Making the most of the New Year marketing push

COVID is consuming everybody’s attention, and despite the suspension of the Open Day and Stay and Play events, there is still healthy interest in our kindergartens, with waitlists and enrolment numbers remaining steady compared with 2021.

There is an increase in the conversion rate on the main Kidsfirst site – the number of people filling out an application or query form, so our new Te Ao Kindy messaging is doing a good job for us and our digital channels are working well.

We are seeing an increase in the number of ‘book a tour’ applications through the website – perhaps reflecting whānau having a greater interest in the physical spaces our kindergartens provide, as well as a trend towards people taking a wait-and-see approach. Comparing the 6 weeks from mid-December 2021 to the same period the year before, we have seen an increase of more than 22% in the numbers of tours booked through the site.

Our Get More offers, available in kindergartens most in need of enrolments, remain popular, with a 12% increase in applications this year over last.

Friends and family are still by far our greatest referral source, with half of all applicants telling us this is where they heard about Kidsfirst. A quarter named Google search when asked that question. While these numbers provide us with valuable information, we do know that it often takes multiple points of contact for people to make a decision, and that every little bit of exposure and interaction helps.

Our kaiako remain our most important marketing resource we have – the welcomes you give, the experiences you deliver every day, the efforts you make in putting out flags, dropping off brochures, and maintaining community connections all make a difference.

Our new Christchurch Mall Doors continue to do a great job of spreading the word about kindergarten through the Te Ao Kindy messaging, driving traffic to the website over the period they are up.

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