9 Sales Promotion Ideas for Your Childcare Business

Childcare isn’t exactly a business where you think about sales and discounts. However, promoting your business takes a lot of work and a solid strategy that includes any number of special offers to attract a new audience. Fortunately, you aren’t just dealing with “BOGO” or other sale options. Today, there are a lot of creative (and helpful) ways that you can promote your childcare business, as well as sales outreach, to drum up a new audience. 

Here's what you need to know. 

1. Open houses and welcome events 

Although many childcare businesses hold these regularly as it is, they might not be using them for promotions as effectively as they could. When you set up welcome events and open houses for your new prospects, you’ll want to think about other ways that you can incentivize the visit. Consider adding a discount for services if they book at the open house, for example, or even offer a free first day to let you (and the child, if they’re old enough) decide whether this is the right fit for them. 

2. New client discounts 

Even without an open house or visit, you should be giving new clients some kind of incentive to work with your childcare business out of all the ones available today. You can again offer a “free first day” package or even give people a certain percentage off their first month of services, for example. When you automatically reward people just for trying your business, you’ll get a lot more attention. More importantly, you’ll also get a lot more retention, which is what will keep your business growing. 

3. Referral programs are a must

Make sure that you have some kind of referral program in place. Whether it’s discounted services, free days or hours of childcare, or anything else that you offer, it’s a great way to get more business. Since you’re in childcare, why not consider offering something like a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese’s or a similar type of place for those who are referred? If transportation is involved and it comes at a cost, perhaps you can even discount or offer free transportation for those referred to your business. 

4. Social media marketing and promotions

Social media isn’t just a good tool to have. It’s an essential part of your marketing strategy today. You should utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms to connect with your audience and build a more personal relationship. You’ll also want to use your social media to run special offers or promotions. You can give people discounts for saying they saw your Tweet, or run an Instagram story featuring your business so people can see what you do. There’s a lot to choose from here—make sure you use it well. 

5. Local SEO optimization 

Although this is less of a promotional idea and more of a must-have for online branding, it’s something that is often overlooked, which is why we include it here. In a childcare business, you’re going to have a local market and those clients are your focus. Therefore, you can create a lot of self-promotion just by optimizing your local SEO and making sure that you show up on sites like Google Maps and others when people are searching for childcare providers in the area. 

6. Advertise at schools and educational websites 

This one should be a no-brainer, but some people are so anxious about getting it right that they overlook the obvious. When you are running a childcare business, some of your best advertising can be done at schools, on school bulletin boards, and other educational websites or directories. Parents are looking for these services already, and if your place of business is right within their sight, they’ll be more likely to give you a call. Just because the world is largely virtual doesn’t mean that physical advertising is out the window. 

7. Start a blog 

A blog is a great resource for any business. You can use it to directly promote your childcare services, of course, but the educational value is really why you’re here. Today’s consumer has a lot of different choices for the businesses that they work with. Therefore, they’re going to want to choose the best and brightest, and that’s never more true than when it comes to people’s children. If you have a blog that talks about childcare and related subjects, or that even offers a glimpse of day-to-day life in your facility, it could be a good way to attract new business without having to outright sell. 

8. Offer free tours, consultations, etc. 

Trust is a big part of choosing the right childcare facility for many parents. Therefore, if you let people see what you do before they sign up, you’ll likely find that you get more business. People love being reassured about where their kids will be. Consider adding free tours or consultations for new parents and children that come to your business. You can even add extra promotions here, like a free day or two of childcare if they sign up at the tour/consult. 

9. Partner with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai to handle it all 

Once you have all these new promotions in place, you’re going to need someone to help you field all those calls and messages, including the assistance of a 24/7 answering service like Smith.ai. Our dedicated virtual receptionists offer plenty of solutions for businesses of all kinds, including childcare companies, to help you field leads, schedule appointments, and so much more. We can even assist with outreach campaigns and outbound sales in the first place to save you the effort from the start. 

Not only that, but all of it comes with a custom strategy to manage it all, as well as a scalable and flexible solution that can grow with your business. Ask us about our live website chat and other solutions, too. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation to discuss what the 24/7 virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can do for your business. You’ll also be able to reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.