Going public

Like it or not, the nursery business is competitive, says Mary Evans , and you must sell your services

Many nursery owners seem to pride themselves on trading on word of mouth and never advertising, but in the competitive world of childcare today the ability to run a successful PR exercise and market your business effectively is becoming more and more important.

Martin Pace, who runs a management and marketing consultancy for childcare companies, says 'There are very few nurseries that are permanently 100 per cent full. Marketing is very important. There is always scope to develop and innovate. If a nursery can fill a few more places or develop in some way, then it can benefit from increased income and from economies of scale.

'It is a simple business principle that if you are not innovating in some way you are likely to stagnate and die. This is a constantly changing marketplace.

Although the market is under-supplied, competition is coming into play. New purpose-built nurseries are opening all the time and they are likely to take children and staff from existing nurseries.

' Some nursery managers believe that giving their settings a high profile will help them attract and retain well-qualified staff. But Nathan Archer, the newly-appointed communications manager for the National Day Nurseries Association, warns nurseries against going for a hard sell. 'They should use marketing and PR to enhance their profiles and promote an image of caring, high quality providers of childcare,' he says.

Mr Archer, who has a background in marketing, contributed to the marketing and PR advice that follows. He advises nursery owners and managers to use a range of different approaches to gain publicity. 'Local newspapers run a variety of page sections and nurseries could offer an interesting input on such issues as working women, parenting, children, education, modern living and business. The letters page offers an ideal opportunity to thank staff at the end of the year, or parents after their involvement with a project.

' One golden rule of organising publicity for a nursery is to inform the parents of your plans. Ask them to notify you if they do not want their child photographed, and respect their wishes. The same principles for running local paper and radio PR exercises (see boxes below) apply to attempting to win coverage in local television and the national media, but they are even more selective.