements. Enter Contests There are tons of contests out there, both online and offline, that can help the daycare business get the marketing boost it needs. Participating in those events may not be a marketing strategy owners have thought of themselves. Try searching for them and enter as many as you can to take the daycare business to the next level. For example, if the center is running a daycare Facebook page, joining contests on Facebook that will help establish a bigger, better daycare presence online. Ask For Feedback From Current Users Owners should be getting feedback from daycare parents once the kids are back home, but wouldn’t it be easier to ask them directly while they’re currently enrolled and attending the daycare? Newsletters and comment cards work beautifully. Keep parents updated about upcoming activities by distributing newsletters via email or regular mail. And if you want to take the marketing up a notch, suggest rewarding families who leave comments on their comment cards with gift cards or free passes. Consider handing out discount coupons after their first visit, so they’ll come back again soon. A successful childcare center business involves more than just a good location and friendly staff. It needs a solid marketing strategy to help you thrive and stand out. The daycare marketing strategies listed above are just a few of the ideas owners can employ to help build their childcare center’s reputation and get more enrollees on their doorstep today. Investin Physical Signs Did you know that billboards and outdoor advertising is a $6.5B (that’s billion with a “B”) industry? With the rise of social media and online marketing, you wouldn’t expect so many people to advertise with physical signs, but they do. Why? Because it works! A billboard might be a bit much for a childcare business. Then again, it might not—your call. But every daycare can invest in business cards, flyers, lawn signs and sandwich boards. Place your signs in strategic locations, i.e. wherever your target customers spend time. This could be a bulletin board at the local pediatrician’s office. Or lawns in the general vicinity of your center. Or the sidewalk on the corner of your street. Consider wrapping a vehicle with advertising that the business owns since it will be driven around and attract attention 24/7. Note: always get permission from the owner of the property before posting your sign or flyer

Create an SEO Strategy Where do you go to find restaurant reviews, a plumber to fix the sink or the operating hours for a new gym? The internet, because it has ALL THE ANSWERS. Parents and caretakers use the internet to find child care for their kids, too. If your center’s website appears at the top of Google search results, you’ll attract more parents to your daycare. The question is, how do you leapfrog the thousands of other websites out there and claim Google’s top spot? You create an SEO strategy. SEO is a BIG topic, which we’ve covered on the blog before. But here are a few basics: ● Keyword Research: Keywords are words and phrases that people type into search engines like Google. “Best Daycare in [Your City]” is an example. Add the keywords your customers use to your website pages, blog posts, etc. ● Great Content: Keywords alone aren’t enough. Google uses backlinks (when a third-party website links to yours) to help determine how to rank sites that use similar keywords. Create great content that generates backlinks. Focus on Social Media Sites like Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn are amazing business tools. They enable your child care business to reach its target audience for free and build a relationship with them. The key to an effective social media presence is engagement. Don’t use these platforms as one-way announcement boards. Interact with followers by asking them questions and responding to their comments. We also suggest posting fun content like the artwork your kids create from time to time. Pro Tip: Never post a photo of the kids you care for on social media without getting parent or guardian approval first. This is a surefire way to lose customers. Boost Your Online Reviews You probably wouldn’t try a new restaurant without reading reviews, right? You want to make sure that the food is good and the ambiance is on point before you commit. The same goes for parents looking for child care. You can bet they’ll be reading Google, Yelp and Facebook reviews of your business before they let you interact with their kids. This is great because reviews are an awesome way to attract parents to your daycare! The more positive reviews you acquire, the more faith famlieis will have in your business. Plus, Google uses reviews to help determine its search engine rankings. To get reviews, provide amazing care to the kids you watch. Then ask happy parents to share their experience on review sites. Many of them will be more than happy to help you out. Run Paid Advertisements Clients may ask, “How do I attract parents to my child care business quickly?” Try running paid ads. Platforms like Google, Bing, Facebook and Instagram are perfect for child care providers to target specific people (i.e. parents of toddlers), build brand awareness and secure new customers. Plus, you can get started with them for just a few dollars a day. Paid advertisements may seem daunting to some childcare center owners, but that’s what you are there for.. If they want more customers now, rather than later, this is definitely a strategy to consider. Offer New Customer Deals/Specials We all love a good deal. Attract parents to your daycare by offering a break on the first month of enrollment. 10% off might be just the push a parent needs to commit to your services. Of course, new customer deals aren’t the only ones you can offer. Limited time promotions, sibling discounts and price breaks for long-term commitments are available to you as well. But proceed with caution. You don’t want to offer discounts that cut so deep into your profits that you devalue your services. You also want to avoid having to limit your offerings to accommodate less cash flow—even if it’s only for a few months. Promote Word-of-Mouth It’s the 21st Century, but word-of-mouth marketing still reigns supreme. Network with everyone you meet and tell them about your child care business. Ask your friends and family to spread the word, especially if they know parents with young kids. We suggest networking with other child care centers as well. Who knows?If you develop a good relationship with them, they may send potential customers to you when they’ve reached full capacity. You can always return the favor down the road, too. Here’s what the research shows: About three out of four millennial moms ask for recommendations before spending money, so it’s important that the owner’s clients are ready to talk them up to their friends. While their clientele may already be sharing their praise in their social circles, referral programs can amplify this effect. Incentivize their current parents to send new leads your way with: ● Tuition discounts for successful referrals ● Gift cards for both them and the new enrollee ● An entry for each new lead in a big raffle Use a Childcare App Finally, consider using a childcare app to better manage your center. While this kind of tool won’t help you attract more parents to your daycare business, it will help you keep more of the families you already have. Studies show that it costs 5x more to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing ones, so this is important. Child care apps are beneficial because they allow for streamlined check-in and check-out processes, simple parent engagement tools, easy invoicing software and more—all things that make child care convenient for both providers and the parents they serve.

Ask for Testimonials Nearly all Millennials read online reviews before selecting a business, and they tend to trust what their peers have to say. Ask current parents to write about their experiences. You can include these testimonials on their website and in other marketing materials. They could also offer a few specific questions to guide responses to highlight things like specific programs, benefits their business provides, and why they continue to support the childcare center. Then create more review opportunities by: ● Making a Yelp Listing ● Claiming your center on Google Business Profile ● Build a profile on sites like Care.com and Childcare.gov Start or Build the Center’s Email List As you probably know, Email is one of the most effective marketing channels childcare centers can use, with higher returns on investment than most other strategies. Email marketing is a great strategy for childcare services because we can:

● Keep consistent communication with families, encouraging loyalty to your services ● Add value to parents’ experience by sending informative content addressing their needs and concerns — content they can share with their network ● Show potential leads what they can expect from you in terms of communication Be sure to ask for the emails of current families, and make it a habit to get contact information from interested parents. You can segment these lists to differentiate what you send based on your goals. Running email introduction campaigns and follow-up campaigns is one of the most economical and effective strategies you can do for the childcare center client. Maximize Social Media While center’s website showcases services, social media communicates the centers unique personality and values. It allows the center to make an emotional connection to a prospective parent, which studies show can help trigger buying decisions. Most millennials are active on Facebook, so owners should start there. Then, expand to other channels over time — like LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest — but start with one site and grow the strategy from there. Keep in mind that these methods need to be tweaked in your social strategy for each platform, to get the best results. However, all social media shares the common goal of user engagement. While an individual platform’s best practices vary slightly, successful strategies really should include: ● Frequent, consistent posting — usually at least once a day ● Responsiveness to questions, comments, and messages ● Added value, like helpful tips, videos, or articles ● Relevant, timely information, like special offers, events, or upcoming activities There are plenty of tools available that can help you, the consultant, design, plan, automate, and monitor their social media efforts. NOTE: Use The Exclusive Images and Text Provided Please refer to the starter package of custom Childcare Center images. These are included free with your purchase of this marketing product. Implement Content Marketing Strategy One of the best ways to develop more enrollments is to involve sharing information parents will find useful. But why link to content from outside sources when the center could be positioning itself as a childcare leader? Developing unique content encourages trust from parents and provides the owner with a tool to add client value to their service. It also increases their chances of being found — search engines prioritize websites that keep content fresh. Starting a blog is a great way to establish this authority online. If the content is useful, the audience will also be encouraged to share it in their social circles, which directs new leads straight to businesses website. To use the blog to drive enrollment, make sure to: ● Have a consistent posting schedule — use an editorial calendar to keep you on track ● Write about a variety of relevant topics, like education philosophies, parent challenges, and other FAQs ● Share new content on social media and with your email list Content marketing isn’t just about blog posts either. Owners could add other elements to this strategy, like: ● Guest posting for an educational organization or mommy blog, building backlinks ● Writing an article for a local newspaper or newsletter ● Turning a blog post into a video ● Creating downloadable e-guides that go more in-depth about specific themes ● Inviting a local news station to cover a special event Show Off The Owner/Manager/Staff Expertise Workshops — either one-off or as part of an ongoing series — are a low-cost way to engage a local audience while positioning the childcare business as the go-to childcare specialist. The center can add immediate value to parents’ lives by using their experience to advise on common concerns or questions. When looking for childcare options or offering suggestions to friends, they’ll remember the value the childcare center already delivered. Owners can reach out to local community centers or parent groups to organize workshops or hold them virtually. They can use their own staff or partner with experts in their network to run sessions around topics like: ● Child development ● Child nutrition needs and challenges ● Off-screen activities and routines that encourage creativity and growth ● Strategies to ready your kids for school ● Handling common crises like bedtime battles, sibling rivalries, and temper tantrums The childcare center could even ask for a small donation for a local charity — did you know 91% of millennials prefer a business that supports a cause? Or partner with other professionals to offer in-demand activities like first aid training for parents and toddler art classes. ======================================= Putting it All Together It's fair to say every childcare business is unique — and the specific marketing strategy that works best will have to be customized to the Childcare Care Center. It's important to test and monitor what techniques produce the best local engagement. If something isn’t working, try one of the many approaches included. No matter how much marketing experience you have, these strategies make it simple to strengthen the owner’s business as a consultant.

We think you’ll find these childcare center owners to be open to ideas and will give you a chance to show your stuff! 
In-person Meetings Take on the attitude that you are trying to see if this is someone you can work with, and if you can actually help them. You’re not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, just to make a sale. Honestly, I even do better on calls when I am distracted. Not impolite, just NOT sending any vibe that I NEED this. Prospects sense any ‘neediness’ and it works against you. A casual, friendly, helpful open attitude is what works best. You are probably a bit like this anyway, so try to tap into that feeling.