Are you looking to reach new customers? With the new school year just around the corner, then what better time than now? Whether you’ve just started a children’s activity center or are a seasoned expert — partnering with schools can help you grow your business and build strong relationships within your community.
Wondering where to start? Read on for 4 ways to promote your activities to schools in your community.
1. Sponsor a school event
Whether your business is big or small, you can work with schools to sponsor events! Partnerships require planning and communication, so make sure you reach out to schools early to see what opportunities are available to your business. Partnerships can add richness to a kid's school experience. For example, offering gift cards as a prize to a school raffle can help kids try a class at your business or open their world up to new learning opportunities.
Some school events that your business could sponsor are:
2. Prioritize relationships with teachers
When thinking about how to reach schools, consider how to reach teachers in your community. Like any profession, some teachers will have families while others will be involved in their community in ways that go beyond work. By working with teachers, you can reach even more students and community members!
When networking with teachers, consider offering exclusive coupons for services at your business. If you primarily teach children, you can offer teacher discounts for the children of educators. You can also offer exclusive discounts at the classroom level. For example, if you have a great relationship with an elementary school teacher, you could create an exclusive coupon for their students to take a free class at your business.
3. Network with principals and school leadership
Depending on the size of your business and how long you’ve lived in your community, you may have connections with local schools. If not, don’t worry — it’s never too late or too early to start building relationships to grow your network.
Many principals spend time reaching out to local businesses to forge connections. At larger schools, this responsibility can often be passed on to local organizations or the school parent-teacher association (PTA). Consider reaching out to principals for potential partnerships — or simply to ask how you can support the school in exchange for marketing opportunities with parents in the upcoming year. If you have trouble reaching a leader at the school level — because as everyone knows, working in education is busy — you can reach out to distinct contacts in your community.
4. Reach out to PTAs and local parenting groups
At the end of the day, children’s activity providers market their goods and services to schools to reach parents and their children. If you can’t get through to a school administrator, teacher, or leader, consider going directly to parent-led groups by reaching out to local PTAs or more broadly, community parenting groups. To find these groups and organizations, you can look for local PTA contact information on school websites or head to social media. A simple introductory email inquiring about partnership opportunities can lend itself to new families, customers, and endless opportunities for business growth!
If you’re struggling to find parents through PTAs, consider using Facebook Groups. As a business owner, you can join parenting groups in your community and advertise your business. Be mindful of group rules — some parenting groups only let you advertise on a certain day each month and have strict policies around posting.
To join local parenting groups, follow the steps below:
Feeling inspired? These are just a few ideas to help you reach more families by partnering with schools.