What if we told you that there’s another type of word-of-mouth marketing available for your center? It doesn’t rely on the need for you to incentivize parents to provide referrals. Nowadays, the notion of “Influencer Marketing” has taken on a life of its own. Every major brand is seriously pursuing this relatively new form of marketing.
There are plenty of ways to go about finding the best people to promote your childcare business. However, you have to ask yourself a key question: ”Is influencer marketing right for me?”. Here are four ways to use influencer marketing for childcare centers.
1. Influencers can help create engaging content
Social media influencers have an intimate understanding of their audience, and they know what kinds of content to post when it comes to garnering engagement. Influencers know exactly what kinds of posts and information will resonate with their audience best. They tailor their content accordingly while boosting credibility for your brand.
Keep in mind, however, that there is an inevitable downside of influencer marketing for childcare centers. It is that audiences will almost always be able to tell what’s brand promotion and what isn’t. This is why authenticity in the influencers’ posts is very important. How to ensure these posts aren’t immediately getting written off as a “money grab”? Let the influencer have creative freedom.
That way, they’ll be able to engage their followers while effectively promoting your business.
2. Leveraging Micro-Influencers
There’s a common misconception that influencers tend to charge anywhere from hundreds of dollars to even thousands of dollars per post. For huge brands, this certainly can be the case. Bigger brands have room in their budget to pay influencers who have hundreds of thousands of followers. However, you shouldn’t overlook the power of “Micro-Influencers”.
Micro-influencers are those whose followers may range from as many as 20,000 followers to as low as 2,000 followers. Partnering with micro-influencers can still be incredibly beneficial nonetheless. Their content can tap into a new audience for you, and you’ll still be able to maintain your marketing budget. You may decide to start by utilizing micro-influencers with a following in the 2,000-5,000 range.
From there, you can start to work your way up the influencer ladder, and eventually create partnerships with influencers who have 20,000+ followers.
3. Choosing the right influencers
There are all different types of influencers who promote all different types of brands. The one thing they have in common is that they are promoting businesses and brands to a major audience that sees the value in their content. However, when it comes to your child care center, you’ll need to be a bit more selective.
For those who may not be familiar with the term “Mommy Bloggers,” this is the type of influencer you’re going to want to leverage to gain more social proof and credibility for your brand. A “mommy influencer” is the same type of concept as a mommy blogger. The trust and credibility they’ve gained with their audience members is their greatest asset, especially when it comes to child care.
Getting a mommy influencer to promote your child care brand will be your best bet to gain social proof, and potentially a new audience, when they promote your child care center.
4. Long-term partnerships
Many brands that don’t quite know how to leverage the power of influencers might focus their efforts on a one-off campaign. Otherwise known as the “Always-On” strategies, this focuses on building a steady stream of branded content, which is strategically scheduled and executed continuously over many months.
Staying front and center on both your audience’s social media feeds and minds are going to be key for a successful influencer campaign. Forging a successful business relationship with your influencer will ultimately increase your overall social proof, help you build your brand awareness, and increase your sales conversions as a result of your influencer’s efforts.
Key takeaways
For the foreseeable future, influencer marketing is here to stay. Brands of all sizes will be leveraging this type of marketing if they aren’t already. That’s why it’s always important (and this goes for any type of marketing strategy) to bear in mind that whatever types of strategies your business isn’t utilizing, there’s a good chance that your competitors are.
Social media is constantly changing and evolving, and therefore your marketing strategies should be following suit.
Important takeaways here include making sure an influencer’s brand or aesthetic is aligned with your own, and that it makes sense for you to tap into their audience. Additionally, there are plenty of influencers whose costs can fall within your budget, but make sure you’re considering influencer fees, other potential costs associated with content production, and even costs like platform or agency fees.
Setting clear goals for impressions and engagement, allowing for creative freedom, and creating a collaborative, ongoing campaign are going to be your main objectives when forging a successful influencer partnership with your child care brand.
Is influencer marketing right for your child care center? Get in touch with our marketing specialist today!