How to Promote a Daycare Center: Children begin the school year with excitement, wonder and a bit of trepidation. If we set up our rooms with Preschool Learning Centers to allow each child to find his/her place in a safe, interesting and nurturing way, we can assure ourselves, the parents, and the children that each child will flourish under our care. In our next post, we will explore preschool writing centers, block centers, and other classroom centers which will help us achieve this goal.
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How to Promote a Daycare Center
It’s important to have small building toys, puzzles and other fine motor activities available at this your table toys center that speak to the different levels that you will encounter in your classroom.
At the beginning of the year, for example, I will have both 6 piece as well as 25 piece puzzles for the children.
I will have games for color identification but will also have an Alphabet puzzle for those children for whom it is appropriate.
The board game Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes by Zwiggle is a wonderful beginning of the year game that combines getting to know one another with learning the rudiments of playing a game with simple rules.
And some entrepreneurs may also want to start this kind of business but may not know how to about.
Don’t worry; these steps will help you promote your learning center in Nigeria.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
If you have your own business, it’s important to promote your brand in order to attract new clients.
Focus on a few simple strategies to help you get the word out there about your company.
1. Create a brand image, or logo.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
2. Network.
Network with other professionals in the following ways:
3. Attend networking group meetings.
You can find networking groups and clubs on the Internet, in newspapers and in trade publications.
Introduce yourself to people at the meetings.
Explain what it is your business does.
What you offer that makes you stand out from your competition.
And what you are looking for in business relationships.
Ask relevant questions during group discussions.
In addition to promoting your business.
You can learn a lot at networking meetings.
Additionally, asking open-ended questions encourages others to participate in the conversation.
And sets you up for more introductions.
Hand out your business cards.
Set up private meetings with those who express an interest in getting to know more about your business.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
4. Advertise.
Consider these methods for advertising your business:
- Signs. You may opt for storefront signs, billboards, marquee boards or street-side yard signs.
- Print. Place print ads in magazines, newspapers, coupon books, trade journals and industry magazines. Choose print mediums that are suited to your business. For example, if you run a technology parts recycling warehouse, then you may consider placing ads in computer classifieds and technology magazines.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
- Commercials. Television and radio commercials are effective ways to promote your business to a broad audience, but they are relatively costly forms of advertising.
- Advertisements. You may opt to pass out promotional materials at trade shows, at store fronts, in parking lots or in any other highly-populated areas. Some businesses, like nightclubs and entertainment venues, hire street crews to hand out advertisements and attract new customers.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
- Direct mail. You may purchase mailing lists targeted to your segment of the consumer market, then mail out letters, brochures, catalogs or postcards. This method is effective when you want to provide potential customers with paper coupons, vouchers, business cards or promotional merchandising.
- Public relations (PR) firms. You may hire a PR firm to create publicity for you in the form of news write-ups and press releases.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
- Internet. Promoting a business online involves setting up a business website, participating in industry/trade forum discussions, running a blog , setting up accounts on social networking sites, using pay-per-click and banner ads, listing your business information in business directories and employing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Every business, regardless of its size or scope, could benefit from Internet marketing, and many Internet marketing mediums are free to use.
- AR Advertising. Short for Augmented Reality Advertising. It enriches the user experience by bringing life to the prints, when it’s enhanced with extra layer called a digital layer.
5. Build business partnerships with other organizations.
Business partnerships can be very effective advertising tools.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
- Note: it’s tough to build a business partnership with an established company when your company isn’t yet established.
- Businesses understand the value (or lack of value) you’re giving them.
- And may want something in return or simple avoid business with you in the first place.
6. Rely on the power of social networks.
What’s it going to be?
- Try harnessing the power of viral media campaigns.
- Dollar Shave Club did very good business for itself simply by making a (funny, exciting, relatable) music video. It took off on social networks and now has over a million combined subscribers and followers on Facebook and Google+.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
7. Offer freebies.
8. Develop relationships with your customers.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
9. Encourage customers to talk about their experience using your business.
10. Classroom Furniture
The pieces you choose for each early childhood learning center are equally important for the smooth functioning in your room.
There are a myriad of types of Center equipment one can buy and truthfully.
A lot depends on your taste, the atmosphere you want to emit and what your school mandates.
Read also: 10 Tips to Promote Aquaculture Farming Business in Nigeria
11. Center-Based Classrooms Can Include Preschool Writing Centers, Dramatic Play Centers & Block Centers
There are seven Centers that can ensure that a classroom will be fun and enriching: Art, Manipulatives, Literacy/Writing. Library, Blocks, Science/Discovery and Dramatic Play Centers are basic to Early Childhood classrooms. Many classrooms now also have Technology and Music Centers.
At the beginning of the year your Centers will probably have items that help the children show you who they are while also encouraging them to get to know one another. Although there are many ways to begin a new year, I am happy to share with you some tried and true materials and activities that I have at my Centers that have worked for me to start my year off in a successful way.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
12. Utilize Your Preschool Art Center at the Beginning of the School Year
In an Early Childhood classroom, the children take a great deal of pride in their artwork. They are very creative, with little inhibition when they work. For this reason, at the beginning of the year I give the children the opportunity to design many open-ended creations. I will give them materials with which they are familiar, such as markers, crayons and glue, but will watch carefully to make sure that I am not assuming knowledge that they do not have. Some children need direction while others will just go right to it and I like to provide materials that will cater to both.
13. A Table Toys Center is a Great Addition to Your Array of Preschool Learning Centers
You can really learn a lot about the children, their knowledge and their interests at this Center. It’s a good idea to encourage children who are having trouble separating from their parents or warming up to come to this Center as the materials there are conducive to both individual and group play. The solitary play almost always leads to more interactive communication once the children become comfortable and familiar with each other.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
14. Early Childhood Learning Centers Will Transform Good Classrooms Into Great Ones
While the tables and chairs shape the most basic underlying physical structure in an Early Childhood classroom, there is another aspect of the physical environment that can and does transform a good classroom into a superb one. Learning Centers, areas in the room which have a rich variety of materials specific to that Center, invite exploration, problem solving and connections to real life. Having a Center based classroom helps me to organize the children’s learning, as I think about what I will be providing at each Center that will help the children learn what I am setting out to teach.
15. Involve the Parents
You know early education is an investment. You know high quality early education can build learning dispositions that can have a profound impact on learning outcomes. Many parents do not truly understand the value of early education. That alone spells opportunity.
You are passionate about your curriculum, your approach, your process. Parents are more and more interested in this. t
More and more parents really do want to know why you are passionate, and what you have to offer that is special. It’s not easy for parents to make the right choices in early education. And so as the value of early education becomes more and more understood, parents are becoming increasingly open to a pitch.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
16. Tell Your Story, What Makes You Different?
Start out but thinking out how you can communicate your value. Show your process. Create confidence that process nurtures learning growth, which can be a foundation for academic success.
Getting on anyone’s radar in this cluttered, high volume information world is no small undertaking. Service leaders should spend a little time each week on this aspect of running a successful early learning service. It has to be proactive, consciously thinking about what you can do. You can’t rely on other people to do it for you, no matter how great your service is.
17. Host an Event
If you are a new service in the area, you might try an event that is open to the public, no RSVP required. The goal here is to let folks see your facility and just know you are there. Event ideas might include an open house, a BBQ or an arts fair. The idea is a low-pressure way for families to see your place while spending quality time with their family.
If your service has been around a while, you may want to focus on events that build your credentials in early education. That might be a workshop on some aspect of parenting or a guest speaker on some aspect to early education that appeals to parents — dealing with tantrums, ideas to improve eating habits, etc.
In all cases, be sure to have material folks and take away such as brochures and even registration forms. Use the events to collect emails also — a page on a clip board will do — so that you can touch base in the future.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
18. Promote Your Business Whenever You Communicate
Parents are everywhere. And so every communication is an opportunity.
Is your service name, contact details and either slogan or brief service description on all of your correspondence? All staff email signatures should also include your service information, including a link to your website.
19. Engage on Social Media
Another effective child care marketing tactic is to contribute to online conversations in social networks that reach parents.
It can be overwhelming, and it certainly isn’t getting any easier, but social media is powerful. An absolute must have for early learning services is a Facebook page. At a minimum, use it to keep your community informed on your key dates and events — when your school year starts, etc. It is also an easy way to be found, should one of your clients recommend you — if they have “liked” your page, they can simply share it with others.
Beyond that, social media offers a chance for you to create a brand and a voice. Communicate this through the articles you might share or like, and through how you interact on your page. For instance, it could be high-minded and professional tone, a warm and nurturing tone, or a lighthearted and cheerful tone. Your community can learn a lot about you from your online presence.
How to Promote a Daycare Center
20. Build your business through word of mouth or referral.
For the first 2 years in business put your profit back for the business to grow.
It is important to build your business through word of mouth or referral.
If you have done things right and your customers are happy with the task performed than they would gladly refer you to their family members or friends.
The important thing to remember here is that even though people are happy with your product or work.
They will not make the first move of telling others unless you request them to do so.
Go ahead, be bold, and ask for more business and people will oblige.
If you order pens, make sure the staff at the reception area or front lobby (if you have one) uses those to promote the company.
21. Leave The Building, Get Networking!
Part of child care marketing, or any marketing for that matter, is networking in your local community or your field of interest. Child care marketing is no different. Local parenting or mother-to-be groups would have an interest in hearing you talk about your world. You know more than you think about early education, choosing a child care service, getting ready for preschool, transitioning to school.
There are any number of talks you could give that would be helpful and give you a helpful way to insert yourself into early education conversations in your community. As always, be sure always to have business cards or flyers, and consider using discounts to keep an ongoing connection to a group.
A huge part of marketing is creating transparency and visibility around what you do. For existing clients and for prospective parents. Educa is an online platform that helps set you apart, showcasing your curriculum to parents like never before. See for yourself, start a free trial today.
Conclusion:
Children begin the school year with excitement, wonder and a bit of trepidation.
If we set up our rooms with Preschool Learning Centers to allow each child to find his/her place in a safe.
Interesting and nurturing way, we can assure ourselves, the parents, and the children that each child will flourish under our care.
In our next post, we will explore preschool writing centers, block centers, and other classroom centers which will help us achieve this goal.