As 2024 begins to draw to a close, our thoughts are turning towards 2025 and what needs to be done to ensure our client’s occupancy begins on a high note into the New Year.

So, if your forecasted occupancy isn’t where you want it to be, it’s time to think creatively and look at different strategies to help boost your centre occupancy.

Our team have you covered, with our top 5 tried and tested occupancy boosters.

1. Nurture your existing leads and increase your enrolment conversion

Did you know it takes, on average, 10+ points of contact to convert a new lead into an enrolled family? Before you start looking to acquire new leads in an already very competitive market, focus on converting your waitlist and existing leads by cultivating a relationship with them throughout their enrolment journey.

Where do you start?

Create a comprehensive lead nurture strategy that is focused on building connections and relationships. Front-load your nurture journey in the first few days and weeks after their initial enquiry as this is when they are most likely to make a decision. Focus on converting their enquiry to a centre tour as soon as possible to make that personal connection. Don’t forget to build multiple touchpoints into your nurture strategy using a variety of channels such as email, phone, and SMS.

Good news! We’ve started this process for you with our free email templates designed to kick-start the development of your own, unique email sequence that will nurture your enquiring families – taking them quickly from enquiry to enrolment.

Lead nurturing and enrolment conversion won’t happen overnight. It’s a long-term strategy that, when done right, will see your centre occupancy consistently thrive. If your team are already tight on time, you may want to look at outsourcing this task to an experienced team who can focus on answering and nurturing your enquiries. Our Enquiry and Enrolment Management teams are specifically trained to help Early Learning Providers and Centre Managers maximise enrolment opportunities by connecting with new families and converting their enquiries to centre tours.

 

2. Optimise your family’s entitlements

If you’re looking to increase your occupancy, without breaking the bank, then optimising your existing family’s Child Care Subsidy entitlements is the way to go.

Many families find the Child Care Subsidy process confusing, which means they don’t fully understand how it works, or how they can maximise their own entitlements. By educating families on how the Child Care Subsidy is calculated, and what they can do to increase their entitlements, you can provide them with knowledge and flexibility – often leading to enrolment opportunities for you!

Optimising a family’s Child Care Subsidy entitlements can be as simple as making a few tweaks or as significant as updating their entire enrolment. The effort is almost always worth it to increase occupancy, increase revenue, and decrease staffing costs.

If you’re not sure where to start, our team have created an all-in-one guide to help you negotiate the complexities of the Child Care Subsidy, increase your centre occupancy, and successfully implement sessional care at your centre. So, what are you waiting for? Download the guide here.

 

3. Encourage Casual Day bookings

Every centre should provide families with the opportunity to book casual days as they’re a great occupancy booster and source of additional revenue. If you’re not already doing this, let’s chat.

Use an app to digitalise the process and give families the ability to book casual days, log their absences (increasing the number of casual days you can offer) and send personalised messages – truly creating a personal connection.

With the silly season and Summer just around the corner, now is a great time to up those casual day bookings. Start by sending a weekly casual day availability email, or why not offer a specific promotion for the Summer season?

Worried about the additional admin involved? We’ve got you covered with our Administration and CCS support services. Working as part of your centre team, we can help to reduce your administration and paperwork burden so that you can focus on what you love to do!

 

4. Configure your rooms to your existing waitlist

It’s important to review your room configuration and waitlist often to ensure they’re always aligned. If your waitlist is Nursery heavy, and your Preschool rooms are empty for 2025– it might be time to reconfigure your room structure to accommodate those Nursery families and increase your centre occupancy as a result.

Rooms and configurations can be fluid from year to year, so think outside the box and make your centre work for you.

 

5. Tell your unique story to generate new leads

If you’re still not making the occupancy gains you need, it’s time to step up your digital game. Coming into a new year, a clear and thoughtful marketing plan, that is focused on your USP, is one of the most important business tools you can utilise.

Digital marketing holds the key to attracting and generating leads. It provides multiple innovative solutions for Early Learning Providers because it resonates with the young family customer base. Use your digital channels to tell your brand story and build awareness of your centre’s unique offering.  Connect with your community and attract families that share your same ethos and values – also known as your ideal customer.

Our hot tips:

• Be authentic and focus on advertising that highlights your USP to stand out from the pack. Here our team discuss what you can do to boost your USP and kick your marketing strategy into gear.
• Review your website/digital footprint and optimise landing pages with a clear CTA to encourage families to take action
• Look at integrating remarketing and retargeting advertising to increase your conversion success
• Implement your nurture strategy from that first point of contact
• Be consistent with your content strategy message to clearly articulate your USP and unique voice. We’ve started this process for you with our free social content calendar

Developing strategic marketing plans and strategies is not everyone’s strength. If this seems a little daunting, our Marketing Team are on hand to help step you through the process. They work in partnership with Early Learning Providers to develop customised strategic marketing and advertising campaigns to help you get the word out and stand out from the pack.

You can chat with them here.

 

Not sure where to start?

Now is the time to look to the future and set your centre up for success in 2025. If you’re not sure where to start, it’s time to engage with a Childcare Consultancy like Enrolment Hub and develop a successful enrolment strategy for 2025.

When your enrolment strategy is defined, you’re better able to market appropriately and accurately, forecast occupancy, develop your waitlist, and anticipate staffing and resource requirements to support changes when they come.

Enrolment Hub – Your Partner

Enrolment Hub offers a comprehensive range of services, including childcare administration, childcare management services, childcare enquiry, childcare centre enrolment, childcare marketing solutions, childcare debt support, new child care centre support, childcare software management, childcare centre resources, vacation care management and childcare centre consultants

We can help you develop your yearly enrolment roadmap and clearly visualise your annual enrolment lifecycle. We can also define your unique customer journey, create the numerous pieces of content you’ll need to nurture your enquiring families and review and update your enquiry touchpoints, optimising them for conversion success.

Why not get in touch with the team today and see how you can set yourself up for success in 2025?

Find out more here.

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