When Early Childhood Educators decide to start their own Family Day Care businesses, they are faced with many new tasks and skills that will need to be developed. This includes structuring, planning, and developing their brands.
Many know that this is an important part of starting a Family Day Care, but few understand in depth how much it can positively or negatively impact even the smallest of businesses.
What many Educators end up having difficulty is when it comes to taking their beautiful ideas and philosophies off the paper and putting them into practice, creating a brand that is aligned with their values, but that potentially also becomes strong and successful.
To understand more about this subject, we spoke with Cintia Maria, founder and owner of CC’s Eco Family Day Care, who has been delighting parents and inspiring other Educators when it comes to a beautiful and admirable brand in the Family Day Care sector.
Family Day Care Branding Process
For Cintia, the most important step during CC’s Eco Family Day Care branding process was first to understand who she was as a business, what she stands for and where she wants to be.
According to her, the brand is the first point of contact between a potential customer and the service you are offering. “It should be able to translate what makes you special, and what your values and beliefs are. In essence, the brand is an emotional experience. It will attract your ideal customers and will help your company get where it wants to go faster”, she said.
Cintia shared what inspired her, and proudly said that, “The main pillars for CC’s brand were: Sustainability, Care, Respect, Love and Safety. Based on that and the goals I had for the business, I started understanding and building my brand”.
So, with the help of qualified professionals, Cintia translated her ideas into a strong visual identity that would work across her brand communication.
She also explained that her visual identity was thought out in detail. “In the centre of the logo, we have the figure of the bear, which pulls to the child’s universe and invites you for a hug with its little arms open. The structure comes from a place of safety, and the trees also stand for the ecology (environment). If you pay attention, you can also see that the tree trunks have a similarity to a heart’s shape”.
This is the CC’s Eco Family Day Care logo. A beautiful work and definitely very inspiring.
The Educator’s Philosophy and the Brand Development
When asked about the importance of the relationship between the Educator’s philosophy and the brand development, Cintia told us that she really believes that having a brand aligned with your philosophy is essential not only to differentiate you between your competitors but also to connect with families who share the same beliefs.
“Nowadays, more than buying products or hiring services because we need them, we are also searching for options aligned with our values and goals. CC’s Eco mission is to help children to reach their full potential by teaching them more than basic skills with care and respect”, she said.
For Cintia, her branding is the visual form of her dream (CC’s Eco Family Day Care) and is responsible for adding value to her business.
“Every single detail was carefully thought through. Our digital marketing growth is mostly organic, and I believe that this is a result of our strong delivery of content and structured branding.”
Tips for Family Day Care Educators
It is a fact that our knowledge in marketing, branding process or advertisement is not always so deep, since we do not learn much (or nothing at all) about these topics in Early Childhood Education courses.
Therefore, it is important that, as business owners, we know how to research, learn, and use some tools to our advantage.
Nowadays, some knowledge about marketing is practically essential, as well as the help of other professionals.
“I highly advise Educators to create their own brand with someone that they have the connection and trust. It is very important to know what they really want from the bottom of their heart and I guarantee that will be worth it” said Cintia.
The market is changing every day, and the Family Day Care sector is now seen much more professionally than before. Those who don’t keep up with these changes may occasionally not have the same notability.
“For CC’s Eco Family Day Care promotions I have my creative designer who manages our Social Media keeping up to date with the public about our activities and sharing content related to our brand beliefs. Everything is planned inside our brand guidelines and follows our visual identity.
Before opening, we also had flyers made out of recycled paper, but the social media and Google business were our biggest allies.”
The digital/online world is growing by the minute, and this requires that many of us know how to position ourselves in this new model. A good branding, structured marketing, and the right advertisement will certainly make a difference in how your Family Day Care Business is seen and recognised.
To learn how to use the best tools, check out our course “Marketing Strategies for your Family Day Care”. There, you will find the complete step-by-step instructions for having a successful business!
To follow Cintia’s work, and the day-to-day of CC’s Eco Family Day Care, check out her Instagram page. It’s a show of inspiration and cuteness!
