The service you provide running a nursery is invaluable to parents. Their conundrum, therefore, isn’t about whether they need what you offer, it’s choosing which nursery is best for their children. So, with stiff competition all around, what can you do to catch their attention, allay their fears, and fill spaces? We’ve come up with five great things you can do that will make a difference…
1. Present instant credibility
You work hard to achieve and maintain your certification and accreditation, so make the most of that effort and ensure it’s highly visible where it needs to be. And it’s not just NDNA certification we’re talking about here. We’re also including relevant OFSTED updates, health and safety qualifications, and any other special skills your nursery has. Make sure all these things can be seen:
- Physically in your nursery
- On your website
- On all communications, including letters, emails and social media posts
Check that your nursery management software facilitates this, ideally automatically, and make your life easy.
2. Ensure you’re visible online
There are few organisations that can do without a website these days. Sometimes people think it’s an unnecessary cost or just a time consuming exercise, but in truth it’s not. Of course, a well-designed informative nursery website is a place prospective parents can go to find out more about your nursery. But a website can be so much more than that, for it’s the perfect place to present up-to-date information on events, news, vacancies, and much much more. When you engage your parents regularly, they’ll talk about you, promote you, and thank you.
3. Chatter online where your parents chatter
Having a business page on Facebook is a great cost-effective way to engage with your audience… your parents. Demographically, it’s popular with adults of parenting age – both men and women, so you have a good chance of capturing their attention. With that in mind, therefore, make a point of using Facebook to highlight up and coming events, share good news, and pass on any other industry specific information that shows how your caring expertise shines.
4. Make the most of word of mouth
So far we’ve focused on what goes on online but, of course, that’s not the only place people chatter. There’s nothing like good old fashioned word-of-mouth promotion; in fact, it’s probably one of the most effective forms of marketing. Personal recommendations from a person you know will always have a lot more credence than a stranger’s note on a website. So do things to get people talking. Arrange get-togethers, quizzes, bring-a-friend open evenings, competitions that involve groups… let your imagination fly.
5. Keep in regular contact
Pursuing a ‘push’ marketing strategy is still a useful way of reaching the people you want to stay in touch with. You may be shrugging when you read that, thinking that you’re just making contact with existing contacts, but things do get passed on to newcomers. Check that your nursery management software has the facility to ‘bulk’ email and take advantage of it. Obviously you have to ensure that people wish to receive your communications, but once you’ve done that… game on!
So there you have it. Five great ways to make your marketing more effective. There are many other strategies open to you as well, though, and if you’ve had success with others please do let us know. Share your ideas. Let’s work together on giving parents the peace of mind they need to make one of the most important decisions they make in their early parenting days.