You know you need to market to prospective parents, but did you know they aren’t your only audience?
It’s true — and if you miss major segments of your child care marketing audience, you won’t be able to spend your marketing dollars wisely.
We want to help you make the most of those dollars. Let’s explore the different segments of your child care marketing audience and how to effectively target them.
Segments of Your Child Care Marketing Audience
Your child care marketing audience has four main segments:
Prospective Parents
This one is the most obvious. You need to bring new families into your school to drive enrollment.
To draw prospective parents into your marketing funnel, you can promote brand awareness through signage and digital ads, and schedule tours. The goal is to convert interested parents into enrolled ones.
Enrolled Parents
Retaining a family is cheaper than enrolling one. In fact, increasing customer retention by just 2% has the same impact as reducing costs by 10%.
It’s in your best interest to retain your families long-term, and the best way to do that is by frequently reminding them that they made a great choice to enroll with you.
Engaging with parents also encourages them to become brand ambassadors who refer other families to your school. It’s a win-win.
Prospective Staff
Hiring is tough; your social media and website should do some of the heavy lifting. Attract new, quality staff by showcasing your training process and your appreciation for your current team.
Current Staff
Use your marketing efforts to remind your staff how much you and your enrolled parents value them. Highlight special training and teacher education, as well as any special benefits they enjoy as employees.
Your goal in marketing to your existing staff is twofold. You want to (a) retain them, and (b) have them become brand ambassadors who will bring in other staff members just like them. Happy employees bring in more happy employees!
Where to Target Your Child Care Marketing Audiences
To get the most out of your marketing budget, you need to reach all segments of your child care marketing audience — not just prospective parents.
Let’s explore what that looks like.
Your Website
Most obviously, you’ll use your website to reach all segments of your audience. Each group will value different information, so you’ll need to take the time to meet the differing needs and expectations.
Enrolled parents will look for important resources, such as menus, forms, and activity calendars, on your site. Also, include a designated tuition page with simple payment options.
Placing your school’s mission statement and core values front and center on your website is also a good idea. It helps remind enrolled families what you stand for and why they chose your school in the first place.
Considering content for prospective staff, you’ll want to include a “careers” page that highlights the benefits of working at your school. You can also include a career advancement chart and publish any job openings.
It’s best to include an easy way to schedule interviews and allow candidates to submit resumes and interview documents. Your CRM should help with this.
Social Media and Email Newsletters
Use your social media and newsletter to deliver exactly what your audience segments are looking for. To stay top of mind, serve up your content in fun and creative ways.
Enrolled parents need reassurance. They want to see pictures of their kids happy, engaged, and learning. It’s your job to deliver that peace of mind.
Post pictures of happy kids in nurturing environments. Share smiles and hugs between friends and teachers. Showcase beautiful, healthy food and educational milestones.
These reassure parents they made the right choice for their kids.
When you post photos that represent your school’s culture and display teacher appreciation and training, prospective staff members start daydreaming about working with you. If your Instagram posts convince them that your staff has fun on more days than they don’t, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Don’t forget your current staff — you couldn’t run your school without them!
Use social media and newsletters to highlight teacher anniversaries and birthdays. Capture and share special moments between teachers and kids, and share the news if a teacher or staff member completes an educational goal.
Ensure Easy Interaction With Your Child Care Marketing Audience
If you really want to maximize your marketing efforts, make it as easy as possible for your child care marketing audiences to contact and interact with you, whoever they may be.
- Your contact information should be clear everywhere it appears — online and offline. Hyperlink it or use QR codes for a barrier-free customer experience.
- Respond quickly to emails or messages on social media — if not, it could cost you a lead, an enrollment, or a new staff member. A full 63% of customers expect companies to offer responsive customer service on social media, and 90% of people expect an immediate response (within 10 minutes) when they contact customer service. Don’t drop the ball!
- Make sure your CTA (call to action) is clear. For example, scheduling a tour or filling out an application form should be as simple as clicking a button on your website.
- List all pertinent program, classroom, and tuition information on your website and make it easily accessible. Creating a page of frequently asked questions is also a good idea. This page provides immediate answers for commonly asked questions so prospects don’t have to call or email.
- List everything included in your tuition on your tuition page. This clarifies the value of your tuition cost and outlines your school’s differentiators.
Reach Your Entire Child Care Marketing Audience
If you’re overwhelmed by all this marketing jargon, don’t worry — we can take the pressure off.
Give us a call, and we’ll be glad to discuss how we can upgrade your marketing processes to take your school to the next level.