How to Best Advertise Your Daycare

If you’re looking to start a daycare, the best way to advertise it is to utilize as many opportunities as possible to get your name out there. You need effective and affordable advertising that provides a variety of ways to connect with parents and that helps keep your daycare enrollment high.

The best way to advertise your daycare is to create a website that helps you showcase your business, load it up with informational content and make your website mobile friendly and intuitive. On your website use real time photos instead of stock images to create that emotional connection with parents. Also utilize social media in all its forms to educate parents about your childcare approach, policies, and pricing.

The next several paragraphs will provide more details to help you in advertising your daycare business.

Create a website

You need a website, but it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Much of your advertising will be done by your website; your informational content will also be here. Make your website mobile friendly and intuitive and make use of real time photos as opposed to stock images; using real life images will foster a valuable connection with your clients.

Use plain simple language and speak from the heart when writing your content. Wix.com and weebly.com are both good platforms to use in creating an informational website that will define what you and your daycare are all about. It will help you get your name out to the public in ways that will pay off well over time. Be sure to keep your site updated regularly as this will help it climb higher in Google and remember to submit your website URL to as many search engines as possible.

Utilize Social Media

Make the most of social media networks and marketing automation to let parents know exactly what your daycare beliefs and policies are. You can also create a video to introduce employees, give parents a look at the atmosphere of your daycare and an overall look at where their child will be spending his or her days. If you’re not familiar with marketing automation, it’s a fancy name for software that automates your marketing for you.

This kind of automation software will streamline your marketing in a very efficient way. You may find that it also frees up a lot of your time. An auto responder is one example of marketing automation; it’s simply a series of on-boarding emails that can educate your prospective clients about your business and services.

These days social media is everywhere we look, and it offers multiple ways to advertise your business. Set up pages on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest and keep them updated with regular postings. A regular posting schedule will help you stay organized and plan ahead. How often you should post isn’t written in stone but keeping to a regular schedule with your postings is more likely to retain customers and keep them updated on your business.

Facebook ads are still a good choice and they work for some people, but just posting on your own personal page can also benefit you. One of the main advantages of Facebook ads is that they target users with similar characteristics. Your ad will be placed in these users News Feeds or in their right-hand column so they can be seen easily. Also consider Facebook Marketplace as another avenue of advertising; ads you put here will reach people where they shop who might not be on your main page.

Post your URL in places like Google, Bing, Addpro, Yahoo, Quick Register and Free Site Submission. There are just a few of the sites that are free to get your name out there. If you don’t do this it can take forever to get noticed.

Grow your business by starting out with a 14-day Instagram ads free trial. It’s a good way to engage the community, give feedback and get insights.  Instagram advertising offers a 5-step guide to using their ads; what’s good about Instagram ads is that they look like regular posts and will include call to action buttons like contact us, learn more, and call now. A call to action button can help your prospective employees focus and make taking action easy for them. You can relate to this if you’ve ever been on a website and wanted to buy something but didn’t know how; the website probably lacked a call to action button.

Offer Incentives

A great way to advertise is through daycare clients you may already have; they will appreciate being given money off their tuition if they bring in others who sign up and stay for at least one month. Incentives like these work great and they give clients a reason to promote your daycare. Offering incentives is also a way to build customer loyalty, satisfaction, and retention. With all the competition in the daycare business today, customer and employee retention are crucial.

Consider offering incentives to your teachers as well. You can give merit pay based on a job well done or reliability going above and beyond in their daily work. Things like gift cards, gift baskets and extra vacation days will also be appreciated.

Post your Location

Posting your daycares’ location is a great way for potential customers to see exactly where you’re located and it’s one more piece of the puzzle helping them know if your daycare will work for them. Today, many people use the Internet to find businesses, so be sure to leverage this situation to promote your daycare.

It makes good business sense to add your business address to Google maps so that when anyone googles childcare in their area, your daycare will pop up. Think about how this form of free advertising will help build your business. There are several search engines available to you, so be sure to add your listing to these directories too for more free advertising. Google maps will also provide people with driving information and street views.

Talk up Your Business

When you’re out and about, you’ll come across multiple opportunities to tell the world about your daycare business; get some simple business cards printed up to use as conversation starters. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities, they’re everywhere; at the grocery store, the clothing store, the doctor’s office, parties, holidays; the list is endless. Look for billboards in churches and grocery stores. Let your passion and your love for your daycare show when you talk to people, it’s contagious and will draw people to you

Distribute flyers in neighborhoods and in businesses that cater to children. You can even make up the flyers on your own computer to save money. Put flyers in places like pediatricians’ offices, children’s dental offices, laundromats, play places like trampoline parks, and restaurants with playrooms like McDonalds and Cicis. Don’t underestimate word of mouth advertising; talk to everyone.

It’s still true that people trust personal recommendations. You might even consider advertising your business with a sticker on your car. All you have to do to make this work is drive around. If you’re brave enough, place flyers on cars and on people’s doors too.

Your positive attitude and energy will be a huge advantage to help you pull in new clients. Network, network, network. Think of networking as a two-way street; you’re not only looking for help to promote your business, you are also looking for ways to help others promote theirs.

As you build relationships you are also building your business, building rapport, and branding yourself as a person who genuinely cares about society at large and the people in your area. Maybe it really does take a village to raise a child.

RELATED QUESTIONS:

1. How much will ads for my daycare business cost?

Google ads are a good place to start. Lots of small businesses use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to get their name out into the public and grow their business. The average cost of Google ads is $1 to $2 for the Google search network and less than $1 for the Google display network. The Google display network is like a virtual billboard and will get your ads in front of millions of targeted buyers.

2. How do I create a brochure for my business?

Go online to one of the sites that will walk you through the steps to create your brochure. Include the vital information parents are looking for, including your childcare approach, policies, and pricing, and activities the children will be engaged in. A colorful, information packed brochure in the hands of potential clients will answer a lot of their questions and put your business in a good light.

3. What is the best way to network my business?

Networking involves a combination of many different methods. A good place to start is by joining childcare groups in your area; you can find them by searching online or asking around your community. Talk up your daycare every chance you get and let people know your daycare is special and that your goal is to serve the community by providing a great place for children to grow and learn.

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.

Checkout our startup course and documents to learn more about advertising your Daycare.

Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Childcare Business Fan.

I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online daycare business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a childcare business owner, I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.

That’s why I created Daycare Business Boss: I want to help childcare business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.