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

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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 Daycare On A Tour,” and you get a lot of natural engagement. Then, when you turn around and create an ad or a boosted post with that link, you’ll save money because it has already been deemed a high-quality link. This means you’ll reach more people for less money. So, an ad or boosted post can be used to amplify an already engaging post to reach a massive amount of people with a more cost-effective ad.

If we put out a social media post, and it’s engaging, highlights our brand, and supports our marketing, this is generally a good time to at least boost it, because it will be a more cost-effective boost, and we’ll “surf the wave” of engagement, so to speak.

Facebook even takes into account signals from around the web. If you get a lot of website visitors because people search for “child care Dayton, Ohio” and you’re the first one that shows up in search results for those terms, Facebook recognizes you as a high quality site. This means they will more likely show your posts and ads to your website at a lower cost. It all works together!

Hate staring at your computer screen, trying to figure out what to post on social media? Get The Social Media Content Cheat Sheet, Just For Child Care Centers

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Just For Child Care: 10 Social Media Hacks

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If you are wanting tips on how to grow your social media audience and connect with new families, then look no further.

Here are 10 Social Media Hacks for your child care to help you grow your presence and kick start your social media…

1. Add all of your social media links to your email signature. Every email you send should automatically give people a connection to your website, Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, blog, etc.

2. Boost a Facebook post. Even with a $5 budget you have the potential to get HUGE reach! By playing around with strategy and carefully selecting your target audience, you can connect with families right in your area and market your child care center to the right people. You can tweak your settings and gain the best reach by logging into the Facebook Ads Manager and following the prompts.

3. Always include graphics with your Facebook posts. Adding graphics to your posts can dramatically increase the number of people that view, comment and share them, helping to build engagement

4. Schedule your daily social media posts ahead of time. Rather than throwing up a random post at a random time of the day, set aside some time once or twice a week to plan and schedule. It will save you time in the long run and make things much easier! Scheduling also helps create consistency for your audience and sets expectations for when they’ll see posts from you. A user-friendly scheduling site such as Buffer gives you the ability to send out one post on multiple accounts- Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest! And because Buffer allows you to see all of your posts at a glance, you can evenly spread out the different types of content you share.

5. Optimize your posts for engagement. Use hashtags, add descriptive text, and ask questions. A ‘call-to-action’ will significantly increase engagement on your social media posts.

6. Use Geotags. A simple way to build your local network and attract new clients is to add geotags for the location of your photos posted to Instagram and Facebook. After you’ve posted, click into the geotag you used and start browsing through the photos others have shared using the same tag. Now you can connect with local families and businesses, and start a conversation that could potentially lead to new clients and enrollment for your child care center.

7. Use popular #hashtags. Hashtags are great for visibility, and increased visibility leads to follows, likes, clicks, and more engagement. Websta has a running tally of each day’s most popular Instagram hashtags. If any of these fit with what you’re posting, it is a good chance to see the effect a popular hashtag has on your engagement! Hashtags can also be used on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

8. Create ‘Pinnable’ content on your website & blog. Pinterest can be one of the most effective ways to promote your child care center online. Have pinnable images on both your website and on every blog post you publish and post them to your Pinterest page. You have two opportunities with each pin to add your link: one in the description and one in the source for the pin. Linking back is always key!

9. Keep it brief. Try to keep posts relatively short. Aim for between 100-250 characters in length as they generally receive 60% more comments, likes and shares.

10. Engage and communicate. Search out new people and local businesses to follow on all social media platforms. Take time to comment on their posts. ‘Liking’ posts is great, but making a comment gets more attention from both that person and the public. Get your child care center noticed!

Get the content guide to help you with your child care’s social media content.

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Using Pinterest To Market Your Preschool

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Have you heard of Pinterest? If you love visual marketing and creative ways of interacting with your child care clients, then you’ll want to check out this social media platform!

Pinterest is a fun and easy social networking site that connects people around the world through common interests. It is allows users to visually share ideas, beautifully curate their own image boards, and browse what other users have pinned to discover new interests. Because you can quickly and easily share images with over 100 million users, Pinterest is now considered to be one of the most effective ways to promote a business online.

To help get you started, I’ve put together some simple and effective tips for putting Pinterest to work in marketing your preschool…

START A PINTEREST ACCOUNT FOR YOUR PRESCHOOL

Make sure your profile clearly states what your preschool is about, what makes you stand out above the rest, and how you can help your clients. Always link back to your website.

Set up a Pinterest button on your own website for parents to easily find you. By integrating Pinterest share buttons into your other social media platforms (such as Facebook & Twitter) you can greatly increase your audience and interaction. Your school newsletter is also a great place to include a link to your Pinterest account.

CREATE A ‘TOUR YOUR CENTER’ BOARD

Take advantage of Pinterest’s visual real estate and create a TOUR YOUR PRESCHOOL board. Create pins by adding photos of your classrooms, outdoor spaces and activity centers. Be sure to include the things that make your school unique.

A ‘MEET THE TEACHER’ board is a great way for your staff to say hello and introduce themselves to the parents by including a picture & short bio.

Now you can direct potential clients to your preschool Pinterest page so they can tour your center online!

ADD NEW BOARDS + PROMOTE YOUR PRESENCE

Start by researching what your potential clients are pinning and create your own boards based on their interests. Some of the most popular kid & family friendly Pinterest trends that people search for are:

– Easy DIY activities for kids

– Children’s books

– Lunch + snack ideas

– Art + crafts

– Kids science experiments

– Sensory play

– Nature activities

– Parenting hacks

– Quotes + Humor

– Inspirational + Motivational

Always carefully select the most striking images for your board covers to keep your profile page looking the most attractive. Once you create a range of boards that are relevant to your preschool it’s time to start pinning and promoting your presence. Find new people, follow top influencers, pin, repin, comment on & like pins, repeat. Get some interaction going and find yourself getting new followers.

Seasonal and Holiday themed boards are often a big hit and can aide in getting you noticed. Choose something fun or engaging that you’ve pinned that fits a current season, holiday or trend, and cross-promote it on your other social media platforms.

CREATE PINNABLE CONTENT + BEAUTIFUL IMAGERY

If your preschool has a blog always use bold, eye-catching, clear high quality images. Keep in mind that light images are repinned 20 times more often than dark, and simple images have a greater impact.

Have a pinnable image on every blog post you publish, always post it to Pinterest, and include relevant links back to your website or blog. You have two opportunities with each pin to add your link: one in the description and one in the source for the pin. Create your own fresh content!

OPTIMIZATION + CALL TO ACTION

It’s one thing to create a fantastic pin, but it’s a whole other game to get it seen and shared. No one is going to find your pin if you don’t optimize it for engagement. Use hashtags, add descriptive accompanying text, and if you’re pinning someone else’s content always give credit where credit is due. A ‘call-to-action’ will significantly increase the engagement of your pins- up to 80% more. In your pin’s description, ask a relevant question or add a little something like:

“Repin to your own inspiration board.”

ALWAYS USE KEYWORDS

Since users can search for pins, boards, and pinners by keywords, you need to put keywords everywhere you can. Include them in the descriptions on your pins, your boards, and even your profile. Keywords are just as important on Pinterest as they are on Google.

POST FREQUENTLY

Aim for 5-20 new pins daily, and make sure you are spreading your pinning throughout the day to gain the most followers and get the best engagement.

TIP: Creating a ‘Secret Board’ can save you tons of time! Load up your pins a couple times a week and keep them on your secret board. Throughout each day, return to the board and grab the pins you want to pin on your other live boards.

MOST POPULAR BOARDS FIRST

Over time, you’ll be able to see which boards are more popular and get the most engagement. Put your best foot forward and move these boards to the top of your page so when users come over, they will see your best material first.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Connect with parents, families, and potential clients in your area by using local keywords in your searches and by including them in your hashtags. You may not be able to search FOR specific users by their location, but you can search for pins that include these keywords in their descriptions. Try searching your town, city, state etc to engage on local posts, and add place names in your hashtags to get discovered.

…AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, ENGAGE…

FOLLOW other pinners and their boards. Take time to COMMENT on the pins of other users. You can also LIKE a pin, but making a comment takes it one step further and gets more attention. Doing both is even better! SHARE if you like something and appreciate it, by repinning to your own board. ADD CONTRIBUTORS to your boards. You can let other parents join the fun on your page, as it will create an image of approachable, fun company to follow and more people will want to get involved. This can be a fantastic way to gain insight into your audience’s tastes and preferences and create a sense of community around your preschool Pinterest page.

Get the content guide cheat sheet to help your childcare grow their social media network.

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10 Social Media Post Ideas For Child Care Centers

Coming up with content to post on social media that is both engaging and has high organic (free) reach can be a little overwhelming. It’s important to have an even mix of “outside content,” such as articles, quotes, etc. (which we provide for you in the Done For You program), as well as “inside content,” which are posts created by you to illustrate your school’s personality and brand. But what if you’re stumped, staring at the computer, trying to figure out what to post beyond all those pictures of cute kids that you have?

Here are 10 social media post ideas to help you craft interesting content and increase engagement and reach on your Facebook business page:

1. Video

Video is the hot topic this year in the social media world as a strategy to increase engagement on social media, especially Facebook. I’ve noticed better results when uploading a video directly to the Facebook page. It doesn’t have to be completely professional, just take five minutes and use your phone to get some quick video. (And don’t film vertically!) Film an activity going on in the classroom. Record you or a teacher giving a parenting or early childhood education tip. Have a new staff member say hello and introduce themselves. Anything that is relative to your childcare and conveys a positive message can be a candidate for a video subject. The possibilities go on!

2. Behind the scenes

Take pictures or get a quick video of everyone saying “hello” at your team meetings or staff get-togethers. People love seeing what it’s like “behind the scenes” at your business and it gives your school more of a personality.

3. Teacher and staff features

Feature different teachers or staff (with fun pictures!). Tell an interesting “did-you-know?” about the staff, their favorite quote, or a picture of them with their family. Get creative!

4. Your school’s story

Craft posts that tell the story of your school, or “the why” of your business. Tell about features and unique benefits that set your school apart and make it different. Illustrate with photos or take snippets from your “about us” page.

5. Personal posts and photos

Yes, your audience wants to know more about you. Don’t be afraid to share your own photos or snippets from you own life. The most engaging posts on Kris’s page are usually ones of her with her family or on trips. Let your audience get to know you a little. This is a great opportunity and platform to create a level of trust that parents need to have with you.

6. Blog posts

The biggest mistake people make with a blog post is posting the link to the blog on social media once and then never posting it again. If you have a blog, leverage it! Post about your blog posts multiple times (spaced out, of course) but use different wording. Brainstorm different titles, take a quote from it, or create a different image for it. You put all the work into posting the blog, now get the word out!

7. Testimonials and reviews

Testimonials and reviews provide great content! If you have video testimonials, post them on social media. Grab quotes from the testimonials and reviews and create a graphic to post. Canva.com is a great tool to help you easily create graphics. You can also take a screenshot of any online review and repost it to your company page and say something like, “Thanks for the great review!”

8. Quotes from you or your staff

Create a graphic of a quote from something you or your staff have said or written that illustrates your school’s philosophies on early childhood education, that supports your brand, or that create a little bit of fun. This is another chance to get creative!

9. Cross-promotion

Team up with a business that offers a complimentary product or service (kids hairstylists, pediatricians, etc.), and help cross-promote each other. Tag each other in Facebook status posts, recommend that your fans ‘like’ each other’s Pages, or simply share each other’s content.

10. Throw-back Thursdays

People love seeing old photos! Post some old photos of your school and the kids. Make sure to hashtag #tbt (which means throw-back Thursday).

And ok, yes, post all the cute pictures of the kids at your school. But make sure to tell the story behind the photos. What are the kids learning? How are they learning it? Who is teaching it? Illustrate your philosophies and school’s brand when you are posting these photos to remind people about what makes you different, unique, and awesome!

For more ideas of what to post on social media, get the content guide.

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Boosted Posts vs. Dark Posts in Facebook

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If you are new to advertising your business on Facebook it’s important to understand the difference between boosted posts vs. “dark posts”.

In short, a boosted post is published from the News Feed on your Facebook business page. A dark post is created and published with Facebook Ads Manager or Power Editor. A dark post DOES NOT show up on your Facebook business page, although it shows up in the News Feeds of other people (that you choose through targeting) as coming from that business page.

Think of your Facebook business page as a “store front,” “community center,” or “brand center” where you can create messaging that supports and engages your audience so you can build a relationship with people that are already interested in what your business has to offer. Now think of dark posting as a function of “Ads Manager” which is more the back-end advertising machine of your business.

Dark posting allows you to run multiple ad posts with different messaging to as many different target groups that you need. You can run ads to people that have visited your website, ads to different demographic audiences you create, lookalike audiences, etc. And it doesn’t all show up as an advertising mess on your Facebook business page. It is all organized in Facebook Ads Manager.

You can also split test. You can switch out images if one isn’t working for a particular audience or test different copy or offer ideas. You constantly want to be split testing your ads for improvement and using dark posts allows you to do this.

Hopefully this clarifies a little better on what it means to advertise on Facebook. Happy marketing!

For more tips and tricks, get the social media content guide cheat sheet, just for childcare centers. 

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Child Care Owners: When Should You Post on Facebook?

One of the biggest questions I get asked is WHEN businesses should be posting on Facebook and other social media sites.

The answer is different depending on the audiences and the industry. However, when posting for child care centers and for Child Care Marketing, I’ve noticed better engagement in the afternoons and evenings, when people might be taking breaks from busy work days, or winding down at home.

You’ll want to experiment posting at different times of the day to see when your audience responds best. Sometimes if I post and don’t get much engagement from that post, I’ll employ a little trick. I will simply delete and re-post at a different time of the day and watch engagement take off. Sometimes it’s as simple as that!

Facebook also has a metric that will allow you to see what times of the day most of your fans are online, which will allow you to get a better sense of when it is the best time to post.

To find this information, you’ll want to go to your Facebook Business Page. On the top you will see a tab that says “Insights”

Then, on the left hand side of the screen you’ll see a tab that says “Posts”.

Click on this and you will be shown a screen that looks like the one above. This gives you a graph of when, on average, your fan base is online. In this example, the largest amount of our fan base is online around 6pm. I definitely notice an increase in engagement if I post closer to this time than at say 6am.

Check out your Facebook Insights and experiment with different posting times and see what gives you the best results.

Want more tips on using Facebook for marketing your childcare? Get the content guide cheat sheet here.

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