A child care center brochure can be a valuable marketing tool or an expensive waste of time and resources. When people in your target market need more information about your center’s services, a brochure is an easy way to provide that education while enticing them to learn more. However, to a prospective customer, a powerful brochure can put you in the running while a weak one can eliminate you on the first cut.

First, Ask Yourself . . .

Before you begin to design and develop a brochure for your center, consider your answers to the following questions:

1. Who is your intended audience? To whom will you be giving the brochure? Will it go to anyone who wants information about your center or just your best prospects? Is it also intended for customers, center visitors, and opinion influencers? Which target markets do you want your brochure to appeal to most?

2. What specifically do you want your brochure to communicate? Do you want it to communicate the image of your center, educate people about the unique features and benefits of your child care services, or just list the services you offer including ages of children served, hours of operation, location, etc.? Do you want it to merely peak interest or to help generate inquiries and center visits?

3. How do you intend to use the brochure? Will your brochure be a handout, a mailer, or both? Consider designing it for multiple uses, such as in your center information packet, in media kits, as part of your direct mail program, as a piece included in the information packet you give center visitors, and as a leave-behind on community visits. How long do you want prospects to keep your brochure? For a longer shelf life, you’ll need to omit text that refers to specific dates and numbers.

4. How do you want your brochure to look? Think about size, paper stock, color, photographs, graphic design, ease of mailing, and placement of identifying elements such as your logo and a map to your center.

5. What are your budget parameters? What costs will you incur in design, production, and mailing? How will you evaluate the return on your investment in your brochure?

There are no right or wrong answers. But your answers will dictate just how your brochure should come together.

A good way to get a feel for what you’d like is to gather and review brochures from other child care centers, and even other industries. Make note of what you like in the copy and design elements. Gather ideas to adapt, not to copy. Think in your recipient’s perspective. What will draw their attention, intrigue them, hold their interest enough to read it, or even better, to inquire about your child care services?

Julie Wassom
“The Speaker Whose Message Means Business”
Marketing and Sales Speaker/Consultant/Author
Call me: 303-693-2306
Fax me: 303-617-6422
E-me: julie@juliewassom.com
See me: www.juliewassom.com