5 Best Preschool and Daycare Marketing Tools to Grow Enrollment

Running a preschool, daycare, or early childhood education program means taking on a lot of roles, and marketing is one of the most important.

I've spent 15+ years running marketing and outreach inside preschools before starting my own preschool marketing consulting practice. This list is built from what's actually worked for centers, not just what's trending.

Quick answer: the five tools that make the biggest difference for a preschool or daycare are Canva for design, Mailchimp for email, Google Business Profile for local search, Google's paid search options (Local Services Ads and Google Ads) for capturing parents actively searching, and Meta Ads for reaching parents before they start searching at all.

Whether you're trying to increase preschool enrollment, improve communication with families, or boost your online visibility, the right tools can help you work smarter instead of harder.

A few of these are free to start, and a couple involve real ad spend once you're ready to invest in paid growth. Here's how each one fits into a full strategy.

5 Must-Have Marketing Tools for Preschools and Daycares

The tools below cover the full range, from free tools every center should have in place first, to paid options worth adding once you have budget to invest.

1) Canva: Create Professional Marketing Materials in Minutes

Best for: social media posts, flyers, signage, newsletters, and brand consistency.

Canva is a beginner-friendly design platform that allows preschool owners and daycare directors to create polished marketing materials, even if they have no design experience.

With hundreds of ready-made templates, you can quickly design materials for:

• open house flyers

• Instagram or Facebook posts

• parent newsletters

• program brochures

• event announcements

For programs that want more features, Canva Pro includes brand kits, premium templates, and collaboration tools that are especially helpful for multi-location centers.

2) Mailchimp: Stay Connected With Families Through Email

Best for: parent communication, waitlist follow-ups, marketing newsletters, and tour reminders.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to stay connected with prospective and current families.

Mailchimp allows preschools and daycares to send professional newsletters, manage contact lists, and track how families interact with your emails.

The free plan includes:

• up to 500 contacts

• up to 500 emails per month

• basic email templates

Paid plans offer additional features like automations, advanced analytics, and A/B testing, which can be useful for larger childcare programs, and to help track a potential customer's journey in the enrollment process.

If you collect email addresses from your website inquiry form, this is a great way to keep families updated on your program offerings, open house dates, and community events.

3) Google Business Profile: Get Found by Local Parents

Best for: improving local search visibility and building trust with families.

A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is one of the most powerful free marketing tools available for childcare providers. While it's technically a business listing platform, it functions as a critical marketing tool because it helps your preschool or daycare appear when parents search for childcare in your area.

It helps your preschool or daycare appear when parents search for phrases like:

• preschool near me

• daycare near me

• childcare center in [your city]

A fully optimized listing allows you to:

• appear on Google Maps and local search results

• display your hours, contact information, and website

• collect and respond to parent reviews

• share photos and updates about your program

Keeping your listing updated with accurate information and current photos helps build credibility with prospective families.

It's especially important to get a lot of Google reviews to help your listing show up more on search results. Positive reviews can significantly improve your visibility in local search results. Learn more about how to strategize getting more preschool reviews here.

4) Google Paid Search: Local Services Ads and Google Ads

Best for: capturing parents who are actively typing "daycare near me" or "preschool near me" into Google, once you're ready to add paid search to the free groundwork above.

There are two ways to pay for placement at the top of Google search for childcare, and most centers should start with one, not both at the same time.

Google Local Services Ads:

• appears above regular Google Ads and organic listings

• you pay per valid lead, a call, message, or booking request, not per click

• earns a "Google Screened" badge once your background check and license are verified, a real trust signal for childcare specifically

• setup takes one to three weeks due to Google's enhanced verification requirements for childcare, so plan ahead of your busy season

Google Ads (Search):

• full control over keywords, ad copy, and exactly which searches you show up for

• competitive childcare keywords like "daycare near me" commonly run $7 to $13 or more per click, and higher in expensive metros

• generally needs a minimum of around $600 a month in spend before there's enough data for the platform to optimize well

• requires a steeper learning curve, so make sure you train yourself well and track your ads, or pay someone to help you manage your ads

Start with Local Services Ads. It's simpler to manage and you only pay for actual leads. Move to standard Google Ads once you have the budget and some enrollment data to justify the added cost and complexity, usually once you're ready to spend more than $600 a month and want more control over targeting.

5) Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram): Reach Parents Before They Start Searching

Best for: local awareness, introducing your center to nearby families who haven't started their childcare search yet, and staying visible during your enrollment season.

Most families researching childcare eventually search on Google, but by then they've often already got two or three centers in mind. Meta ads let you get in front of parents earlier, while they're just scrolling, before that search even happens. It won't replace what shows up when someone actively searches "daycare near me," but it puts your name in front of local families before your competitors do.

Use it to:

• Introduce your center to a new neighborhood or zip code

• Promote a specific open house date

• Announce a waitlist opening in a particular age group

• Stay visible during your slower enrollment months

Meta's technical minimum is a few dollars a day, but for real, usable results, plan to test at $10 to $30 a day for at least two weeks. This isn't a channel that produces same-day tour bookings, so judge it on whether more parents recognize your name, not on instant conversions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the best free marketing tool for a small daycare?

Google Business Profile and Canva are both free and make the biggest difference early on. GBP gets you found when parents search nearby, and Canva helps you look professional once they click through.

How can I increase preschool enrollment without a big budget?

Start with the free tools first, an optimized Google Business Profile, consistent Canva graphics, and a simple monthly Mailchimp email. Add Google Local Services Ads once you have some budget, since it only charges you for real leads instead of clicks.

Do I need to run Google Ads to get more daycare enrollment?

Not necessarily. Standard Google Ads can get expensive fast for competitive childcare keywords. Google Local Services Ads is usually the better starting point for a small center because you only pay when a parent actually contacts you.

Need Help With Your Preschool Marketing Strategy?

If you're relying on inconsistent inquiries or not sure what's actually driving enrollment, there are usually a few key gaps that are easy to miss.

I help preschool and daycare programs improve their online presence and turn it into a more consistent source of tour inquiries.

I offer a free preschool marketing discovery call where I review your current marketing and show you exactly where to focus first.

Click here to schedule a free 30 minute discovery call.

Annie Liu is a preschool and daycare marketing consultant based in San Francisco with 15+ years of experience in early childhood education marketing and a Master's in Education from Harvard University. She has provided marketing support to programs ranging from small independent daycares to childcare centers with 20+ locations, and works exclusively with preschools, daycares, and early childhood education programs across the U.S.