Entries by Camille St Martin

Create A Stellar Social Media Video In Minutes

It’s no question that video is one of the best ways to highlight your center on social media. Video lets your online audience get to know your center. A good video can get thousands of views or more.

People generally find videos more engaging and more memorable than any other type of content. Nearly a third of online activity is spent watching video. If you want to increase your online presence, a video marketing strategy is the best way to go!

I know from experience, the hardest part is getting started. It’s important to remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. People love to see the genuine faces of your business. With practice, you WILL get better! Don’t be scared to just get video out there.

The video below is a compilation of shorter videos taken around a classroom. All the shorter videos were also posted on social media throughout the year. All the footage was shot using an iPhone. I hope it provides you with some inspiration! And remember, don’t be afraid to get in front of the camera! People want to see the faces behind the center. Read on for more tips…

How to Shoot a Video

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The Key To More Social Media Engagement For Your Child Care Business

When you post for your child care center on Facebook, do you feel like you’re talking to a void? Are you a little fed up putting work into your posts, just to see no results for your efforts? There’s one huge thing to understand about Facebook (and many social media platforms) and that is called engagement. When you know how to engage with your audience, you actually start seeing results from your efforts.

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How To Use Facebook Groups To Market Your Child Care

You’ve probably noticed that Facebook is constantly testing and adding new features. It might drive some of you in the child care business crazy, as social media is sometimes the last thing to keep up on while running a very involved business day-to-day! Part of why I write this blog is to help you stay up to date with new features that are relevant to child care owners. This is one brand new (and free!) way to market your child care on social media. It just takes a little bit of know-how, which you can get from this step-by-step, and a dash of your time.

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Is Your Facebook Page Helping Or Hurting Your Business?

If parents are searching around for child care and have just learned about you, they will almost always Google your business name to find you. What they see immediately shapes their opinion of you, before they even ever call you or walk in the door. The Facebook page of your child care center, preschool, or early education center is one of the most visited online sites representing your business!

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Having An Event Or Open House At Your Child Care? Here’s How To Market It On Social Media!

An event like an open house or a family fun day is a common way to invite families in your area to experience your child care center and possibly enroll with you. But how do you get the word out about your event? Social media can be an extremely effective tool for marketing your child care event or open house. Here are some common social media strategies I use with my child care clients to get more people to attend their event…

The Big Mistake Child Care Centers Make On Social Media

Do parents ever message your child care business on Facebook asking about enrollment?

Do you get mildly annoyed, wishing they would just call you or email you?

Does it make you feel a little uncomfortable communicating with them on Messenger?

Facebook Messenger might seem like an unconventional, maybe even slightly unprofessional, way to talk to parents about enrollment. However, Messenger is actually one of the most popular forms of communication with the new generation of parents. Knowing how to communicate effectively on this platform can help you grow your child care enrollment.

I see SO MANY child care centers simply respond by telling the person to call the center to check for availability and information. Others will respond only to the question (usually about availability and/or rates) without encouraging further communication. These are all lost opportunities to engage with potential customers. This is a great time to communicate your value beyond price, build trust, find out more about them, and get that person in the door for a tour!

Communicating on Facebook Messenger allows you to interact with potential customers in their preferred means of communication, since this is the way they reached out to you. Enrollment inquiries on Facebook … More

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Social Media For Child Care: Better Engagement Means Lower Cost Ads

There’s one important thing you should understand about engagement on social media. It’s something I call the “Wave Effect” that happens with Facebook and Google search and riding the wave will save you money with ads!

When your audience starts responding to and engaging with a particular post, Facebook recognizes that this is happening, and is more likely to show your next post to more people (or more of your posts, if it is happening a lot). In other words, if you put out a highly engaging post one day, the next post you put out after that is much more likely to reach more people.

Facebook also recognizes when a particular link is getting a lot of click-throughs from your posts and that makes a difference in creating your ads. If you create an ad from a link that is getting a lot of social media attention, then Facebook is much more likely to show your ad to your audience, which will cost you less, since it has been deemed relevant and engaging.

For example: Let’s say you post a link on your Facebook page leading to your blog post called, “10 Questions You Should Ask Every … More

My Child Care Client Just Hired 2 Amazing Professionals From Facebook Ads

I opened my email the other day and received the nicest email from a child care client about the social media ad campaigns I just ran to recruit employees for her child care business.

She said,

I have to say that hiring you was definitely worth every penny! I cannot believe the qualified applicants we have received from your social media campaign!!!! We have hired two amazing professionals and have a dozen or more resumes. Not only did we get great applicants but we also have had more visits to our website and Facebook page in the last month. In addition we have also scheduled a few tours from this campaign. I would strongly recommend anyone who is struggling to find good applicants to hire you. I will no longer waste valuable time or money when I need teachers. I will always look to you in the future for your assistance in searching for great professionals in the Early Childhood Field!! Thank you for your help. Of course you can use this as a testimony!!! I look forward to working with you in the near future.”

Facebook ads can be an effective way to get leads for new More

How Do You Get Child Care Leads From A Blog?

Do you have a blog for your child care business? Even though most child care centers don’t, setting aside time to consistently create valuable content will set you apart from the competition and give you a ton of opportunities to communicate with potential families, drive traffic to your website, and get leads!

How do you get leads from a blog? With my own clients I’ll craft content with lead generation in mind. If you’re posting your blog on social media (which you should!) think about what would make someone that is actually searching for child care to click over. Sure, a craft how-to post or recipe is great from time to time, but is it enticing for leads searching for child care? More appropriate for this goal would be a child care search checklist, what makes a child care safe, a post on what makes your educational style different than other child care centers, “How To Tell If (insert your child care name) Is Right For Your Child”, an interview with the owner, “The Ultimate Resource For Transitioning Into Child Care” etc.

So now you have a topic, the blog is written, then what? Post the blog on Facebook, then … More