Marketing

Your marketing plan is in place! Now it's time to choose the marketing methods to help you reach your goals. Not all methods work for all child care businesses, and as you measure your progress you will be able to determine what works best for you. 

Referrals

Ask current families for referrals. You can also hand out flyers or business cards families can share with coworkers, friends, and family. Word of mouth can be a powerful tool. Happy families will share stories about the quality of care their children receive.

Open houses

Holding open houses during off hours allows families to see the environment and resources you provide. Community members may be unaware of how close your child care is to where they live or what services you offer. Open house events don't need to be all-day events-a few hours one evening can have an impact. Local stores and businesses may allow you to post a flyer advertising your open house. During your open house, have printed materials available, gather email addresses, and be ready to send email packets with information for families. 

Recommendations 

Ask families to write recommendations about the positive experiences with your program. Ask families if it's okay if you use their first name and quotes on your website, social media, or printed marketing. 

Networking groups 

Join networking groups, both in-person or online or consider joining a child care providers group in your area. There might be child care business in your area that is at capacity and is looking to refer new families. Networking can go beyond your neighborhood. An online group of child care providers might be a great source of marketing and business ideas. You might also consider joining parents’ groups on social media. Members often ask for child care recommendations. 

Free or low-cost local newsletters

Advertising can be expensive, but a less expensive way to advertise is to include your business in a local newsletter. Parents’ groups, book clubs, and other organizations have monthly newsletters for their members. Your community may also have a newsletter or message board where you could promote your business. 

Website

Building a landing page or a full website is important. This helps potential families learn about the services you offer and the environment where you care for children. Include photographs of your facility or pictures of crafts the children have created. You can easily create and include a video tour of your facility or create videos discussing your knowledge on topics important to families. Include a section that introduces yourself to families, such as your background, the reasons you love caring for children, or a fun fact about yourself. You can include biographies of staff members so that families can see who will be caring for their children. 

Social media 

Social media is an important part of marketing. You can highlight all that your business has to offer, provide updates as you add services and programs, and remind families of time-sensitive topics, such as schedule changes or special events. Posting on social media platforms doesn’t need to be time consuming. Some small businesses choose to post something once a day, but one post a week with high-quality content can also be effective. 

Printed promotional materials 

Print out your own flyers or find a local printing service. Some websites and software have design templates where you can type in the details of your business. You can find free or low-cost stock images and free QR code generators that connect users to your website or social media on printed materials. To use a QR codes, families use their phone’s camera to scan the code, and it takes them to your website.

There are many online sources for creating and ordering business cards. Online companies allow you to create a small quantity of business cards without a large investment. There are many places you can hand out business cards, such as:

• City tourism/visitor centers
• Farmers’ markets
• Libraries
• Public parks
• Local family event
• Youth sports events
• Recreational, youth and cultural centers

Local businesses 

Visit local business where owners and managers can refer their employees to reliable, high-quality child care. 

Make sure to keep your marketing current. Don't forget to make changes to websites/landing pages and Facebook pages. Update your flyers seasonally to illustrate new experiences or play activities you offer at that time of the year. 

Consider maintaining a marketing activity plan to keep track of what you want to do and when. Remember those 1 month, 3 month, and 6 month marketing plans you created? Add those dates to a calendar and plan the actions you'll take during those time periods. Social media management software is available, and allows you to design and schedule social media posts. It also allows you to track the activity that your posts are receiving. Both free and paid options are available.  

Keep in mind how much additional revenue enrollments or new services have generated to compare to your marketing costs so you can determine your profit. 

Plan to make adjustments to your marketing plan from time to time. Flexibility and responsiveness based on your results helps ensure the success of your plan. 

Having a written plan isn't needed but may be beneficial for a number of reasons. It can help you organize your strategy, be shared with others, and gives you something to reference whenever you need it. 

Documenting your marketing plan doesn’t have to be a drawn-out process. Just capture the parts discussed above: 

• Brand and identity
• Values statement
• Competitor analysis
• Pricing and services in comparison to others
• Opportunities for growth
• Potential challenges when seeking growth
• Marketing goals
• Marketing activities
• Timeline for marketing activities
• Budget to execute marketing plan 

Disclaimer: 

The information contained here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, or financial advice.