3 Simple Ways to Boost Parent's Social Media Engagement this Holiday

The holidays are a GREAT time to boost your social media engagement. I don’t mean pushing promotions for your child care center, dance studio or gymnastics program – that’s something else – I mean giving your followers (so, your families) something to react to and share.

This not only nurtures your relationship with current families, it can help promote brand awareness for your program. The friends of your followers can see what they’ve “liked.” A share puts your post directly in people’s feeds, so that’s even better!

You never know when a fun, shared post will trigger a parent to say:

“Sally’s daughter’s dance studio looks like a blast. Maybe I should rethink where my kid goes?”

Or

“We’re going to need child care next year. I’ll have to remember to ask Steve where he sends his kid. Looks like they have fun!”

In our last post, we gave you a holiday card download to customize and use to directly engage your parents. This tactic is a bit more of a group engagement, but super simple to do!

Be as creative as you can with this, but here are a few ideas to get your marketing mojo moving:

1.  “Winterize” You Profile Pic/Cover Photo

This one is a bit of a “no-brainer,” but by adding winter elements to your social media profile pics and cover photos, you create some whimsy for your families to react to. Can you work a snowflake in to your logo? Put some mittens and a hat on your mascot? Be creative or get a designer to help. Little details like this go a long way.

2. Have a Contest

This is one of my favorites to really drive engagement.

Have your students build funny snowmen, decorate their classrooms or perform a silly dance/skit for the holidays (be creative!) and have parents “vote” for them. Post the pics or videos separately and the one with the most likes or shares by a predetermined date wins a pizza party (or anything!). If you can incorporate the activity in to the curriculum, even better.

TIP: Be sure to announce the contest via eblast and social media channels before you start posting to create “hype.”

3. Have a Donation Drive

Most charities have donation drives this time of year and are always happy to get you involved. Just decide on an organization to support and contact them. Most are happy to supply a box for toys, coats, food, etc. for your center.

Get the word out on social media and ask for shares. The more people that know your center is a drop-off location, the more donations help your charity of choice. That’s a win-win!

TIP: Be VERY careful not to make this about your program! While taking part in a charity’s donation drive can create some brand awareness by association, an attempt to capitalize on that association will surely backfire.

Whatever you choose to do, have some fun! This is a great time of year to show off how awesome your program is by getting in to the holiday spirit.

Do you have anything planned this year? Is there something you do each year that your parents look forward to? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Until next time – Be Well. Be Happy. Shape Minds.

-        Tom