Childcare Marketing in Adelaide: The Complete 2026 Guide

Adelaide is not one childcare market. It is a set of very different local markets that share a city: budget-conscious, shift-working families in Salisbury and Elizabeth; lifestyle-focused young families filling new estates at Aldinga and Seaford Meadows; education-first professionals in Norwood, Burnside and the Hills; young urban buyers in Prospect, Unley and Glenelg; and fast-growing satellite communities such as Mount Barker. A message that fills rooms in one area can fall flat in another.

This guide brings together everything ChildCare Marketing has published about marketing early learning and childcare centres in Adelaide. It covers the local market and its sub-regions, how Adelaide parents search for and choose care, and the channels that turn that search into enrolments: Google Business Profile, local SEO, Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram, email, open days, waitlists and referrals. It finishes with a 12-month local area marketing playbook, the numbers worth tracking, and answers to the questions Adelaide centre owners ask most.

If you are short on time, start with your sub-region, your Google Business Profile and your enquiry follow-up. That is where most Adelaide centres win or lose families.

Contents

• Adelaide’s childcare market in 2026
• Marketing by sub-region
• Growth corridors and new estates
• Reaching Adelaide’s multicultural families
• The Adelaide parent journey: from search to enrolment
• Google Business Profile for Adelaide centres
• Local SEO for Adelaide childcare
• Google Ads for Adelaide childcare
• Facebook and Instagram ads
• Organic social media and a year-round content calendar
• Tours and open days
• Email marketing and nurture sequences
• Building and managing a waitlist
• Filling vacancies quickly
• Word of mouth and referral marketing
• Local area marketing: your 8km playbook
• What to measure
• Frequently asked questions

Adelaide’s childcare market in 2026

Metropolitan Adelaide is home to more than 1.4 million people and has grown steadily over the past decade through interstate migration and natural growth in family suburbs. Around 70% of Adelaide families with children under five have working parents, so early learning is a household necessity, not an extra. Reliability, flexibility and clear fees matter to most families before anything else.

Growth is outward rather than upward. In the north, Playford and Salisbury, plus newer areas such as Munno Para, Andrews Farm and Angle Vale, attract first-home buyers and working families, with population growth in parts of the north running at 3–4% a year. In the south, Morphett Vale, Seaford, Seaford Meadows and Aldinga draw lifestyle-driven young families. In the Hills, Mount Barker and Littlehampton are absorbing families from inner Adelaide and interstate. Mawson Lakes, a more mature northern suburb, attracts professional dual-income families; it and Angle Park have each grown by roughly 15–20% over five years.

Supply has not kept up everywhere. The northern corridor (Parafield, Munno Para, Elizabeth) shows undersupply of long day care and after-school care, and around Aldinga and Morphett Vale demand from new estates is outpacing licensed capacity.

Two further groups are worth planning for. Families relocating from Sydney and Melbourne often need care urgently and rely on Google, Facebook new-resident groups and real estate agents’ recommendations. And in suburbs such as Burnside, Norwood and the Hills, many grandparents help with drop-off and pick-up; centres that welcome them and present themselves as a community hub tend to earn loyalty across the extended family.

Families are price-sensitive, and Child Care Subsidy (CCS) calculations directly shape decisions, especially in suburbs such as Elizabeth, Parafield Gardens and Seaford. Plain-English CCS explanations, honest gap-fee examples and hours that suit shift workers win market share. For the national picture, see our analysis of the five structural drivers behind Australia’s childcare occupancy decline.

Marketing by sub-region

Before you spend anything, be clear about which Adelaide market you are in.

Northern suburbs

Salisbury, Para Hills, Elizabeth, Parafield Gardens, Paralowie and Munno Para are among Adelaide’s most dynamic and underserved markets. Many parents work in trades, manufacturing, retail or services, often on shifts. Families are budget-conscious but quality-focused, so early drop-off, late pick-up, flexible days and transparent fees with worked CCS examples give you a real edge. Honest marketing wins here: local testimonials and smartphone photos of real learning outperform polished corporate content.

• Facebook groups: local groups such as Salisbury Parents, Elizabeth Families and Para Hills Community have thousands of members asking for recommendations. Be the helpful, responsive centre, not the one hard-selling.
• Google Business Profile: most northern parents start with “childcare near me” or “[suburb] childcare” on Google Maps and weigh reviews heavily.
• Schools: primary schools such as Salisbury Primary, Elizabeth North Primary and Para Hills Primary are community hubs. Fete sponsorships, enrolment-day information booths and before- and after-school care partnerships build trust quickly.
• Modest paid search: $10–$20 a day on suburb and service keywords can compete well. Google Local Services Ads, where available for your category, are worth testing because you pay per lead.

Southern suburbs

From Noarlunga and Christie Downs through Morphett Vale and Seaford to Aldinga and McLaren Vale, the south is one of Adelaide’s fastest-growing family regions. The Aldinga area alone is projected to grow from around 8,000 to 25,000 residents by 2030, with estates at Aldinga Beach, Port Willunga and Salt Estate bringing new families every month. Households are typically middle-income (around $70,000–$150,000), value-conscious and lifestyle-focused: beaches, outdoor space, sport and community. Many plan to stay long-term, so position your centre as a partner in an active family life.

• Post outdoor, beach and nature learning on Facebook and Instagram, with location tags and local hashtags such as #AldingaChildcare.
• Build suburb pages for Aldinga, Morphett Vale and Seaford; many southern centres have a weak online presence, so visibility can be won quickly.
• Leave welcome packs (brochure, fees, enrolment steps) with local real estate offices for families moving in.
• Turn up at school fetes, community centre information sessions, local markets and sports clubs.

Eastern suburbs and the Hills

Norwood, Burnside, Kensington, Stirling, Crafers and the wider Hills attract professional households, often earning $200,000 or more, who see early learning as an educational investment. They are less price-sensitive, expect qualified educators and thoughtful programming, and disproportionately seek Montessori, Reggio Emilia or nature-based approaches. They compare you with other philosophy-led centres and independent schools, not mainstream care.

• Lead with your educational philosophy, the research behind it and your educators’ training.
• Bid on searches such as “Montessori childcare Burnside”, “Reggio Emilia childcare Norwood” and “childcare Adelaide Hills”, with ad groups split by suburb and philosophy.
• Invest in professional photography and a contemporary website; presentation signals the care you take with everything else.
• Build transition programs and shared events with independent schools, and keep families engaged with regular learning updates and parent education sessions.

These are tight-knit communities: excellent communication generates referrals, and poor communication spreads just as quickly.

Inner city and western suburbs

Prospect, Unley, Goodwood, North Adelaide, Glenelg, Henley Beach and West Lakes are seeing young professionals (roughly 28–45, often $90,000–$180,000 household income) move from renting to owning and start families. They are digital-first, value convenience, walkability and sustainability, and compare several centres before deciding.

• Put Instagram first: three to four feed posts a week, daily Stories and short Reels of real, unfiltered moments, tagged locally (#ProspectChildcare, #UnleyCommunity, #GlenelgFamily).
• Search competition is relatively high, so suburb pages and an excellent Google Business Profile are essential.
• Offer online tour booking, evening and weekend tours, and replies within four hours (ideally one).
• Share sustainability projects, inclusive practice and local partnerships, and take part helpfully in groups such as Glenelg Parents, Unley Community and North Adelaide Families.

Growth corridors and new estates

New estates are Adelaide’s largest untapped childcare market. The families moving in are young, working and have children aged 0–5. They need care urgently and tend to choose the first provider that is visible and credible.

• Mount Barker and Littlehampton: Mount Barker has grown from a satellite town into a major growth centre, with projections of more than 50,000 residents by 2030. Many families decide on care before or just after they move, so start building awareness 6–12 months before you open or before a major enrolment push.
• Munno Para, Andrews Farm and Angle Vale: community networks are still forming, so estate sales teams and real estate agents are your key partners. Every house sold is likely a family needing care within a year.
• Seaford Meadows and Aldinga: steady, strong demand from families seeking affordability and space. Emphasise value and outdoor play, name these suburbs on your website and Google Business Profile, and bid on searches such as “childcare Aldinga”.

Tactics that work in new estates

• Letterbox drops: a well-designed drop offering a free tour or trial can generate 20–30 quality enquiries per 1,000 letterboxes in new estates. Time it for 3–6 months after an estate release, once families have settled.
• Developer partnerships: approach the developer’s marketing manager 3–6 months ahead and propose a formal arrangement: your information in welcome packs, a stand at launches or open homes, a new-resident offer.
• New-resident Facebook groups: answer childcare questions helpfully so you are front of mind when someone asks for a recommendation, and support this with targeted ads.
• Pre-opening waitlist: start collecting enquiries about six months before opening. The first quality centre in a new community often sets the market, and its early families refer everyone else.

Reaching Adelaide’s multicultural families

Around 28% of Adelaide’s population was born overseas. Mawson Lakes has a strong South Asian community, including Indian and Sri Lankan families; Marion attracts Chinese and Southeast Asian families; Salisbury and the north have growing African communities; and Tonsley and Port Adelaide are increasingly diverse too. Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families often prioritise trust and reassurance that their values will be respected. Treat each community as distinct.

• Enquiries: slow down on the phone and confirm understanding. Bilingual staff or interpreters for enrolment conversations make a visible difference; ask for preferred language on your form.
• Representation: show real cultural celebrations at your centre (Diwali, Lunar New Year, Harmony Day) and state that you respect dietary and religious requirements and value home languages.
• Community leaders: build relationships with associations, cultural centres, religious leaders and health workers. Their recommendations carry great weight.
• Translation: translate the handbook, fee schedule and philosophy, using a professional translator for fees and policies. List languages spoken on your Google Business Profile.
• Trust: share your licence, qualifications and rating openly, offer extended trial sessions, and explain CCS in plain language with a one-page guide in key community languages.

Happy families will recommend you inside WhatsApp, WeChat and community Facebook groups you cannot reach directly, so testimonials in families’ own words matter.

The Adelaide parent journey: from search to enrolment

Parents start with a trigger, such as returning to work or moving house, and usually interact with a centre six to ten times across different channels before enrolling. Mapping that journey shows where you lose them. See also marketing your childcare centre to local Australian parents.

• Awareness: most Adelaide parents start with Google, then word of mouth, driving past and social media. Clear signage with your phone number and a sandwich board announcing available places still work.
• Consideration: families check your website, Google reviews and Facebook page. Many centres lose them here to slow websites, sparse reviews or out-of-date pages. Load in under three seconds, show fees, real photos and educator profiles, and add a two- to three-minute video walkthrough.
• Decision: usually during the tour and the 48 hours after, while the parent compares two or three centres.
• Conversion: the average time from enquiry to enrolment in Adelaide is around three weeks. Keep the enrolment form short and mobile-friendly, confirm within an hour, give a named contact and a CCS estimate, and explain what fees include.
• Retention: settling-in guides, daily communication in the first month and regular newsletters turn new families into referrers.

Check your funnel. If fewer than about 40% of enquiries book a tour, fix your website, response time or first conversation. If fewer than about 60% of tours enrol, look at the tour and the follow-up. If leads go cold, add automated email and SMS follow-up.

Google Business Profile for Adelaide centres

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is your most important free marketing asset. The three map results shown for “childcare near me” or “long day care [suburb]” can account for 30–40% of a centre’s enquiries. See also why your centre needs a Google Business Profile in 2026.

Set-up checklist

• Claim and verify your profile at business.google.com.
• Use your real business name, without added keywords; Google penalises keyword stuffing.
• Choose the closest childcare or preschool category, plus relevant secondary categories.
• Add address, phone, hours for every day, holiday closures and the suburbs you serve.
• Link to a tour booking or enrolment page rather than your homepage, and add booking and call buttons.
• Turn on attributes such as online booking, accessibility and languages spoken.

Photos, reviews and posts

Upload at least 15 good photos and refresh them monthly: exterior, each room, outdoor areas, educators with children (with parental consent), programs and events. One professional shoot of 30–50 images is a sound investment.

Ask for reviews at good moments: at pick-up with a QR card, in newsletters, after tours and at milestones. Aim for 4.5 stars or more and at least 20 reviews; centres with 50 or more strong reviews are very hard to beat locally. Reply to every review within 48 hours, and respond to critical ones calmly rather than trying to remove them.

Post once or twice a week: available places, open days, programs, new educators. Make sure hours, age groups, fee range and availability are easy to find on your profile and repeated in a website FAQ.

Consistency and measurement

Keep your name, address and phone number identical on your website, Facebook, directories such as True Local and Care.com.au, and email signatures. Check your GBP performance data regularly; if calls are high but website clicks are low, improve the page you link to.

Local SEO for Adelaide childcare

Paid ads stop when you stop paying; organic rankings keep working. Local SEO rests on an optimised Google Business Profile, consistent listings across the web, and genuinely local website content.

Suburb pages. Target “[suburb] childcare”, “[suburb] long day care” and “[suburb] early learning centre” with a dedicated page for each suburb you realistically serve, such as Highgate, Unley, Mawson Lakes, Burnside, Aldinga, Morphett Vale or Glenelg. Describe the area and its families, explain what you offer there, show a map, and link to tour booking and related suburb pages. A focused 500-word suburb page usually beats a long generic services page. Google Search Console shows which suburb searches already find you.

Helpful content. Answer real parent questions (choosing a centre, preparing for care, separation anxiety, before- and after-school care) every two to three weeks, linking each article to your suburb and enquiry pages.

Local links. Earn links from childcare directories, partner primary schools, local parenting blogs, business associations and local media coverage of awards or events.

Technical basics. Most childcare searches happen on phones. Test on real devices and at PageSpeed Insights, use tap-to-call and HTTPS, submit an XML sitemap, check robots.txt is not blocking Google, add LocalBusiness and FAQ structured data, and write FAQs conversationally to suit voice searches such as “best childcare near Glenelg”.

Expect three to six months before significant results, and ask every enquiry how they found you.

Google Ads for Adelaide childcare

Google Ads reaches parents at the moment they search, which makes it the fastest paid channel for filling a known vacancy. Launch four to eight weeks before you need the place filled. Our guide to using Google Ads for childcare enrolment covers the fundamentals.

Keywords and structure

Combine location, service and intent: “long day care Highgate”, “preschool Blackwood”, “early learning Mawson Lakes”, “childcare near me”, “childcare available now”, “affordable childcare Adelaide”. Adelaide stretches from Gawler to Lonsdale and up into the Hills, and a Burnside parent will not travel to Lonsdale, so build ad groups by suburb to name the suburb in your ads and bid by area. Run separate campaigns for your brand name, suburb searches, “near me” searches and, if budget allows, competitor names.

Send each campaign to a matching landing page (infant vacancies, a suburb page, book a tour), not your homepage. Echo the ad’s headline, show real photos and testimonials, display a fee range, and keep the form to name, email, phone and child’s age. Add call extensions, track forms, calls and tour bookings as conversions, and consider call-focused ads around 7–9am and 4–6pm on weekdays.

Budget, costs and seasonality

For most Adelaide centres, $20–$50 a day is sustainable. Test at about $25 a day for two weeks before scaling. Clicks typically cost $3–$8, noticeably more in January, July and September and less in quieter months such as May, June and November. Highgate, Unley and Eastwood tend to cost a little more; Mawson Lakes, Angle Park and Gawler are rising as they grow. If you have a vacancy in a quiet month, fill it then.

Judge success on cost per enrolment. As an illustration: at $100 per enquiry and a 30% enquiry-to-enrolment rate, each enrolment costs around $333, small next to the annual fee value of a full-time place. Aim for a click-through rate of about 3% and a landing page conversion rate of 5–10%.

Facebook and Instagram ads

Facebook and Instagram reach parents in their feeds, often before they start searching, and are excellent for retargeting people who have already shown interest.

• Targeting: choose suburbs or a 5–8km radius around your centre; target parents roughly 25–50; use life events (new or expecting parents, recently moved), which often respond far better than general parenting audiences; and build custom and lookalike audiences from enquirers, website visitors and current families. Language spoken can help reach CALD families.
• Creative: authentic photos and short vertical videos of real learning and warm educators beat staged images. Testimonial videos, carousels and “day in the life” Reels work well. Add on-screen text, test three or four creatives per audience, and refresh every two to three weeks.
• Lead ads: let families request a tour inside Facebook with a short form, connect it to your CRM, and call within an hour.
• Retargeting: with the Meta pixel installed, retarget website visitors, people who viewed your tour page but did not book, and video viewers. Budgets of $5–$10 a day are typical and it is often your cheapest source of enquiries.

Budgets usually progress from testing ($5–$10 a day) to growth ($15–$25) to acceleration ($30–$50), where most Adelaide centres run efficiently. Raise budgets by 20–30% every couple of weeks rather than doubling overnight. Adelaide childcare clicks typically cost $0.50–$2.00, and $200–$500 in ad spend per enrolment is a reasonable target. Check Ads Manager against what families tell you when asked how they found you.

Organic social media and a year-round content calendar

Most parents look at a centre’s Facebook and Instagram before enquiring, and a stale page makes families wonder whether you are still operating. Aim for at least three Facebook and two Instagram posts a week, and test posting around drop-off (9–10am) and pick-up (4–5pm). See also social media marketing for childcare centres.

A useful mix is roughly 40% learning moments (play-based learning, EYLF outcomes), 20% educator spotlights, 15% everyday centre life, 15% seasonal and events, and 10% parent tips. Reels reach the most people; Stories suit polls and behind-the-scenes; carousels suit tips and event galleries.

An Adelaide calendar

• January–February: back to routine and orientation.
• March: Adelaide Festival, creativity and the arts.
• April–May: Reconciliation Week and your Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learning, Mother’s Day.
• June–July: NAIDOC Week, school holiday care, Christmas in July.
• August–September: spring and outdoor learning, Father’s Day.
• October–November: kindy and school transition.
• December: year in review, thanks to families, next-year enrolments.

Plan 30–60 days ahead in a shared calendar and batch-produce: one afternoon a month to film two Reels, take 15–20 photos and write a month of captions, then schedule through Meta Business Suite. Encourage families to share photos with a centre hashtag and repost with permission.

Tours and open days

Tours and open days answer the question every parent is really asking: will my child be safe and happy here?

Every tour

Offer online booking and evening or weekend times. A good tour takes 15–20 minutes and follows a child’s day: arrival, learning spaces, outdoor areas, meals, rest and pick-up. Let parents meet the educators working that day, answer fee questions honestly, and book the next step before they leave. Then send a personalised email within 24 hours mentioning something specific from the visit, follow up by phone or SMS within 48 hours, and send a final email at about seven days with testimonials and answers to common concerns.

Running an open day

Plan six weeks out. Choose a Saturday morning (9–11am) or a weekday late afternoon (4–6pm), avoiding school and public holidays.

• Create a Facebook event four weeks out, ask current families to invite friends, and link to a registration form to capture contact details.
• Run a modest three-week Google Ads campaign on “childcare near [suburb]” and “open day childcare [area]”.
• Drop flyers with a QR code to registration two weeks before.
• On the day, appoint one warm host educator, introduce your team, and set up a simple supervised activity for visiting children so parents can concentrate.

Send a thank-you email that evening, call every family three days later and offer a trial session, and follow up at seven days, optionally with a time-limited offer. Trial sessions convert well because parents see their own child enjoying the room. Ask happy visitors for a Google review.

Email marketing and nurture sequences

Email is the channel you own: no algorithm decides who sees it. Speed matters, as centres that respond within a couple of hours convert noticeably more enquiries than those that reply the next day.

• Immediately: thank the parent by name, introduce your philosophy in a sentence, explain the enrolment process and invite them to book a tour.
• Day 3: a closer look at facilities, outdoor spaces or specialist programs.
• Day 7: a testimonial or video walkthrough, with a gentle note on availability.

Tailor content to the enquiry (infant care versus kindy transition) and tag every contact by enquiry source. For enrolled families, a monthly newsletter with a learning moment, an educator spotlight, events and a parent tip supports retention; conversational subject lines such as “Watch your child’s amazing week” beat “March newsletter”. Re-engage enquiries that have gone quiet for about 90 days with a specific reason to return, such as a place now available or a new program.

Personal, specific subject lines under about 50 characters work best; avoid capitals, multiple exclamation marks and dollar signs. Commercial email must comply with the Spam Act 2003: get consent (a checkbox on your enquiry form), identify your centre, include a working unsubscribe link and honour unsubscribes within five working days. Never buy lists.

Building and managing a waitlist

A healthy waitlist signals quality, provides a pipeline of future enrolments and lets you plan staffing confidently. Centres in high-demand Adelaide suburbs such as Mawson Lakes, Norwood and Prospect commonly see waits of four to six months, particularly for infant and toddler places, and growth areas such as Mount Barker show strong demand.

• Capture: a prominent “Join our waitlist” form (child’s name and date of birth, start date, days required, contact details) with an automatic confirmation; clear waitlist wording on your Google Business Profile; and a simple template so phone enquiries get identical follow-up.
• Nurture: email at least every four to six weeks: a welcome with a video tour, centre news, a milestone story, a testimonial, then a small-group tour invitation. Four weeks before a known intake, send fees and settling-in details. Tag waitlisted families separately.
• Convert: when a place opens, phone families in priority order, confirm interest, offer a start date and send the agreement promptly.
• Be transparent: give honest wait estimates, explain that position depends on days and age group, and make it easy to check status or withdraw.

A “priority waitlist” for families ready to start within three months, with first refusal on cancellations, turns passive interest into commitment. Review the list monthly: which age groups, days and suburbs show the most demand should guide room configuration, staffing and marketing spend.

Filling vacancies quickly

At an average daily fee of $120, one vacant full-time place costs about $2,400 a month, and two permanent vacancies about $57,600 a year. Aim to fill a vacancy within two to four weeks.

Within 48 hours

• Publish a Google Business Profile post announcing places in the specific room.
• Email your waitlist with fees, the enrolment process and a tour link.
• Start a focused Google Ads vacancy campaign (around $20–$30 a day) on searches such as “childcare places near [suburb]”.
• Post on Facebook and boost the post to local parents within about 5km.
• Phone unconverted enquiries from the past six months, plus referral sources such as schools and allied health professionals.

Over the following weeks

Refresh suburb pages, email older cold leads, run a letterbox drop of 500–1,000 flyers within 2–3km, share the vacancy in local parent groups where rules allow, and remind families of your referral offer.

Prevention and seasonality

A 30-day notice requirement gives you time to refill; start waitlist outreach as soon as notice arrives. In our experience, centres keeping family churn below about 15% rarely struggle with vacancies, while those above 25% are constantly chasing them. Adelaide vacancies cluster around January, May and August–September, so market ahead: September–October for January, March–April for May, and May–July for August–September. Recruit staff in November–December for January starts.

Word of mouth and referral marketing

Referrals are the highest-converting source of new families: they arrive trusting you, are more likely to enrol and tend to stay longer. In Adelaide’s tight-knit communities reputation travels fast, and the best advertisement is a parent saying their child loves it, the educators are wonderful and the fees are fair.

• A simple program: a modest $50–$100 fee credit or gift for both the referring and the new family when they enrol. Mention it in your handbook, website and tours, give families a referral card, and record referral source on your enrolment form.
• Find your promoters: survey families quarterly with a Net Promoter Score question (0–10). Invite those scoring 9–10 into the program and treat low scores as early warnings.
• Ambassador families: recognise well-connected parents with thank-you notes, newsletter features or priority access to new services.
• Community connections: maternal and child health nurses, playgroups and parents’ groups, schools and allied health professionals all hear parents asking about care. Invite them in and leave brochures.

Ask when families are happy, after a great day or a concern resolved well, and frame it around helping other families. Request Google reviews at the same moments with a direct link.

Local area marketing: your 8km playbook

Most families will not travel more than about 8–10km for childcare, and when you map your current families you will probably find most live within about 5km. Your real competitors are the handful of centres in your postcode and neighbouring suburbs.

Map your catchment

Plot the suburbs you draw from, primary schools within about 3km, where young families live and where new housing is being built, and employment hubs such as the CBD, the North Adelaide medical precinct, Tonsley and Mawson Lakes. Then list every centre within 8km with its rating and review count, fees and availability, positioning and online activity. Use that map to find your gap: if nearby centres all lead with Montessori, your play-based approach or longer hours may be the distinctive message.

Be visible offline too: fetes at schools in your catchment, local markets and multicultural festivals, a “what to look for in childcare” information session, and a “transition to school” toolkit that positions you as the bridge to school.

A 12-month plan

Quarter	Focus	Approx. share of budget	Key activity
Q1 (Jan–Mar)	Back to work and school; highest demand	35–40%	Back-to-school Google Ads, re-engagement emails, open days, referral launch, Adelaide Festival content
Q2 (Apr–Jun)	Mid-year intake and retention	About 20%	Progress emails, referral reminders, Reconciliation Week content, winter holiday care, testimonial videos
Q3 (Jul–Sep)	Kindy transition and next year’s places	About 30%	Kindy-transition emails and ads, information evenings, waitlist offers
Q4 (Oct–Dec)	Holiday care and next-year enrolments	The remainder	Holiday care, year-in-review content, past-lead outreach, enrolment campaign

Most Adelaide centres spend $500–$2,000 a month on marketing. A reasonable starting split is around 40% Google Ads, 30% Facebook and Instagram, 20% community activity and 10% email, shifting towards Google in peak quarters and towards community and email in quieter ones.

What to measure

• Enquiries by source: ask every family how they heard about you.
• Enquiry-to-tour rate: aim for 40% or more.
• Tour-to-enrolment rate: aim for 60% or more.
• Cost per lead: as a guide, around $10–$20 from Google and $8–$15 from Facebook in Adelaide.
• Cost per enrolment and return on ad spend.
• Days to fill a vacancy and which channel filled it.
• Email open rates: childcare emails commonly see 25–35%.
• Family churn and Net Promoter Score.

After a year you will know which channels deliver your best families most cheaply. Put more into those and test one new tactic each quarter.

Frequently asked questions

Get a marketing plan for your Adelaide centre

Every Adelaide catchment is different. ChildCare Marketing can review your suburb, competitors, Google presence and enquiry process, and show you where your next enrolments are most likely to come from.

Request your free childcare marketing plan or contact ChildCare Marketing to talk through your centre.