Have you ever Googled yourself? How about your business name? I bet you have! Guess what? Parents are Googling your business too!
If a parent is searching around for child care and have just learned about yours, they will almost always Google your business name to find out more. In Google search results, your business’s Facebook page will more than likely show up. The parent will be landing on it and what they see immediately shapes their opinion of you, before they ever even call you or walk in the door. This means, like it or not, the Facebook page of your child care center, preschool, or early education center is already one of the most visited online sites representing your business!
So is your Facebook page helping you or hurting you?
A well-maintained and engaging Facebook page with a strong following can be a powerful marketing tool that can turn into enrollments. And a neglected, deserted page can send people away, causing a parent to second guess your center, wondering why there aren’t reviews or pictures, and creates a sense they can’t trust you with their child.
Let’s step into the shoes of that parent that is shopping around online for child care centers. This is a big decision! They are gathering information online and forming opinions, before ever talking to you! This parent is comparing, checking out websites, and landing on the Facebook pages of the all these centers. If a parent lands on an almost empty Facebook page that has been forgotten, it starts to form a sense of distrust. Think about how much more likely the parent is to pick up the phone and call the business with a vibrant Facebook page that showcases lots of pictures, has a lot of reviews, features, descriptions, and many likes. An engaging, interactive Facebook page helps parents form a connection with you and makes them aware that other people trust you too. It nurtures a relationship.
Why is this? Any client needs to get to know, like, and trust you before they decide to do business with you. This is especially true in the child care industry where a huge amount of trust is necessary! Think about all that information a client gathered before they decided to even give you a call for a tour. They Googled you, they looked through your website, they read reviews online, they got emails from you, they saw your Facebook page, they read your blog. THEN they called you to ask you questions, they asked their friends, and THEN came in for a tour. All of these points of communication are called “touch points.” The more touch points, the more a relationship develops. And it’s really all about forming a relationship during this time and building trust. An engaging, optimized Facebook page helps you do this.
So how do you start optimizing your page? How do you develop a page that helps your enrollment building? It’s time to start posting valuable content on a regular basis! This complete content guide teaches you how to do this if you need some more help.
A lot of child care business owners get frustrated because they don’t have a lot of likes on their Facebook pages. This is totally normal for child care centers and in fact, many local brick and mortar businesses! With time, consistency, and an understanding of what is engaging to your audience, your Facebook page WILL grow if you stick to it. When you have excellent engagement and are posting useful, valuable content, your fan base will grow organically. Using this guide on what to post on your child care’s social media pages will show you how to do that.
To make a child care decision, a parent really NEEDS all these touch points to get to know you. Social media is essentially a tool for nurturing a relationship with potential families! And ultimately, Facebook is an effective marketing platform that you can use to send traffic to your website, collect leads, and convert leads into enrollments. But where do you start? Start by posting consistently on Facebook. With consistency, you will get results!
If you get overwhelmed by coming up with daily content to post on your child care business’ social media accounts, follow this definitive content guide on how to create a powerful social media presence. It will simplify the process and ensure you reach your audience with ease!