All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. 

Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au to book your marketing session of view a full portfolio of childcare marketing photography.

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When landing on any marketing material the boldest element of design that people are drawn to look at is the imagery.  Depending on how captivating the overall design and pictures are the viewer then decides if they want to go to the effort of reading to learn more about the business or service on offer.

​It is essential to hire an experienced advertising photographer when marketing your childcare centre, regardless of handling your marketing in-house or with an agency.  Ultimately you want your photographer to have experience working in preschool and long daycare settings with children, educators, indoors, outdoors and in fast-paced unpredictable environments with the ability to see the emotions and freeze the action.

​You need versatile imagery that confirms your reputation and clearly showcases your brand message and unique selling point (USP).  Even without a detailed brief, your photographer's ability to interpret your messaging about your company culture should result in a "signature shot". A signature shot is a distinguished photograph that you can utilise in all of your media alongside your logo to clearly represent and give immediate recognition to your brand and company culture.  

All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au.​​

​What do I do with my childcare images?​

The imagery you choose to represent your service needs to tell a story. Not only your story but the story of the families who entrust you with their precious children.  You want to share with them what they will experience as a part of your community.  

If you're creating the marketing of your services yourself you will benefit from digging deeper into this perspective. 

Ask yourself what needs your prospective families want to have met with their chosen daycare provider and what are the needs your service excels at meeting the most.

You might like to take a moment to reflect upon this universal human needs list as provided by the Centre for NVC - Marshall Rosenberg.

Knowing where your service excels will help you establish your unique selling point (USP) which will be the main focus of your marketing campaigns.​

Having this clarity will enable you to provide a clear brief to your photographer about what imagery you require.

All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au.​​

​NOTE: This service is discounted when you bundle with Portrait Day services, naturally.

And also keep in mind:

For this particular service, Marketing Photography, I personally do the photography so depending on your location this may include a travel fee for services outside of Queensland.

Again, depending if your service is bundled with Picture Day, this travel fee can be waived.

All pricing includes shooting time, editing time and all of the edited images from your shoot as high resolution digital files.

​Contact us with your location and preferred month for marketing photography.

Be sure to specify MARKETING.

bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au

P. 0402 023 241

Keep scrolling and reading below for more tips!

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All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au.​​

​How do I brief my childcare marketing photographer?

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​Providing your photographer with a clear brief of what you need eliminates the chance of disappointment and helps them to see your vision. 

Otherwise, they are shooting blind and just working off their own ideas of what they think you want. ​

Here is a list of elements that make an effective brief for your childcare marketing photographer:

Define your target audience

For some services, this might be a specific demographic defined by more than just location. 

Perhaps you focus on providing a natural outdoor play area with a program that accentuates nature play.  Your ideal audience would be families who value the great outdoors more than most. 

What about if you are a specialty Waldorf or Montessori-inspired service?

Perhaps give your photographer a description of what this philosophy means so they understand your culture and what to accentuate in their photographs.

Share your daycare's unique selling point (USP)

Define what message you want to portray the most about your service by thinking about what makes you special.

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This information helps your photographer gain insight into your culture from a meaningful point of view. ​

Referring to the universal human needs list will have you considering what needs your service excels at meeting, and can assist you in crafting your USP.​

You might excel at providing a child-centered connection and want to highlight this on your home page through imagery and copy.  This translates into spending a little extra time on imagery that shares your educator's connection with the children through eye contact and engaged expression.​

Remind your photographer that this home page image is to reflect your USP and that you want a signature shot from the session. 

As mentioned, your signature shot is what will accompany your logo to create brand recognition. Usually, a signature shot is the main photograph displayed on your website's home page.

Define the initial output​

Your images will be used for all marketing, however, the more specific you can be the better. 

For example, if you are planning a website you should plan out what you require for each page. 

Drafting this will mean you can export a list of what the photographer needs to provide. 

This might be more peripheral descriptions such as the toddler room setting, or our outdoor reading area. Be conscious of this though, and consider adding depth whenever possible. Children enjoying the enchantment of story time in the reading area is definitely a more engaging image than just the space empty of little humans enjoying it.

Where possible include a mood/inspiration board

As this whole article accentuates, visual guides are the most impactful and if you really want to hit home your messaging take the time to create an inspirational board. 

This will really give your photographer clarity to the feel and look of the type of photography you love.  

But don't just limit this to other images, include textures, materials, colour palettes feeling words as typography, and have a bit of fun.  

If, like most busy directors this is just a bridge too far, consider sharing, at the very least, a handful of images that speak to you. 

Honestly, it's worthwhile as this will truly help guide your photographer in the right direction of what you envision..

All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au.​​

​How do I choose the best advertising photographs?

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When you've chosen a professional photographer and provided them with a clear brief the results will be a collection of awesome images showing your daycare center's story. 

So now, how do you narrow these images down to the best?

To help you choose the best photographs always keep your brand message and company culture at the forefront when deciding. 

Literally, have this printed in front of you.

Ask yourself, out of these images, which one shows our USP?

What exactly was that particular photograph taken to represent in our service?

Does it evoke an emotional response in me, do I smile, is it playful, do I feel warmth?

​How often do I update my marketing and social media imagery?

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When you have a diverse library of photographs taken within your daycare setting your marketing campaigns become consistent and easier to draft. But when is it enough with recycling the same photographs?

Depending on the platform we suggest a yearly childcare marketing session to provide you with a collection of current imagery to last another 12 months.  Mixed in with your own candid photographs, this will keep you going on social media.

Websites are a little different and as long as you have chosen a clean and simplistic design that won't date, you can stretch updating these for 2-3 years.

In saying that, when you have a session of current images you might like to review the website and see if anything might refresh the page.

Another way of refreshing your content is to update the imagery layout template using a platform such as Canva. 

Did you know you can find Instagram Template Collections through marketplaces like Etsy, and Creative Market to keep your audience engaged.

This is veering a little off-topic and definitely not for the faint-hearted as much time can be spent crafting these. You need to remember to stay on point with consistent branding however, it all starts with beautiful photography of your service.

Regardless of whether your enrollments are at capacity or struggling, your marketing is the very first touchpoint for prospective families therefore the imagery you choose has the power to shift your business.  

Imagine having such powerful marketing that your centre has established itself to hold a solid waitlist. 

That's the power of images and user-friendly design.​

​All Photographs in this post are chosen to not show any children's identity. Please contact bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au.​

​Contact us with your location and preferred month for marketing photography.

Be sure to specify MARKETING.

bookings@schoolportraitart.com.au

P. 0402 023 241