Local Child Care Marketing

Helping Child Care Leaders Build Their Web Presence

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How to Create a Simple Marketing Plan for Child Care Centers

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If you ever wondered how to create a simple marketing plan for child care centers, this is the place where you will learn how to do it.

I want to give you the plan that we use with a lot of child care centers and it is the one that I think could help you internally as well if you shared it across your team to keep them organized.

Focus on the month ahead

The first thing you need to know is that we will only plan a month ahead. I’m not suggesting you go and spend two weeks doing your planning and try and plan 12 months ahead. I really only want you planning a month ahead because candidly in working with child care centers, I realize that things are changing. One week is slow, the other one is great. We need to change things a little bit as we go.

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May is National Foster Care Month

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May is National Foster Care Month. This month is set aside to recognize the individuals and families who give their time, their resources and their homes to children who are going through the most difficult times of their life.

Foster Parents

foster care | Local Child Care Marketing
Open your home to foster children

Most people would have a difficult time letting a stranger in their home to shower, sleep and eat. It would be the equivalent of picking up a homeless person and taking them home. You know nothing about this person except what you can see and perhaps what they have told you.

For foster parents, the person is a child. This child may have severe mental or physical trauma that is not apparent to the naked eye. Emotional damage may be hidden under layers of disdain, hatred and aloofness. Now imagine that you open your home, your family and your heart to this child. Is that hard to imagine? That is what foster families do every day. It is all about placing your fears and doubts aside to meet the needs of a child who has nobody else to turn to.

National Foster Care Month

May is the time to bring awareness to foster care. Foster parents are honored during this month. The need for more families to volunteer is brought to the forefront of the public eye. The needs of the foster care families are recognized. Resources are introduced to help meet the needs. After all, foster care is more than just opening your home up to a child in need. Foster care awareness is critical to help families and communities meet the needs of the children and the families that care for them.

Where to Find Help

Many people caring for children do not know that there are resources available to help them. Respite babysitting services, community clothing closets, support groups and even activities and sports programs for the children are all in place to help families foster these children. However, the problem is that not all families know about the resources available. During May, resources of all kinds are brought to the forefront in an attempt to help families caring for foster children.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles are often kinship caregivers. This means that they have assumed the role of caregiver since the parents of the child are not an option. Often, this causes a change in family dynamics. An adult child may resent the grandparent becoming the primary caregiver of their child. Maybe a grandparent does not know what to do about things like medical care, legal issues with the school, etc. Resources like

The Grandkin Guide can help grandparents to navigate the legal system, family issues and the new role of caregiver.

Such resources are critical to helping foster care families cope with the changes that come from having a new child in the home. Online resources, support groups, financial aid and more can all be beneficial for the care of foster children. Whether kinship care is decided between family members or set up by child welfare services, there is no reason to feel alone and adrift in this new circumstance. Help is available.

Why is Public Awareness so Important?

National Foster Care Month
Get educated about foster care

Foster care is often shown in a negative light. News stories of tragedies, rumors of greed and horror stories from former foster children get the spotlight, while great foster successes go unheralded.

Care of these children must be brought to the public in a positive light. People will remember success stories of foster children who went on to college and beyond. Foster parents who go above and beyond to help children find their passions, like painting or horseback riding, should be highlighted and commended. The children should have their success stories shared, just like in a traditional family. These children can thrive if the parents have the resources available to help them. Even severe mental and physical abuse of the past can be overcome with love and support from foster parents who really care.

Foster care takes a whole community to be successful. Outreach groups, support groups, legal and financial help, respite caregivers, teachers, child welfare advocates – everyone must work hand-in-hand with the foster caregivers to ensure these children are protected, loved and given the chance for a successful, happy life.

Use May as the month to educate yourself about the foster care system and how you and your community can help these families. A community picnic, a toy or clothing drive, volunteering your time or even offering your talents (like free piano lessons) – there are plenty of ways you can help with foster care. The keyword is ‘care’.

8 Creative Ways to Market Your Child Care Center this Spring

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Different child care marketing tactics may be effective at different times of the school year. As spring rolls around, it becomes more important to market your child care center’s summer programs.

Summer can be an especially stressful time for parents, as children don’t have the structure of being in a classroom five days a week. While children gain free time to play, parents still have work commitments. Summer can also be a time for children to fall back in their education, if they don’t have some sort of instruction. What child care marketing strategies are you using to make sure parents find your child care center?

 

1: Contact Your Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Agency

 

These agencies help families find local child care centers that fit their needs. Is your local agency referring families to your child care center? Make sure you are registered!

 

2: Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

 

How have families found your child care center in the past? Can your child care be found using search engines? If your website is not found on the first search engine results page (SERP), you may be losing a lot of potential business. Around 90% of people are more likely to change their search keywords than they are to click through to the second SERP. Can you believe that?

 

How do you get a coveted spot on the first SERP for any term relating to child care centers in your area? The secret here is SEO, which describes a bunch of different child care marketing tactics. Not sure how your child care center website is doing when it comes to SEO? Here is a list of questions to ask yourself:

 

  • Do you have a child care center website?
  • Does your website have at least 350 words on each page to describe your child care center?
  • Do you have a blog where you regularly post content that can be helpful to parents?
  • Is your website easier for people to use on computers and mobile devices?

 

If you find yourself answering “no” to any of these, you want to at least start a basic SEO regimen immediately. SEO needs to be included in your child care marketing strategies for you to see an improvement on SERPs.

 

3: Social Media

social media marketing | Local Child Care Marketing

You can use social media to market your child care center summer programs before enrollment deadlines. Why do so many child care marketing strategies include a section on social media? Think about your target market and how search engines rank websites.

 

Parents with young children are usually ages 18 to 35. What do we know about people who are between the ages of 18 and 35 right now? They are part of the millennial generation. This generation grew up on computers and spent their teens on social media. These parents are most likely to look for a local child care center using a search engine.

 

Why do your social media accounts matter to search engines like Google? Try looking up a coffee shop in your town. The first page of results will most likely include Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media profiles have been included in top results for over three years, and it doesn’t look like this trend is going away anytime soon. When it comes to child care marketing tactics, social media cannot be ignored. Start or revamp your day care center’s social media accounts today!

 

4: Online Reviews

 

A social media presence also gives you the opportunity to build your child care center’s reputation. Invite current parents to write reviews of your child care center on your Facebook Page and other sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, and Care.com. Online reviews are trusted very highly and can make or break your child care center’s reputation.

 

5: Facebook Ads

 

Have you ever thought about using a Facebook Ad to market your child care center’s summer program? Facebook’s Ad program allows you to get the most bang for your buck by showing your ad to a very specific audience. You can ask Facebook to build a custom audience based on age, gender, and location. If you only want your ad to be seen by women who are 32 and watch Supernanny, you can do that with Facebook Ads!

 

6: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

 

If you have a promotion and are okay spending some money in order to be seen quickly, you can promote your summer day care programs with PPC advertising. This approach on its own will not have long-lasting effects on your web presence, but it can increase your visibility in the short-term.

 

7: Host an Open House

 

One of the best in-person child care marketing tactics is hosting an open house at your child care center. An event like an open house gives parents the chance to become familiar with your center and your staff. If you want to market your child care center with an open house, make sure you give yourself and your team enough time to spread the word about the event! Child care marketing experts suggest giving yourself about a month and a half to promote your child care center’s open house.

 

8: Increase Neighborhood Visibility

 

Get to know the families in your neighborhood, and let them get to know you! Is there a spring festival or an Easter event for young families at a local church? These are great opportunities to meet parents who may be searching for child care solutions.

Does your community or local church have a newsletter? This may be a budget-friendly way to market your child care center locally.

child care marketing strategies | Local Child Care Marketing

Local Child Care Marketing Solutions

The Local Child Care Marketing team helps you understand what child care marketing strategies can work for your child care center. As you are looking to ramp up enrollment for summer day care programs, now is a great time to call in the experts! Find the right combination of different child care marketing services for your needs and your budget.

 

Local Child Care Marketing aids child care centers all over the country increase enrollment by improving search engine visibility and building a good reputation online.

 

Contact us to learn ways to market your child care center today!

Local Child Care Marketing Company Exhibits at Child Care Success Summit 2016

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Local Child Care Marketing attended the Child Care Success Summit in Phoenix, AZ. The Summit was held at the Sheraton Grand Phoenix Downtown October 13-15.

The Child Care Success Summit is an annual gathering of early childhood care and education professionals. The annual summit originated in 2011. The conference is “the world’s largest event 100% focused on the business side of child care.”

Local Child Care Marketing is a Web Presence Development Agency which works with child care centers. The company has attended and presented at previous Child Care Success Summits. Local Child Care Marketing shared expertise in building business success through industry-tailored website development.

“Search engines like Google constantly change the rules when it comes to how to rank your website online. We wanted to help child care centers with their web presence so they can focus on providing safe and quality child care,” explains Jeff Fisher, President of Local Child Care Marketing. “After attending this annual conference, we have found our practices are in line if not at the forefront of the best in the child care industry.”

Local Child Care Marketing employs more than 20 professionals to help child care centers with online marketing. Founder and President Jeff Fisher is a Certified Local Internet Marketing Consultant by the Local Internet Marketing Association.

About Local Child Care Marketing

Local Child Care Marketing was founded in 2011 in Reno, NV to help child care centers build a web presence. Local Child Care Marketing offers website building, online branding through directory listings, Pay-Per-Click and Facebook advertising, local authority building through articles, and general SEO help to child care centers. Local Child Care Marketing works with more than 75 child care locations in the United States. Local Child Care Marketing is a member of The Chamber of Reno, Sparks and Northern Nevada.

Contact

Jeff Fisher, President
Local Child Care Marketing
3983 South McCarran Boulevard Ste 555
Reno, NV 89502

Website: www.localchildcaremarketing.com/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 855-215-3838

A Complete Web Presence Will Fill Your Child Care Center

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It is no secret that in today’s marketing age that in order to compete you need to have a complete web presence. But, what does that mean? Is it just a website? Or do you have to maintain social media as well? How do you get your child care center to rank number one on Google? Is there anywhere else to advertise on the web?

A Complete Web Presence is More than a Website

There is a multitude of websites claiming to be able to have your website ranked on the first page of Google. Some have even gone so far as to name themselves pageonerankings.com. You may receive unsolicited emails from many of these companies claiming that they will have “dominating search results”.

This concept is so popular that there are dedicated blogs doing their best to detail out every step. Still others will blog not to even touch SEO with a ten-foot pole.

The reason that so many people embark upon this quest for knowledge is to try and understand the SEO process. If you are about to spend a thousand dollars or more on an online marketing campaign then you are just trying to understand whether you should buy a website, pay per click advertising, or market directories. Without proper information, many of your advertising dollars turn to wasted dollars.

Join Local Child Care Marketing for an exclusive webinar for the attendees of the 2015 Child Care Summit. This event will take place on November 10, 2015, from 11AM-12PM PST.

During this hour will cover numerous topics that can help your child care center to optimize their web presence which ultimately segues into a higher lead generation for your business. The topics that we will cover will be:
• A complete overview of web presence and its various pieces
• The difference between brand-related services and lead generation services
• A guide for how to audit your current website
• How you can track your results and other key indicators

At this end of this webinar, you will leave with action items that will get you started right away. Whether you are currently paying for “online marketing” or considering it this webinar will have something for you.
If you would like to register for this event click here.

If you would like to have a free website review click here.