How to Get More Enrollments for Your Daycare or Childcare Center

Empty classrooms cost you money every single day. Whether you're a single-location daycare trying to fill a few spots, a preschool competing against three other programs on the same street, or a childcare center that just lost subsidy-funded families and needs full-pay enrollments fast, the problem is the same. You need parents walking through your door.

Parents searching for childcare are motivated, they're local, and they make decisions quickly. They're not browsing casually. They have a start date in mind and a shortlist they're working through. You just have to be on it.

Here's what actually gets you there.

Why Do Childcare Centers Struggle to Fill Classrooms?

Most childcare centers we work with aren't struggling because their program isn't good. They're struggling because the parents who would love their school have no idea it exists.

Sound familiar?

A few situations we see regularly: the center has been around for years, relied on word of mouth, and referrals have quietly slowed down without anyone noticing until the classrooms started showing gaps. Or the owner tried running ads, didn't see results, and wrote off digital marketing entirely. Or, like several childcare operators right now, they've lost government subsidy funding and need to replace those families with full-pay enrollments before the budget takes a serious hit.

All of these are fixable. Word of mouth is great when it's working, but it's not something you can turn up when enrollment dips. And giving up on ads after one bad experience usually just means the campaigns weren't set up right the first time.

Does Digital Advertising Actually Work for Childcare Centers?

Yes. And we have the receipts.

One of our clients, a two-location preschool called Rosewood Academy, came to us with low enrollments, open teaching positions, and strong competition from other local programs. We built a strategy using both Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Early results were strong enough that when the owner increased the budget slightly, leads quadrupled.

By the time the campaigns were fully optimized, both locations had full classrooms and all teaching positions were filled. The campaigns worked so well that the owner was able to retire and sell both locations to a national chain.

That's not the result we promise everyone. But it's the kind of thing that happens when the strategy is right and the follow-through is there.

What Is the Difference Between Google Ads and Facebook Ads for Childcare?

They do different jobs and work best when you run both together.

Google Ads capture parents who are actively searching right now. Someone typing "preschool near me" or "daycare in [your city]" is ready to make a decision. Google puts you in front of them at exactly that moment. The intent is already there, which is why Google Ads tend to drive the highest-quality enrollment inquiries.

Facebook and Instagram Ads work differently. Parents aren't searching for a daycare when they scroll past your ad, but a well-placed visual ad showing your classrooms, your teachers, and happy kids builds trust before a parent ever visits your website. By the time they do start searching, they already recognize your name.

For Rosewood Academy, Google Ads drove high-intent enrollment inquiries at a conversion rate of 17.99% and a cost per enrollment of $18.29. Facebook Ads handled brand awareness and teacher recruitment. Together they covered the full funnel, from never heard of you to where do I sign.

What If You Have Tried Ads Before and They Did Not Work?

Almost every childcare owner we talk to has tried ads at some point and been disappointed. Usually it comes down to one of three things.

The targeting was too broad. Running ads across an entire metro area when your families realistically come from a 3 to 5 mile radius burns through budget fast without producing the right leads. For childcare, tight geo-targeting matters more than almost anything else.

The campaigns were trying to do too many things at once. An ad designed to get enrollments looks completely different from an ad designed to recruit teachers. When you mix those goals into one campaign, neither one performs well.

The landing page wasn't built to convert. Getting a parent to click your ad is only half the job. If they land on your homepage and have to hunt for enrollment information, most of them leave. A dedicated page with a clear next step makes a significant difference.

Bad results from a poorly built campaign don't mean ads don't work for childcare. They mean that particular campaign didn't work.

How Do You Fill Classrooms with Full-Pay Families?

This is a real challenge right now, especially for centers that have historically served subsidy-funded families. When state funding gets cut, those enrollment slots don't automatically replace themselves with full-pay families. That requires a deliberate strategy.

One childcare operator we're currently working with lost a significant number of subsidized enrollments when his state cut funding. He's been keeping some of those kids at reduced rates to help the families, which says a lot about him as a person. But he also needs full-pay families coming in, and he knows it.

His situation is a good example of why geo-targeting matters. He told us there are two affluent neighborhoods within a few miles of his center. Facebook and Instagram ads let us target parents in specific zip codes, by household income, and by parenting demographics. We can put his center directly in front of the families most likely to be full-pay.

The messaging matters too. Full-pay families are usually choosing between several options and evaluating on curriculum, staff credentials, environment, and overall feel. Your ads and your website need to lead with those things, not just open spots and tuition rates.

What Does Google Ads for Childcare Actually Cost in 2025 and 2026?

More than it used to. We'll just be upfront about that.

Back in 2019, it was possible to get consistent childcare leads from Google Ads on $10 a day. Those days are gone. Google's costs have risen sharply across the board. Education and childcare CPCs jumped roughly 42% year over year in 2025, with average cost per lead now running around $90 in many markets. Multi-location childcare chains are bidding aggressively and pushing costs up for everyone.

Here's a realistic picture of what daily Google Ads spend looks like right now depending on where you are:

In smaller, less competitive markets, $20 to $40 per day generates a steady trickle of leads. In typical suburban markets, $40 to $80 per day gets you roughly one qualified inquiry per day when the campaigns are structured correctly. In larger metros or highly competitive areas, $80 to $150 per day is where you need to be for consistent tour bookings rather than the occasional phone call.

That works out to roughly $1,200 to $2,100 per month in ad spend for most mid-size markets, plus management fees on top of that.

Before that number sends you running: what is a newly enrolled family actually worth to your center? If a family pays $1,200 per month and stays for two years, that's nearly $29,000 in revenue from one enrollment. At $90 per lead, you'd need to convert roughly one in three inquiries to make the math work very much in your favor. Most well-run childcare programs do better than that.

The real question isn't whether you can afford to run ads. It's whether you can afford to keep classrooms empty.

Should Childcare Centers Also Focus on SEO?

Yes, especially for long-term enrollment stability.

Parents searching for childcare almost always start on Google. If your center doesn't show up in local search results for terms like "daycare in [your city]" or "preschool near [neighborhood]," a large portion of your potential families never find you.

A well-optimized Google Business Profile, consistent local citations, and a website built to rank for local childcare searches creates a steady stream of organic inquiries that doesn't require ongoing ad spend to maintain. Paid ads fill the pipeline quickly. SEO keeps it full over time.

Running both together is the most reliable path to consistent enrollment numbers year-round.

What Does BCP Do Differently for Childcare Centers?

We geo-target based on where your families actually live, not a generic radius drawn on a map. We build separate campaigns for enrollments and staff recruitment so neither goal waters down the other. We track every inquiry back to the specific ad and platform it came from so you always know what's working and what to cut.
We've worked with childcare centers dealing with low enrollment, subsidy funding changes, teacher shortages, and stiff local competition. We understand the industry well enough to know that a parent choosing a daycare is making a trust decision, and the marketing has to reflect that.

We also only work with one childcare center per market area. We're not running campaigns for your competition down the street.

Learn more about our childcare marketing services

Ready to Fill Your Classrooms?

Whether you have a handful of open spots or you're rebuilding enrollment from scratch, a targeted digital marketing strategy gets families in your door faster than any other approach.

Schedule a call with BCP and we'll look at your specific situation and tell you exactly what we'd do to get your classrooms full.

Gina Bultman is the founder of BCP Digital Marketing and has been helping childcare centers, daycares, and preschools increase enrollments through targeted digital advertising since 1999. BCP has worked with childcare operators across multiple states and understands the specific challenges of marketing in a highly local, trust-based industry.