The demand for quality preschool programs is at an all-time high, and the preschool industry is competitive. If you are the owner of a child care center, it’s essential that you think about your marketing plan. Making a solid preschool marketing plan is one of the key elements to help you generate more business and increase your enrollment.
Your marketing approach can give your preschool an advantage over other preschools in your area. Ultimately, you want to reach as many prospective families as possible and convert them to enrollees. If you’re not sure where to start, here are eight ways how you can develop an effective marketing plan for your preschool.
1. Define Your Target Market
Firstly; you need to think about your target market. Are you hoping to attract preschoolers from higher-income families with stay-at-home moms? Or are you trying to reach lower-income families of preschoolers with working parents? Once you know your target audience, you can start designing your preschool marketing plan accordingly.
2. Develop a Communication Strategy
Secondly, determine how you will communicate with your prospective parents when developing your marketing plan. Will you use a brochure or a flyer? Would it be more effective if they met face-to-face? Will you send emails? How often will you reach out via social media? Or would it be more effective to contact them when they are most likely to open their preschool marketing materials?
3. Know Your Competition
Take time to learn about the other preschools in your area. Think about the types of content that these preschools are advertising and which services they offer. You need to create an effective preschool marketing plan to set your preschool apart from the others.
4. Set Target Goals
It’s essential to establish your preschool marketing goals. What would you like to accomplish within the year? Are you targeting families of children from a specific age group? Are you opening a preschool specializing in teaching children how to read and write at the pre-K level? Or do you hope to attract families of preschoolers enrolling in kindergarten next year? Think of your marketing goals as benchmarks to measure your preschool enrollment.
5. Design Your Marketing Materials
Once you have determined your specific marketing goals, you need to create materials to help get the word out about your preschool. For example, if you’re aiming to attract preschoolers from a specific age group, design flyers that showcase some of the various activities and lessons taught to children in this age group.
If you hope to draw families of preschoolers enrolling in kindergarten next year, create preschool marketing materials that emphasize the transition process and effective preschool practices.
6. Utilize online marketing tools
Taking your preschool marketing campaign online is another effective way to reach parents in your target market. Does your child care center have a website? If not, now is the time to build one. Most preschools have a website where they post updates, photos, and activities. It is essential to take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (or “SEO”) to ensure that your website is easily discoverable for parents in your target market to find when searching online.
Above all, social media platforms are another avenue preschools can increase enrollment. You can create a Facebook page and accounts on other platforms (like Instagram) to share photos, daily activities, updates, and information. Moreover, you can also use social media to your advantage by encouraging parents to tag you in their pictures or preschool updates.
7. Track Your Performance
It is essential to track the results of your marketing efforts. As a result, you can determine which strategies are most effective for your preschool. You can do this by keeping track of enrollment data and tracking leads generated by preschool marketing campaigns.
Tracking your preschool’s marketing performance will help you determine which marketing strategies to continue using in the future and which are not working as effectively.
A solid preschool marketing plan is essential for the success of any growing childcare business. At LCCM, we offer integrated digital and offline marketing solutions specifically designed for a child care business.
We exist for one reason: to help you, the childcare owner. Our experts help you create and maintain your web presence and dominate your market’s business directory listings and search engines. We help generate enrollments through paid advertising opportunities and put your center on the map. Contact us to learn more!