5 Ways To Re-Engage Parents At Your Kids Club

How to keep parents engaged 

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To successfully re-engage parents, you need to know why parents have disconnected with your kids club in the first place:

• Were they unhappy with the service?

• Did they join a competitor? 

• Have they been put off by pricing? 

• Do they no longer need the service? 

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Once you have considered this, you can work towards reconnecting with parents. From designing a superb email marketing campaign, to keeping parents engaged via a savvy social media strategy, let’s get parents already familiar with your club back on board and improve your customer experience. We’ll cover:

• Customer demographics 

• Building an email marketing strategy 

• Using incentives

• The power of feedback 

How can I re-engage parents?

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Sort customers into groups

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Keep parents engaged by grouping them into categories based on any data you have. You might want to start with parents who regularly come to classes; you might want to engage customers after they've attended a trial, or you might want to re-engage your camp customers and get them booked into term classes 

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This will pave the way for the content you craft for them. You only want relevant and interesting info to reach parents. Use what you already know about your customers like their proximity to your club, their preferences and interaction history. You’ll better connect with parents when you understand their wants and needs. 

Here are some great questions to ask yourself:

• What channels have I previously used to up customer engagement? (i.e. - facebook, email, social media)

• What have parents responded to previously i.e. - what links have they clicked on, forms have they filled in or content have they downloaded? 

• Why did past customers leave my kids club? i.e. - pricing, class schedules, loss of interest? 

• What are parents looking for from my kids club?

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Create a tip-top email strategy ‍

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Send out relevant, regular, emails to keep parents engaged. Try to find the right balance when it comes to marketing to customers like this. You’ll want your customers to connect with your messages, rather than seeing them as spam. 

Some of our top tips tips to engage parents via email:

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• Use newsletters to update parents on what is happening at your club. You may have launched a new class or maybe you have exciting plans to run a summer camp. Keeping parents informed will help them feel connected to your club. 

• Short, enticing subject lines should help re-engage with parents. Grab their attention with powerful language that speaks directly to the message you want to send. Turn to your own inbox for inspiration: which emails jump out at you, making you want to read on? 

• Both general emails and tailored ones are a great idea to better connect with parents. Generalised emails can give exciting info on what is happening at your kids club, while personalised ones can help parents feel engaged, since you’ve tailored an email specifically for them.

• Keep the main message within your email simple. You’ll want parents to easily understand the key message of the email to keep them engaged. 

• Keep your calls to actions clear. If parents are reading your email, you need to keep them engaged. Use simple messaging like [.pink__text]‘Book Now’[.pink__text], [.pink__text]‘Grab My Discount’[.pink__text] and [.pink__text]‘Let’s Go’[.pink__text] to encourage customers to connect and take action. 

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Be present on social media

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A sure fire way to better engage with parents is via social media. Most kids club customers now book sessions and classes straight from Facebook. A smooth customer journey will keep parents engaged. Broken links, hard to find websites and complicated booking systems will put your customers off staying with you. If a parent feels connected to your club, they will be encouraged to stay. Sharing reviews on your Facebook is a particularly great way to reconnect with parents Parents want to hear from others who have used your kids club, so this will help them see your business as a credible one.

Make sure you are easy to contact via multiple channels such as Facebook, messages, email and phone. Parents will appreciate the convenience and feel supported by your club.

Offer return promotions

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There’s no better way to bring old customers back to your kids club than by offering attractive incentives. Re-engage parents by reminding them of the value you provide. Perhaps you can tempt them with a trial or early bird offer. This is especially effective where pricing has led to a parent’s decision to leave your kids club. Customer experience for parents is just as important as the service you give their kids. You could be running a great club with fun activities but if your relationship with parents is poor, you’ll find it hard to retain customers.

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Feedback is key

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Word of mouth is still a great marketing tool, so keep communication with customers open. Use feedback from past customers to better engage parents going forward. Also consider encouraging parents to tell you about their decision if they haven’t offered this up themselves. Make the most of your loyal customer base, too. Ask satisfied parents to give reviews on your kids activity club. And think about offering discounts to say thanks! After all, these reviews will be hugely influential to potential customers. 

When considering feedback, ask yourself:

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• Am I providing effective customer service? (i.e. adequate support via phone, email, messages)

• What do kids enjoy most about my club?

• What’s the best parent feedback I have received?

• Why are my current customers happy to be loyal to my club?