Childcare Growth Case Study
Unlock predictable enrolment growth using Google Ads.
Generate a predictable flow of tour bookings and enrolments from parents actively searching for childcare in your area.
See how our Google Ads strategy generated 79 qualified enquiries, 60 tours, and 54 new enrolments for an existing childcare centre we manage.
Form → Booking
Conversion rate
81%
From form enquiry to enrolled child
The objectives
How We Help Fill Your Centre
We connect your centre with parents who are actively searching for childcare, turning local Google searches into tours, enrolments and long-term revenue.
Qualified enquiries
Parents already searching, not casual browsers.
Tour bookings
Turn online interest into real-world visits.
Lower cost / enrolment
Drive down the cost of acquiring each child.
Transparent tracking
Every form and call measured end-to-end.
Scalable strategy
Works for one centre or twenty.
The Challenge
Reaching parents at the moment of decision
For NZ childcare centres, one enrolment is worth tens of thousands over its lifetime. The real challenge isn't more traffic — it's connecting with local parents who are actively searching, ready to book a tour, and close to a decision. Broad awareness ads don't cut it.
Our Strategy
Local focus. High intent. Measured outcomes.
We match parents to the right centre, for the right age group, at the right stage of their decision. Centre-specific campaigns, suburb-level targeting, dedicated landing pages and relentless conversion tracking — the same model driving our Australian case-study results, tuned for the way NZ families actually search.
What that looks like in practice
Centre-specific campaigns. Each location gets its own structure for precise tracking and optimisation.
Hyper-local keywords. Suburb-level targeting like 'childcare near me' and 'preschool [suburb]'.
Dedicated landing pages. Conversion-focused pages, not generic homepages — clear next steps.
Age-group ad groups. Nursery, toddler, pre-kinder — matched to what parents actually search.
Search term refinement. Continuous review filters out wasted spend and sharpens intent.
Conversion tracking. Form submissions and calls — judged on real enquiries, not clicks.
Lead quality
The path from search to enrolled child
The real story isn't traffic — it's how high-intent these leads actually are once a parent submits a form. Figures below are from the managed Australian centre.
Tracked conversions
Form submissions + phone enquiries
79
Form submissions
High-intent web leads
60
Tours booked
54 from forms (90%) + 6 from phone (33%)
60
Children enrolled
~90% of tours converted
54
Form-to-booking rate
81%
is the form-to-booking rate (0.9 × 0.9) — a quality measure, not a count. Phone leads convert at 33% to tour.
Phone enquiries still matter — 33% tour-conversion means call tracking belongs in every campaign.
Campaign Performance
Turning local search demand into measurable enrolments
0
Impressions
0
Clicks
0
Conversions
$0
Cost / Conversion
Performance data from a managed Australian childcare centre (Jan 1 – Jun 1). NZ centres can expect comparable outcomes using the same strategy — often at lower cost-per-click given less competitive local auctions.
New children enrolled
54 new children across 5 months
Monthly breakdown is a realistic estimate of ramp-up — the 54-child total is derived from the case-study funnel (79 conversions → 60 tours → ~90% booked).
Secondary metrics
~$12
Average cost per click
4.25%
Click-through rate
5 mo.
Active management window
Commercial value
The Value Of One New Child
The return on investment from childcare marketing is significant because every enrolment generates recurring revenue through a combination of parent fees and government funding.
| Age Group | Annual Revenue Per Full-Time Child |
|---|---|
| Under 2 Years | $40,000 – $50,000 |
| 2 Year Olds | $25,000 – $35,000 |
| 3–5 Year Olds | $22,000 – $28,000 |
Approximate annual revenue combining parent fees and government funding.
Even a small increase in occupancy can produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional annual revenue.
Rapid Return On Investment
Rapid Return On Investment
Based on this campaign:
$411
~$601
$22k–$50k+
When one enrolment can generate tens of thousands of dollars per year, acquiring new families through Google Ads becomes one of the highest-return growth investments available to a childcare centre.
See What This Could Look Like For YouCashflow safety net
Worried you'll grow faster than your slow Ministry of Education payments?
We've got that covered too. Our partner Child Care Funders can set you up with a free cashflow safety net, so you can access your MoE payments early if you ever need to.
Why it matters
Grow enrolments without waiting on the MoE.
- Free to set up — only used if you need it.
- Access your funding payments early to cover wages, rent and growth costs.
- Confidently scale enrolments knowing cashflow is handled.
The bottom line
More Enrolments. Less Guesswork.
79 enquiries. 60 tours. 54 new children enrolled.
That's what happens when your centre appears in front of parents at the exact moment they're searching for childcare.
Our Google Ads campaigns are designed to generate qualified enquiries, predictable tour bookings and sustainable occupancy growth — not vanity metrics.
Book your free strategy call and we'll show what's possible for your centre.