Franchise marketing for childcare organisations ensures that parents can see, for each location, which types of childcare are offered, where places are available and what the atmosphere is like, so that tours and registrations go to the locations with space. Our team handles this for all locations at once, with one contract and one monthly report for the franchise brand.
What makes marketing for childcare chains different?
Parents choose childcare months in advance, often during pregnancy. They compare distance from home or work, opening hours, educational vision and the GGD (municipal health service) inspection report. A tour is almost always the final step before they decide.
For head office, that means keeping the brand strong nationally and making sure each location wins locally at that moment of decision.
How do parents search for childcare organisations?
The search query reveals what the customer needs. We build the profile, location page and ad around it.
| Search query | What the location needs in order to be chosen |
|---|---|
| nursery [neighbourhood] | A location page per neighbourhood with available places |
| after-school care at [primary school] | A link between after-school care and the schools it collects children from |
| childcare with places available immediately | Up-to-date availability per location |
| book a childcare tour | Tours that can be booked online |
How the same question sounds in an AI assistant
In ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Overviews, parents ask longer questions, for example: "Which childcare centre in my neighbourhood has places from January and collects children from our primary school?" An AI can only recommend a location if those details are literally stated in the profile, reviews and location page. That is why we combine local findability with being found in AI assistants.
What goes wrong at childcare chains?
These are the four bottlenecks we encounter most often at childcare chains. Each one costs customers, and none of them resolves itself.
Availability not up to date
Parents call locations that are full, while a location nearby has space.
After-school pick-up schools missing
Parents search for their child's school and cannot find the after-school care.
The same text for every location
The atmosphere and the team at each location do not come across.
Parents' reviews left unanswered
Concerns about staff turnover remain public without a response.
Our approach for childcare organisations
Our approach is set up channel by channel around the customer journey of childcare organisations. Your team approves, we carry out the work per location.
| Channel | Use for childcare organisations |
|---|---|
| Location pages | Types of care, pick-up schools, team, booking a tour and LRK number |
| Google Business Profile | The right category per type of care, opening hours, photos of the groups (without children) |
| Google Ads | Campaigns only for locations with places, by neighbourhood and type of care |
| Social media | Ads for (expectant) parents in the neighbourhood |
| Review management | Responses to parents' experiences, without details about children |
No time or expertise in-house? Leave your franchise marketing to us.
Rules and points of attention for childcare organisations
Every location is listed in the Dutch National Childcare Register (LRK) and GGD inspection reports are public; state the LRK number and be honest about the outcomes. Use photos of children only with parents' consent, and preferably without recognisable faces.
We include rules like these in the marketing handbook for franchisees. Legal questions are reviewed by the franchise brand's lawyer.
What does better visibility deliver for childcare chains?
The NFV service sector, under which we classify childcare organisations, had 375 franchise brands with 9,721 locations and €4.7 billion in revenue in 2025. That is an average of around €483,000 in revenue per location per year. The worked example below shows the revenue effect at which the Growth package pays for itself.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average revenue per location per year | €483,489 |
| Per month | €40,291 |
| 1% extra revenue per year | €4,835 |
| Cost of Growth package per year | €3,000 |
| Break-even point: required revenue growth | 0.62% |
Which KPIs matter for childcare chains?
In addition to the standard KPIs in our monthly report (visibility, customer actions, reviews and position in Maps), in this sector we also look at:
| KPI | Why |
|---|---|
| Tours per location | The most important step before registration |
| Occupancy rate | Determines where campaigns run |
| Registrations per type of care | Day care, after-school care, pre-school care |
When should you plan marketing for childcare organisations?
Demand peaks around the start of the school year and in spring (registering for after the summer); the turn of the year also brings contract changes. That is why we plan campaigns, posts and review requests on an annual calendar that is right for each location.
How do we get started with franchise marketing for childcare organisations?
Every partnership starts with the same four steps, tailored to your sector. Head office approves, franchisees provide occasional input, and we carry out the work. After three months, you have a comparison between the locations on the table.
| Period | What we do |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | Baseline measurement at three locations for searches such as nursery [neighbourhood] and after-school care at [primary school], plus an AI test with fixed questions |
| Weeks 3-4 | Location pages: types of care, pick-up schools, team, booking a tour and LRK number |
| Month 2 | Google Business Profile and Google Ads: campaigns only for locations with places, by neighbourhood and type of care |
| Month 3 | Social media live and first monthly report with tours per location and occupancy rate |
Checklist: is your childcare franchise in good shape online?
- A location page per neighbourhood with available places
- A link between after-school care and the schools it collects children from
- Up-to-date availability per location
- Tours that can be booked online
- Review management: responses to parents' experiences, without details about children
Can you not tick off every point for every location? Then the free scan shows exactly where the gains are.
Who works on franchise marketing for childcare organisations?
You will not be passed between changing account managers. Gijs Bodenstaff is your permanent point of contact; Angela (local SEO analyst), Elisabeth (local advertising) and Peter (local SEO and link building) carry out the work, together with ten regular freelancers we have trained ourselves. Co-author Stanley Leijnse provides research and benchmarks. More about Franchise-Marketing.nl.
Related sectors and services for childcare organisations
This page belongs to franchise marketing for service businesses. Comparable sectors are marketing for mortgage advice chains and franchise marketing for IT service providers. For childcare organisations we focus mainly on location pages with schema and paid search campaigns per location. Read about the costs on pricing per location; you can start by requesting a no-obligation scan.
Frequently asked questions about franchise marketing for childcare organisations
Can campaigns run only for locations with places available?
How do we show a location's atmosphere without children in the pictures?
From how many locations is this worthwhile for childcare chains?
Do you also work for childcare chains that are not franchises?
What do franchisees of childcare chains notice from this?
Childcare centres: can customers find our locations through AI assistants?
How do parents search online for a day nursery or after-school care in their area?
Should a childcare chain show the LRK number and GGD report for each location online?
Which KPIs does a childcare chain track per location besides visibility and reviews?
When is demand for childcare highest for marketing campaigns?
Sources
Gijs Bodenstaff
Franchise marketer, local SEO and GEO specialist, author
Curious how the locations of your childcare franchise are doing? Request the free scan of three locations.