Nursery marketing to single parents

Single-parent families make up 14.7% of households in the UK. They may be the perfect people for you to target to make your nursery stand out from the competition.

How you target single-parent audiences should mean you recognise their lifestyles and priorities. A tailored approach can help your message get across and reach them in an impactful way.

This guide discusses marketing to single parents, which includes:

• Identifying challenges
• Relating to struggles
• Offering solutions
• Choosing channels

The first priority for marketing to single parents should be to conduct market research. That’ll help you understand your target audience.

You can use surveys or interviews to speak to single parents directly and ask them the main challenges within their lifestyles. 

If you talk to multiple parents, you might find they share common issues. That helps you understand what most people are likely to go through.

Another way to gather information on your audience is to look at other businesses which target single parents. They may talk about specific problems which could reflect their research.

With an image of your ideal single parent customers in mind, you can put together a summary of their daily lives. 

These are customer profiles (sometimes called customer avatars), and they reflect hypothetical people within your audience.

Customer profiles can include:

• Names
• Ages
• Genders
• Locations
• Occupations
• Lifestyles

Use your profiles to empathise with single parents and decide which core issues stand out to you.

Possible challenges could include:

• Struggling for time
• Saving money
• Educating their children
• Work-life balance
• Finding safe care

Your marketing to single parents can relate to the challenges found through research. That could help you engage them with your message.

Think about the images, videos or words to reach your audience. Describe the problems they face in a way that shows you understand.

It’s also crucial to avoid negativity. It may be a struggle, but it’s worth the reward to raise children. So when you mention issues, you could use humour to acknowledge their situation.

For example, you could use images of children painting on walls in their homes. The caption could be ‘your little artist needs a big canvas’, then show the art that you encourage in your daycare.

Another route for your marketing could be to recognise single parents’ efforts, like imagining them as superheroes. You can say ‘super parents need super breaks’ with information on the opening hours of your daycare.

Don’t just dwell on the problems. Your marketing for single parents should centre on your nursery as the solution. If you present your business in that way, your audience will want to learn more about it.

When they decide to take that next step, it’s vital that your branding is strong. Your brand is the public-facing identity of your business, and it can determine if people trust you or not.

To build a brand, continue to think about your ideal customer, representing their values. For example, children’s safety may be a priority, so your brand must be professional and friendly.

Another priority for parents could be their child’s education, so your brand should show that you give their development the best start. But being too academic may also put off parents, as they still want their kids to have fun.

Your branding can include:

• Name — what’s your nursery called?
• Logo — what icon represents it?
• Colours — what 3-4 colours can you use?
• Tone of voice — how do you communicate through your marketing?

Branding is vital to your nursery because it relies on your customer’s trust, and it’s easier for people to trust businesses they recognise. 

Your brand makes it easier for people to remember you, which might also make them choose your daycare over competitors.

A great set of messages and branding will only get you so far. The placement of any advertising is just as important as what it is. Otherwise, your local single parents won’t see it.

If you use your customer profiles as guides, look at where you could target them in their day-to-day. 

To help with the decision of your channels, you can also include questions in your research about where potential customers usually engage with marketing.

Additionally, look at other local daycare businesses. They might have a website or social media channels to point to where they advertise their services. 

For a business that targets local people, your options will likely be:

• Social media
• Posters and flyers
• Local radio
• Events

Facebook is a great platform to connect with users in your area. You could message in local groups or on community pages.

Instagram could be helpful to target young parents, and you can use competitions to build a following quickly.

Print out information for your nursery as posters for shop windows or community boards in supermarkets. Flyers could also be an option to mail through people’s letterboxes.

To reach many people in your area, you could buy advertising space on your local radio station. But depending on the demand, it could be expensive.

A great way to bring interest to your nursery is through an open day, and parents can come and see the business. You could offer free food to encourage people to come along or put on a raffle.

Your daycare could benefit from accessible financial management that you can use anytime to fit into your busy day.

Countingup is a business account with built-in accounting software that lets you access your nursery finances through your phone. The app’s cash flow insights feature can even notify you as your money goes in and out.

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