Social media platforms are a great way to connect with parents whose children are currently enrolled at your daycare center, as well as with members of your community. In this post, we will review six tips that will help you build your daycare’s social media presence, which in turn can help increase your center’s number of parent leads and overall enrollment. So let’s get started!
1. Engaging parents in your posts is key
Naturally, parents will want to know what their kids are up to each day when they’re in your care. Posting photos or video content of daily activities like snack time or arts and crafts can go a long way when it comes to keeping parents in the loop. Posting photos or videos of daily activities promotes a sense of transparency for your daycare. It also encourages parents to engage with these posts.
Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that when you use the most popular platforms (such as Facebook), engagement will significantly influence Facebook’s algorithm when it comes to the visibility of your posts. In other words, the more engagement each post gets, the more likely it is to show up on your audience members’ feeds.
Overall, your goal is to create a sense of community among the parents whose children are enrolled at your daycare center. This in turn will facilitate more open communication, which can ultimately lead to an increase in referrals!
2. Use hashtags
You may be wondering what “hashtags” are or how to use them. A hashtag is an easy way of categorizing your posts by including relevant keywords for those who are searching on various social media sites. By adding hashtags to your posts, you can gain more followers and make new connections! Some popular daycare-related hashtags include #preschoollife, #daycaresofinstagram, and #proudtobeaparentsupportingdaycareprovider.
When you use hashtags correctly, they will make it easier for people to find your postings. As a result, you’ll see increased visibility for your posts and eventually more followers. It takes some time for “likes” and comments to accumulate, so don’t worry if it seems like you’re not having many interactions at first. They will come as long as you post consistently!
3. Promote your daycare locally through Facebook groups
There are many ways to promote your center locally through social media sites, such as Facebook groups or other online forums that other parents frequent. However, Facebook groups are likely to be your best bet. For example, consider your location. Are there currently other Facebook groups available for parents in your area?
To take it one step further, you can even look into posting in Facebook groups that are dedicated to users who are new to your area. These groups may have plenty of members who are actively seeking child care near your location. The more you think outside the box with this tactic, the more successful you will be!
4. Be consistent
Reaching out to your audience is a key component of social media marketing. By posting consistently, you’ll be able to keep your followers engaged and interested in what’s happening at your daycare regularly. Not only that, but a lack of consistency will also negatively affect the visibility of your posts. A rule of thumb when it comes to social media strategy is to set up and follow a content calendar.
This will help you keep your posts consistent and timely. You can tweak your content calendar accordingly as you begin to see results from your efforts. Not enough time to post regularly? Try utilizing a post-scheduling tool. That way, you can plan posts and schedule when they will be posted in advance.
5. Be authentic with your posts
It might seem like a no-brainer, but the best social media strategy is to be as human as possible. By posting content that’s relatable and authentic, you’ll create a genuine and empathic connection with your audience. Much of social media content nowadays can be “cookie-cutter”, so it will benefit you to make your content as relatable and sincere as possible.
Consider asking your daycare employees what they’ve learned about working with kids, and invite them to share their replies with others via social media channels too!
6. Provide content that’s relevant to your audience
Make sure that the content you share is in some way relevant to your readers. There’s a variety of available social media platforms out there. If you post content that doesn’t draw interest from your followers or visits, no one will read any of it.
Ensure that when you are creating your social media strategy, you have an objective in mind. Whether your objective is gaining more followers, growing your overall social media presence, or simply giving parents an inside look at your center and encouraging their feedback, it’s important to keep your overall objective in mind as you post your content.
Instead of flooding several social media platforms with your content, try to focus on a small handful of channels so as not to overwhelm yourself or confuse readers with irrelevant posts. For example, if a blog post includes information that follows an “About Us” format, it’s best to repurpose that content for that particular page on your website instead of sharing it across a variety of social media platforms.
Conclusion
To recap, social media can be a powerful tool that enables daycare centers to connect with current parents, and also recruit interested parents and kids to your center. All it takes is the occasional update on Instagram or Facebook about an upcoming event at your center to entice both new and current parents.
The key is knowing what your ultimate goals are for your center so you can make informed and effective decisions when it comes to how you want to establish your social media presence. Do you need help with growing your social media presence? Contact Local Child Care Marketing for further information.