Kids Program Marketing: Where to Start (Ep. 2)

Episode 02 · April 9, 2026 · Guest: Brandon Laws, Brandon Laws Marketing

Start marketing a kids program with your message, before you pick a channel. Learn the problem parents are trying to solve, in their words. Put that on your website with real photos from your programs. Then choose one or two places your parents already gather and show up there consistently. Ads come last, once the pages they point to are ready.

Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts

This is my written companion to Episode 2 of The Youth Enrichment Leader, "Kids Enrichment Marketing: Where to Start with Brandon Laws." Brandon is a marketer who works with small businesses, and he worked with my team at Journey to STEAM on our message, our website and our photos. Here is what he taught, in my words, plus what I learned doing the work.

Why does marketing feel so overwhelming for a small kids program?

Because no single thing brings in families, and every option looks urgent. Brandon sees owners work backward from "I need revenue" to a website, a social account, a video channel, all at once. Then they freeze and do nothing.

I've lived the other version. You put money into search ads, watch it disappear, and quit. His point stuck with me: ads rent space on someone else's platform. When the budget stops, nothing is left that you own. And if the ad sends a parent to a website that doesn't match the promise, it falls flat anyway.

Where should I start if I've done almost no marketing?

Start with the message, then build outward. This is the order Brandon uses with every small business, including brand-new ones:

1. Get clear on who you serve, what problem you solve for them, and everything you offer. He does this as an interview with the owner.
2. Write your brand message from that. One hook. One clear difference.
3. Set the look: colors and logo. Most people start here. It belongs third.
4. Build what you own: your website and an accurate email list. Social platforms can change tomorrow. Your list is yours.
5. Pick one or two channels where your parents already are.
6. Test ads last, when everything they point to is ready.

On my own, I would have started with the logo.

What should my website say first?

The parent's problem, in the parent's words. Brandon's biggest red flag is a business that casts itself as the hero: our credentials, our features, our experience. A parent gives your homepage a second or two. If she doesn't see her problem and that you can solve it, she's gone.

The parent is the hero. You are the guide. For kids programs the choice is emotional. Parents want to know their child will be safe and that the time and money are worth it. Say that plainly.

I made this mistake. Our first homepage was packed with text because I assumed families would read all of it. Now I listen for the exact words parents use when they tell me why they signed up. Those words go on the page.

Do I need real photos of my programs?

Yes. The first thing Brandon asked when he saw our old website was whether the photos were ours. They were stock. Our real programs were far more impressive, and nobody could see them.

Real photos answer the question every parent has about a newer business: are you legit? Put your instructors in them too. Families want to see who will be with their kid. Phone photos are fine.

We work with children, so here is my part of this lesson:

• Put a media release in your registration paperwork. If you take registrations on enrops, waivers are yours to edit. My registration form checklist covers the rest.
• Before a photo day, tell that group's parents what you're capturing and where it will appear. Invite them to opt out. Remind them the day before.
• Skip kids' full names and schools in anything you post. Photograph the work, the hands, the room.
• Filming comes second to being present with kids. If an image feels off, don't post it.

Do right by the families who already trust you before you chase new ones.

What did a real FAQ page change for us?

It took repeat questions off our phones. Brandon pushed us past the FAQs I guessed at. We went back through emails, call logs and texts, listed what families really ask, and put the most-asked question first.

The tally is simple. A made-up example: if 14 of the last 40 questions were about pickup time, that's 14 ÷ 40 = 35%. It goes at the top, and it goes on the program page too.

School partners look at your website first too, so we send fewer flyers and brochures back and forth. If parents start registration and stall, read why parents abandon registration.

Where do parents and grandparents find kids programs?

Where they already talk to each other. Brandon is a parent himself, and his list was local social media groups, neighborhood groups, short-video apps, schools, and plain word of mouth. Get into the places where parents trade recommendations. For the local playbook, see my companion to Episode 13, how to market a kids enrichment program locally.

What marketing costs nothing but time?

Consistent, useful content. Brandon's example: an instructor records a short clip before class about what kids will learn that day, and you post it everywhere you're active. Give value far more often than you make an offer. Families tune out accounts that only show up to sell. One post proves nothing. Repetition does the work.

His trick for getting unstuck: ask an AI assistant to write a long list of interview questions about your business, answer them out loud into a voice recorder, then hand the transcript back and ask for a content plan. The words stay yours.

My caveat, from experience. Before my first customer, I spent an entire day building one social post. It got one like, from a friend. If you have no customers yet, get your first paying family first. Flyers, conversations, your first class. Set up the program, then post about it.

Who should listen to this episode?

Listen if you do your own marketing, or if you've paid for ads and have nothing to show for it. The episode runs about 42 minutes. Brandon's closing advice: stop treating marketing as a list of tactics. Tactics change. Parents wanting their problem solved does not.

Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts

Frequently asked questions

Should a new kids program run ads?

Brandon's view is that ads come last. Build the message, the website and the photos the ad will point to, then test.

Is imperfect marketing better than none?

Brandon says yes, as long as it doesn't hurt your reputation. Doing something builds the habit, and the habit builds awareness.

Which social platform should I start with?

Brandon spreads his own content across several channels. My advice if you're stretched: pick the one where your parents already are, get consistent, then add. One thing at a time.

Create your first registration. Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes. Or click through a sample registration first.

Arielle Hammond, Ed.D. is the founder of enrops and host of The Youth Enrichment Leader, presented by enrops.