Getting Yourself Out There!

Clearly, last week’s positive vibes have worked! Yesterday we had the incredible news that dance studios are able to reopen for face to face classes from the week commencing 12th April! Now that we have a set date to work to now is the time to take advantage of the influx of students coming your way! I've mentioned it so many times, but believe me, there will be an influx of new students coming your way for a variety of reasons. Children have been so socially isolated this past year that parents will be desperate for their children to get back to their extra curricular activities, and gain as much normality as possible. 

 

People have more money now than they have had in recent years. I know that sounds crazy whilst in a pandemic, but people really have spent the last year spending less on fuel or travel, days or meals out and have been using that cash to pay off debts. This obviously cannot account for everyone, but those who are still able to work from home and receive their whole wage are in a much better financial position. People will part with their money if it is something they want. We tend to not like to part with our money for things we actually need, often due to having to buy it, not choosing. If someone can see value in what they are paying for, they will be much happier to part with their money, so as studio owners, it is our job to show them the value of what we are offering.

The biggest value we hold right now, and that you need to start shouting about in your marketing, is being able to give the gift of re-socialising this generation of children. Giving them a positive focus, a purpose and most importantly rebuilding their confidence. So many children have lost their confidence naturally due to the nature of their experience over the last year. It is our job to bring it back out of them, and it's something we do so well! As dance studios we are all equally able to give this gift.

 

However very few studios will take advantage of this opportunity. Many studios will still close their doors, because they won't be able to focus on the positives that have come out of the past year. However the bounce back is possible! It's all about mindset and focusing on the positive and not the negative!It is your job to communicate your value to potential customers; don't let them do the guesswork; they will just find other activities that are shouting about the benefits for their children and take their business there! If you are not shouting about how you are going to help and benefit their children, and what incredible and confidence building experience your sessions provide, somebody else will! Whether it be football, or drama or music they will be shouting about it and your potential customers will go there. 

 

We should be starting to think about how we can twist this problem that society is currently undertaking, and shout about what we can do as dance teachers to help solve that problem. Sales come from solving a problem and outlining the problem and solution to the customer. The products that can provide a consumer with a clear solution to their problem will sell without fail. Your marketing copy needs to speak directly to the customer and resonate with them. Use your marketing to outline the problems that children are facing, and how your classes will provide a solution for that. If parents can see a clear way in which your classes will help reverse some of the negative effects of the pandemic, then they will of course want to enrol! 

Take the time to adapt your marketing to be specific to this current issue. For example you may start a facebook ad or post with “Are you worried about how introverted your child has become over lockdown,(telling them the problem) would you love to see them happy and smiling interacting with other children again? (Discussing the end result with them) Our musical theatre classes are the perfect place to help them regain their confidence and make new friends. (Offering them a solution!)

You can focus on children's fitness, their ability to pick up information quickly, and their social integration as some of the key points that will sell your lessons to your market. 

One of our tribe members recently submitted a poster to me for a new programme to help get some pointers to make it more impactful. 

The main points I shared were. 

  • You need a really eye catching image focussing in on 1 or 2 really joyful children having fun. It is the image that will draw someone into by capturing their attention, your marketing so this is the most important part. Lots of text will not draw someone in, a strong image snatches someone's attention to then encourage them to read on.
  • Is your branding evident? Do people know it's you? You should have a brand colour/colours which you consistently use on all of your marketing. Don't be fooled into thinking it can be boring to use the same thing, your marketing needs to be consistent for your brand. Think coca cola red and white, dairy milk purple and white, The AA yellow. They don't change their colours, they keep it consistent.
  • An intriguing and exciting tagline that shouts the benefits or is emotive and shares who the child will feel. For eg:- “ Learn to dance like no one is watching all your favourite chart hits” or “ Dance your way to fitness and fun! Join our dance class that's

guaranteed to get you moving with confidence” or even “ see your child’s confidence blossom as they discover their love of dance”. Giving an emotive tagline can really emotionally invest someone in what you are offering. 

Finally get it everywhere, people don't know about it if you don't shout about it! And I mean everywhere! One post on social media, one email to existing students and one email out to your email list is not sufficient! Multiple facebook posts, facebook ads, several emails to leads and several emails (over a period of time) to your existing pupils, email to local primary schools, guide groups etc. Plan a launch! Maybe 6 weeks

away, but then you can market up to a given date and give yourself time to really fill that class. 

Only around 10% of the people who see your marketing will take action and become a customer! You need to get your message out there in as many forms as possible. 

The most important thing is to keep consistent. 10% is one in 10, so look at your social media analytics,how many people saw your post about a new class starting only around 10% of that number may sign up. How many people opened up your latest email about your new class again only 10% of the people that opened it may sign up! It is a numbers game! The more exposure you can give your product the more likely you are to get sign ups. 

Just to give you an example I recently spent £122 on facebook ads for my new Acro classes it reached 2,886 people. There were 232 link clicks however, we had 14 trial class sign ups in less than 2 weeks. That gives you a really good look at the reach in comparison to the sign up rate. The bigger the reach the more chance you have of enrolling pupils. Imagine if that ad had reached 5000 could I have had 28 new sign ups? 

You don't have to do facebook ads to track the effectiveness of your marketing. Even if you are just using your website, facebook posts and email list to advertise if your budget is low there is an amazing tool called Invoco. You can get several phone numbers either with an area code or 0800 number all that redirect to your one phone. You put one number on each of your marketing pieces so one for facebook posts, one for email and one for posters and you can track how many calls you get from each number therefore telling you which marketing has had the most response. It takes the guesswork out of knowing what marketing efforts are most effective. You could also replicate this with email aliases. For

example get 3 email addresses which all forward to the one mailbox info@ enquiries@ sales@ and make a spreadsheet and everytime an enquiry comes in mark which email alias it came from and you will soon see which is performing best.