Getting the attention of new parents isn’t easy. After all, they’ve got the cutest distractions around. But if you are trying to grow your childcare business, you need to get noticed.
Daycare flyers are a strategic marketing method to share your services with young families in your community. For greater success, you’ll want to follow the best practices developed by graphic design and marketing professionals. By including the right information in a way that’s attractive to the eye, you could see an increase of new parents and customers.
With modern online tools, you can make childcare flyers in just a few hours. This simple, fun, yet effective marketing strategy is easy to share on social media and offers a great return on investment for your business.
Increase enrollments and keep families informed with expert advice and all the tools you need, in one place.
Why should you create childcare flyers?
Perhaps unlike any other industry, daycare center owners ask their customers to trust them with their most loved possession. Gaining that trust starts with the first impression a parent has of your business and continues with every interaction you have. If the flyer is the first thing they see, it must convey an earnest and authentic display of quality and trustworthiness.
Flyers need to be professional and useful for the person reading it. You should always design with your potential customers in mind. It can be tricky to balance the fun, crazy colors and shapes of your kid-friendly daycare with the need to demonstrate your responsibility as childcare professionals.
When done right, flyers can reach exactly the families who can benefit from your services. It’s an effective, time-saving outreach strategy you can do right now.
Flyer-making 101
You’ve likely made a flyer before, but in what medium? Flyers can be scribbled in magic marker on construction paper and taped to a wall in a café. They can be typed out with word-processing software and printed at home. Maybe you even operated a mimeograph machine.
Digital flyers are different — they can take less time to create and look a lot more professional. While there are expensive programs you can buy to lay out the graphic design of your flyer, there are faster and simpler methods to capture more leads.
Use templates
Templates are predetermined color schemes, stock images, design layout, and fonts that are ready to go. These quick-design tools have come a long way from the early computing days of flower borders and cursive handwriting font.
Today’s options make it easy to let busy parents know at first glance that your message is directed at them. When using a template, be sure to upload your business’s logo so it’s clear where the email originated.
The more customized you’re able to make your flyer to meet your needs, the better. Unless you’ve studied graphic design, you might as well leave it to the experts to match colors and fonts. That’s the main benefit of using templates.
What to include in your flyers
Once you’ve picked out a template or created your own with an easy-to-read font and clear design, be sure to include all the information parents need to sign their children up for your program.
An attention-grabbing image
People don’t emotionally connect with words, but they can easily stop and look at a picture of something that interests them. This psychology hits at the heart of parenthood, as your future customers are taking notice of the world more closely than ever. But they’re also tired. A picture of a smiling child can go a long way.
If you plan to use a child’s picture in your daycare flyer, you’ll need to make sure the parent gives you written permission. You can purchase stock photography online, or you can try to capture the fun you provide your charges. Children with big, happy eyes and genuine smiles can help your flyer get noticed by mom and dad.
Service offerings
What exactly do you offer? List as much as you can, but don’t be wordy. Simplify your text and then share it with someone else to make sure it is clear. Bulleted lists are good here.
Ages served
Answer simple questions like these so you don’t have parents wasting the time of your team members by calling and asking. If there are specific limitations that everyone needs to know, try to include it on the flyer.
Price information
It’s OK if there is a range, but include how much it will cost parents to join. Unless you are targeting very exclusive families who don’t discuss price, your customers will appreciate your transparency and honesty about pricing.
Reflection of your values
Consider the flyer an extension of customer service in the hope of positive online reviews. What is the experience that you want your families to have with your childcare business? The flyer should display more than just your branding to set you apart from the competition. Think about the values you subscribe to and make sure your marketing reflects that as well.
Call to action
Here’s an important addition to any flyer: a call to action (CTA). This is a phrase that directs the reader to do something. “Call now” or “learn more” are popular methods of instructing the reader to take an action.
It’s often overlooked, but a CTA is a powerful way to get people to pick up the phone, send a text or an email, or reach out through social media. Offer to give a prospective parent a tour of your facilities, for example.
Contact information
Whether you suggest a tour or not, provide the physical address of your childcare business on the flyer.
You should be available through as many channels as possible, so list them all on your digital flyer. Encourage customers to visit your website and connect with you through all your social media platforms. Provide your phone number; if you are open to receiving texts, make that clear as well.
How to share the flyer
The best part about digital flyers is that you can share the final product on many different platforms.
Email campaign
You should gather email addresses of prospective and current customers in any way you can. Ask for it on your intake forms. Host raffles at public family fun-day events. Offer giveaways through social media to people who provide their email addresses. The bigger your list, the better.
You can then send the flyer to your email list as an effective marketing email.
Social media
You should also share the flyer on your Facebook business page and even as an image for your company listing on Google My Business. Add it to all your social platforms, from Instagram to Pinterest. Post the flyer on parent groups on social media in your community, and see if the chamber of commerce or other groups would forward it as well.
Looking for other digital marketing ideas?
When you create a comprehensive online marketing strategy for your business, you are investing in your future. Get ideas about how to plan your next quarter or year by checking out Constant Contact’s The Download. It’s a free guide to help daycare owners make next year the best one yet.
