The child care and early childhood education industry was a firm business venture for many entrepreneurs before the global pandemic. Businesses and institutions involved in this sector saw a constant growth in demand by at least 11.7% annually from 2011 to 2016. This was particularly supported by the fact that 9 out of 10 children aged four years old attended some type of formal care.
Unfortunately, all of these were disrupted at the onset of the health crisis. Much like every other industry, child care and early childhood education suffered immense losses. This was extremely hard for entrepreneurs because shifting to distance learning for early childhood education proved to be costlier than expected.
However, the industry has already begun its slow process of recovery. It also proves to present countless opportunities for many entrepreneurs should they successfully bring enrollment rates up post-pandemic. The market for these services is projected to reach nearly $520 billion by 2022, which is a substantial increase from the earlier valuation in 2018 at $339 billion. This makes the current landscape the perfect time to invest in a preschool franchise.
A Boost in Enrollment
Now more than ever, boosting enrollment for these institutions has become a crucial aspect of keeping preschool and daycare owners afloat. Despite the continued vaccination rollout programs being done across the country, approximately 17% of parents are planning to delay sending their kids to preschools in the wake of the pandemic.
To meet the necessary figures to maintain their preschool, business owners should necessarily shift their marketing strategies to attract more parents. Moreover, providers of early childhood education should find innovative yet evident ways to ease the growing concerns of parents. Here are the top marketing ideas for any child care entrepreneur.
Identify the Target Audience
Every successful and effective marketing strategy begins with understanding who the targeted audience is. In this industry, it is obviously the parents. However, it is also important to understand that these are millennial parents. This entails that more modern issues will mostly influence consumer behaviors.
For instance, millennial parents are considered to be very tech-savvy. This will necessarily require a fairly comprehensive and sophisticated online presence for businesses who wish to really capture their attention.
Moreover, millennials have been known to be a very conscious generation. It is equally important for a preschool’s marketing strategy to reflect essential values geared towards community-building and early childhood education. These are the things that will set a preschool apart.
Practice Transparent Marketing
In the wake of a global pandemic, every parent will surely be extremely anxious when it comes to the health and safety of their child. With this in mind, it is also important for the marketing strategy to be proactive and transparent. Utilizing readily available technologies to achieve this should also prove to be the best step forward.
Entrepreneurs should capitalize on the use of virtual and digital tools to ensure that their facilities are completely safe and ready to use. Consider conducting preschool walkthroughs via online means such as videoconferencing or live-streaming.
It should also be worth considering deploying paid social media advertisements, given the already established audience that entrepreneurs are hoping to target. Through all of these means, however, it’s essential to highlight how the institution will genuinely guarantee the safety of the children.
Invest in the Right Tools
Establishing clear lines of communication with parents will also be among the most important aspects of any marketing strategy. In this regard, entrepreneurs must invest in the right tools that will help them achieve this. As much as possible, parents will surely want to be kept up-to-date on their children.
Find an online platform that will allow the easy dissemination of important messages across various channels, whether through email, text, or a phone application. However, make sure that the platform will allow the effortless incorporation of a brand into the mix and not just provide generic services.
Personalization is essential when it comes to marketing. Additionally, entrepreneurs should also have a refined child care management system to enable better communication between parents and key personnel from the preschool. This should also provide parents with real-time updates on daily activities.
The Digital Marketing Age
The most prominent thing that the global pandemic has made more apparent for institutions of early childhood education — and every other industry, really — is that the swift adaptation to digitalization will definitely determine whether a particular venture sinks or swims.
This same principle can be applied in boosting the enrollment numbers for these institutions precisely because the solutions presented are all rooted in digital marketing instead of traditional touchpoints that largely dominated the industry before the crisis.