The winter months are an ideal time to take a good look at your marketing program. If you want to get more enrollment in your center (and retain more of the customers you have), commit to spending a little time each week throughout the winter working on marketing. The following list will help you tackle marketing one piece at a time.

  • Review the past year’s marketing efforts and determine which were most effective at generating qualified inquiries and referrals. If you do not already have a method for asking prospects the ways they found out about you, make that your first effort for next year.
  • Update your marketing action plan. Include each marketing action you will take in the new year, the timeline, the person(s) responsible, the budget allocated to this effort, and the method of evaluating its effectiveness.
  • Develop or update your website. Now is an ideal time to develop or update your website. Make sure the look of the site communicates a current and recognizable image of your business. Add new photos. Revise copy so it not only educates visitors, but entices them to contact you to set up a center visit.
  • Take lots of pictures in your center for use in brochures, social media, and on your website. Update photo permission forms, then capture photos of your staff, children, and activities in your classrooms and on the playground.
  • Generate good publicity – Spend some of your marketing time taking the necessary steps to generate good publicity for your center. Approach the media with topics that are unique, timely, and of interest to their audiences. Doing so can be a cost-effective way to extend the reach and frequency of your other
    marketing efforts.

Each week, commit to doing some marketing. By spring, you will feel prepared and confident about building summer and fall enrollment from within your center and out in your community.

 

Julie Wassom
The Child Care Marketing Expert and Coach
Marketing and Sales Speaker/Consultant/Author
303-910-3083
julie@juliewassom.com
www.juliewassom.com