The holidays are a great time to boost your child care center’s online presence. Why?
Because research has shown that social media activity surges during the holidays, as people search for great deals and gift ideas for their loved ones.
If you’re wondering how to get highly qualified leads for your child care center, read on for some ways to engage your prospects through social media this holiday season.
1. Create mystery and anticipation
We, humans, are naturally curious and will very often drop what we’re doing to find the answer to a question that’s been raised in our minds.
Some ways you can create curiosity:
- Have a holiday-themed contest or challenge. For example, ask people to share their favorite childhood photograph on social media and allow people to vote for the one they like most.
- Share childhood photographs of staff and encourage people to guess who they are.
- Hold an online scavenger hunt of unusual items and offer prizes or giveaways.
Use your imagination to come up with ways to engage your prospect’s curiosity and they’ll come back for more!
2. Share with your prospects
Marketing ideas for child care centers are no different than other types of service businesses. Your prospects are searching for a qualified, caring professional to help care for their child, so it’s up to you to show them you provide what they need. One way to do this is through stories.
Stories are engaging and memorable, so the more of them you can use in your marketing efforts, the better.
For example, let’s say that your child care center has a tradition of putting together care packages for neighborhood families in need. What better way to engage with your current and prospective clients than to let them share in the process by providing stories (either through video or pictures and words) of the process?
3. Invoke the emotions of the season
Online marketing for child care centers should be fun and engaging, not stuffy and formal.
The holiday season is a busy and sometimes stressful time for your prospects, so anything you can do to liven up every interaction they may have with you will help you stand out.
For example, visitors to your website will remember the video you shared of the staff all dressed up as elves, as children pranced here and there, dancing to The Nutcracker Suite.
They may even share it with their friends and family, further expanding your reach with no more effort required from you!
4. Dress up your website for the holidays
Your child care center’s online presence shouldn’t be excluded from the festive atmosphere that’s everywhere this time of year. A great marketing strategy for child care centers is to add a bit of holiday spirit to their websites.
You already decorate your child care center; why not add some holiday cheer to your website too?
You don’t need to do a major website overhaul, just the addition of some seasonal images and/or a bit of color change to your logo, menu and banners can do a lot to spread holiday cheer!
After making the changes, don’t forget to check that your website still looks good on mobile too… Busy parents often use their smartphones and tablets more at this time of year, and you want it to maintain a professional appearance.
5. Boost your social media presence
Finally, one of the best marketing ideas for your child care center is to stay active on social media.
Streamline the process by scheduling a month’s worth of social media updates into scheduling software like Hootsuite or TweetDeck.
Never again will a tweet or Facebook post be forgotten…the software will do it for you!
Share your stories, and news about your contests and events that are happening on a regular basis, and above all, remember that “social” is the key word in social media.
Respond to queries, questions, and/or comments promptly and courteously and you’ll build a strong line presence not only during the holidays but at all times of the year!
Contact us for more tips about online marketing for child care centers. We’ve got the knowledge, tools, and techniques you need to build a thriving child care center!