Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/fresh-strategies-for-marketing-your-program/5024742/
Over 30 years ago, I partnered with Bruce Schon to write an article that applied marketing principles from the world of business to early childhood. While the guidelines Bruce and I proposed in that article (see box) are still valid, the methods for implementing them have been transformed. To catch up on the latest ideas on how to build enrollment, I reached out to the real experts—early childhood professionals who have built successful early childhood programs around the world—and am excited to share their new insights.
Promoting via Word of Mouth
Everyone I contacted agreed that word of mouth is still the most effective means of attracting new customers and offered these ideas for enhancing its effectiveness.
ECE is a people-focused business. It is relational and operates on trust. Operators need to earn the trust of parents. Reputation is won or lost on each and every interaction between individual ECE team members and everyone he/she comes into contact with. What they say and do matters, in terms of marketing, whether it is greeting the delivery guy or answering a phone query. We thus put in a huge effort into customer service. Secondly, we need to demonstrate care and love ...