Holiday Program Marketing Checklist

School holidays arrives quickly every year.

If you haven’t already created your marketing materials, it’s crunch time. Parents have plenty of options when considering care options during the holidays, which makes the promotion and delivery of your message even more important.

You need to build strong campaigns that attract families and get them to stay enrolled at your centre for (at least) the holidays. Check out campaign examples that convert and an important holiday program marketing checklist.

Why Is Marketing for Your Holiday Program Vital to Childcare Success?

Childcare is a business with peaks and cool-down periods, just like any other industry. Both summer and fall are pivotal seasons to gaining to new family leads, re-enrolling continuing children, and, ultimately, boosting occupancy for the upcoming school year. Specifically during the holidays, you'll want to focus on...

1. Gaining new family interest
2. Potentially turning casual care families and new families into full-time enrolments.
3. Ensuring your currently enrolled families (that enrolled through your holiday programs) are happy, so they re-enrol every season. 

Holiday programs are a great time to highlight the uniqueness of your centre. Remember - you always have something to offer families that other centres don't have. Whether it's a nature discovery session, STEM-focused programs, or excursions, make sure families are aware. And one of the best ways to inform parents and guardians about these unique offers is through your marketing communications. Learn how to attract and engage more families for your programs by watching the insightful video below.

Holiday Program Marketing Campaigns - Tips and Examples

In Australia, school holidays can run from 2 - 8 weeks. During that time it is important to pre-plan the activities being done during those weeks so that families can trust the value into the program. Also use these tips to help your program gain value and attention:

• Communicate consistently. For example, LineLeader by ChildcareCRM allows you to store beautifully branded and professional-looking text and email templates. Effortlessly schedule them to go out ahead of time, practically hands-free.

• Make a plan. Decide what your competitive advantage is, based on which programs you offer. If you feel like your programs aren't unique enough to highlight, showcase something else that sets you apart - whether it's your stellar staff, amazing teachers, or incredible curriculum. Build a landing page for your holiday program to capture interest. Then, focus your email and text campaign messaging around your program benefits to grab the attention of new families. 

• Know Your Audience. The majority of today's parents to children under the age of 12 are Millennials. They want fast communications, self-service options, and a simple, straightforward enrolment experience. 

Take a look at these examples of holiday program marketing materials to capture interests of new families.

1) Holiday Program Calendar

Holiday program calendar example

What Makes This Work:

• Families know what is on offer

• Clear and visual calendar that can be displayed in the centre

• Colours of the centre brand - makes planning of activities professional and of value

2) Landing Page 

School Holiday Program Landing Page Example

What Makes This Work:

• Clean design

• Readable colours and fonts

• Short, simple form to fill out

3) Family Communication

Family email communication example

What Makes This Work:

• Gives parents urgency to book in for the holiday program

• Reminding them why it can be a good program for your child

• Giving families a call to action to take the next step

What Is a Marketing Checklist and How Can It Benefit Your Centre?

Holiday Program Marketing Checklist

1. Pick a theme for your holiday program(s) that resonates with children's learning and parents.
   Survey parents on what they would like to see in the centre, or what their children are currently interested in.
2. Re-brand your holiday program(s) a little differently from your year-round program.
3. Identify community marketing opportunities to get the word out ASAP.
4. Launch a referral campaign with currently enrolled families.
5. Decide what your follow-up processes are for a holiday program enquiry and communicate them with your team or automate them in your LineLeader by ChildcareCRM Business Rules – don’t forget their decision-making process is often very different.
6. Create a holiday program email and text campaign. This is great for fast nurture of Millennial parents and gaining responses quickly. 
7. Use your LineLeader group manager to segment potential opportunities for the holiday program and set up email and text campaigns, follow up tasks, and print mailing labels.
8. Manage holiday program marketing by building a Marketing Campaign in your LineLeader system so you can report on the ROI and effectiveness of each email, flyer, or community event.
9. Check out this blog for additional tips on creating stronger email marketing campaigns.

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