BridesWomen 
Any business must market its products and services, but marketing childcare centers are especially difficult if you haven’t done any marketing in the past. However, it’s the only way to grow your center.
Making sure you are marketing is the first step. Our staff has spoken with so many directors that have no marketing, yet complain about low enrollment numbers. Though word-of-mouth is beneficial, it rarely generates enough business for a center to be filled.
In addition to providing quality care to children and families, the most successful child cares also invest significantly in marketing. Huggies or Pampers are not popular because of word-of-mouth; they are popular because of marketing. Children’s daycares are no different.
Marketing is a must, but what should you do? In addition to radio and billboards, direct mail and community events, social media, pay-per-click marketing, and email campaigns are other options. Then you have to worry about how you will spend the money, because they all cost money.
The aim of this article is to discuss the pros, cons, and average costs of all the different options.
In order for any marketing strategy to be successful, it must be long-term because you have to consistently get in front of prospective families over a period of time before you see a return on investment. Rather than trying a strategy just once, it is recommended to try it for months. Attempting them just once will not work.
Let’s see what your options are. In the following sections, we’ve covered each in detail, or scroll down to see each in easy-to-read table form.
Ads on Television
Since this is a terrible childcare option, we’ll start here. Despite their size and profitability, KinderCare and Bright Horizons don’t advertise on television.
The cheapest 30 second TV spot will usually run around $1,500 plus another $1,500 to produce unless you live in a really small town.
With that commercial running tens of thousands of times in order to get results, you’ll be spending tens of thousands of dollars on advertising. Those costs can never be recovered. It’s time to forget about TV advertising.
Ads on The Radio
There is a large audience for radio advertising as 93% of adults listen to the radio at least once during the workday, usually in the mornings or on their way home.
The exposure, however, will cost you money. Most radio stations require a minimum buy of $8,000 or more before they will run your ad and invest in producing it.
Almost all childcare centers are unable to afford this, just as they cannot afford television.
Childcare centers Ads in Newspapers
Now that newspaper ads are becoming more affordable, many childcare centers can afford them. For most local newspapers, the cost of an ad ranges from $200 to $1,250. The ad’s size, placement, and color options will determine its effectiveness. It will obviously cost more to run ads in large publications.
Even though this is still somewhat pricey, it is still relatively affordable if you spend $800-$5,000 per month.
You can increase awareness of your child care center by placing child care & flyers in newspapers. It is also a good idea to add a coupon or special offer to the bottom of the ad as this may attract new families. Daycare flyer template by PhotoADKing helps you create those eye-catchy flyers for your ads.
Your Childcare Centers Ads on Billboards
Especially if your child care is near a highway, billboards can work well for location-based businesses.
They are still quite expensive. Costs for a four-week spot can range from $1,000 to $6,000 depending on location. Moreover, like radio, they usually require a minimum purchase amount, usually 3 or more.
Childcare centers facility located near a road with light traffic that is just off the highway could be a good option. In terms of visibility and convenience, location plays a crucial role in the success of any child care business.
When most people are unaware of your child care because everyone never drives by, a billboard could be just the ticket to spreading awareness. This is particularly true if it’s located on a highway where many parents travel from home to work, making it convenient for parents to drop children off on the way.
Sending Direct Mail
Another economical method of reaching a large number of families is to use direct mail. Newspaper ads are generally more expensive, but you’re sure to reach more people with this approach.
Newspaper ads can be quite broad in distribution since not everyone reads the paper. Alternatively, direct mail can be directed to specific zip codes or mail carrier routes.
You can therefore send out a direct mail campaign to just families from suburb X on their way to work downtown if you know you have a lot of families from that area. The United States Postal Service provides this service called Every Door Direct Mail. Letters and postcards can be sent for as little as 15 cents!
For every door direct mail campaign, you can expect to pay about $1,300, which includes the costs of designing and producing the postcards and newsletters. You can take advantage of Vistaprint’s easy-to-use design services for slightly more expensive direct mail campaigns, or just ask your local marketing agency or print shop.
Marketing through Social Media
There are many definitions of social media marketing. Among the platforms that can be used are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat. These platforms can be used organically or through paid ads. The options and variables are endless. Social media is quite different from traditional marketing methods since it requires a greater amount of education to master.
Social media marketing has one of the biggest drawbacks: its complexity. It is difficult for most people to know where to begin, and learning how to use each platform and each campaign type can be difficult. Social media marketing also seems to change constantly. The platforms are constantly changing, and new rules apply.
Optimization of Search Engines (SEO)
As much as SEO is a marketing strategy, it is also a method of ensuring that your website is easily found on the internet.
Most families today research online extensively before connecting with one another. According to estimates, 60% of their decision will already be made when they contact you. It’s likely they’re contacting you because they’ve already narrowed down their top 3-5 options.
Understanding that is crucial. The majority of families decide whether or not they will contact your child care without having spoken to you or taking a tour. Outreach and online reputation play a crucial role in this decision-making process.
Creating a web presence through consistent content creation takes a lot of time, can be somewhat technical, and requires a lot of knowledge. There is no guarantee that the results will be what you want.
Almost any decent service that’s likely to get results will cost at least $750 per month. You can’t just set and forget SEO unless you live in a small town without much competition.
Regular updates and fresh content are what Google wants to see. Also, competitors are always improving their SEO practices, so stay on top by doing the same. Monthly costs and monthly focus are required.
A website should be built with current SEO best practices in mind when it’s first set up, or when a website is redesigned. You may find that other approaches are a better investment unless the market in which you operate is highly competitive.
PPC (pay-per-click) Advertising
If SEO isn’t the best option to appear on the first page of Google results, paid ads might be. There are always three ads at the top of each page. With Google ads, you can boost your business’s ranking on the first page, regardless of how well your website is optimized.
It can be difficult to predict the cost of Google ads. It has ranged from 50 cents a click to $20 a click. The relevance of your ads will depend on how popular your keywords are, how competitive your childcare centers market is, and how competitive your market is.
