4 Underrated Marketing Strategies for Increasing Enrollment
Nothing is more important to the financial health of your early education business than enrollment. So what are the best ways to market your school and boost your occupancy? To answer this question, HINGE recently hosted a webinar with Childcare Business Growth’s Nick Williams exploring a range of marketing strategies to increase enrollment.
Strategy 1: Get Your (Marketing) Ducks in a Row
First, review your existing marketing materials. Do you have foundational elements like key messaging, an elevator pitch, and FAQs in place? If so, when was the last time they were updated? Take the time to revisit, enhance and share them with your team to ensure you’re telling a consistent and compelling story about what your center has to offer, especially compared to other providers in the area.
Also make sure you have an effective process for responding to parent inquiries across all of your communication platforms — website, emails, phone calls, texts, and social media — so you don’t risk losing leads simply because you missed a message.
Strategy 2: Focus on Your Ideal Families
You probably know who the ideal family for your center is, but do your marketing materials reflect who you’re trying to attract? That should be clear from the first glance.
“The mistake many early education businesses make is trying to appeal to everyone,” says Williams. “Most of their websites look pretty, but they don’t represent what makes them unique.”
Additionally, ensure your marketing efforts only target the customers you want to reach. For example, if you invest in digital advertising, drill down to target parents or guardians by location, age, income, language, gender, and more. Use your dollars most effectively by only marketing the spaces that you currently have openings for.
Strategy 3: Know Your Numbers
One of the most common mistakes childcare owners make is investing in marketing without delving into the results. Taking time to review and fully understand your metrics allows you to see which tactics are working best and enables you to make more effective marketing decisions.
“At a minimum, you should know how much you spend on marketing per month, how much it costs to generate a lead, how many of those leads take a tour, and how many tours convert to customers,” explains Williams. “Once you know your cost for acquiring a new customer, you can calculate how much to invest monthly to reach your enrollment goals.”
Strategy 4: Seal the Deal with a Tour
Touring a school can be a make-or-break experience for prospective families. Making that experience a positive one is a very effective way to drive enrollment. “Most families won't remember what you tell them about your curriculum, but they will remember how you made them feel on that visit,” says Williams. Be sure to:
Conduct a pre-tour call to identify the family’s priorities and concerns — and address those points during the tour.
Remember that first impressions count. Look at your center with the critical eye of a first-time visitor. How does it look, sound, smell, and feel?
Make your tour memorable. Ensure families aren’t kept waiting in the reception area, offer them a drink upon arrival, and call your guests by their names.
Provide takeaways like brochures, testimonials, and branded merchandise to stay top of mind.
Follow up within a few days of the visit to check in and answer any additional questions.
For more best practices on increasing enrollment, check out the full webinar on our YouTube channel.
Interested in learning more about setting your early education business up for success? Contact us at info@hingeadvisors.com.