Here are ten yoga marketing ideas to try in 2017 which can be incorporated into your marketing strategy, to help grow your audience, acquire more clients and drive sales.
1. Facebook ads targeting local yogis
Facebook has become one of the most powerful platforms for online advertising. With over a billion active users it is important that your Facebook ads are not lost in all the noise and get seen by the right people. Utilizing Facebook’s ability to specifically target ads by location, interests, demographics, and online behaviors give you a sophisticated cost efficient method to hone in on your targeted audience and reach new customers.The recent introduction of the Custom Audience feature has further improved Facebook as an advertising platform. Now you can upload email lists or other user contact details such as telephone numbers, for Facebook to search for the associated accounts to target with ads.
2. Collaborate with yoga influencers
Working with top yoga influencers provides fantastic opportunities to reach new audiences and engage with potential customers through a variety of means. Prominent yoga bloggers and yoga influencers on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have built up large bases of loyal followers.
Having your brand or product featured by a yoga influencer is a powerful endorsement to their base of committed fans. By working with influencers to develop original content you can create opportunities to engage new audiences with an authentic voice, that builds a positive association with your brand in a non-invasive manner.
There are many ways that brands can collaborate with top online influencers, here are some of the most common:
- Sponsored Social Media Contests
- Sponsored posts
- Guest Posts Reviews
- Giveaways
- Affiliate/Referral Program
3. Sponsor a yoga challenge on Instagram
Yogis love Instagram, and it has become one of the hottest ways to market yoga product, classes, and retreats. Collaborating with yoga influencers to sponsor an Instagram yoga challenge is a great way to raise your brand awareness.
The general format consists of a set period, in which the host of the event – the yoga influencer – presents a new asana (yoga pose) each day to their followers. The winners are chosen from the participants who completed the challenge by sharing their photos or videos of the set daily asanas, using the challenge hashtag while tagging in the host and the sponsor of the challenge. This sort of daily challenge where users can enjoy getting creative with their images all while promoting your brand, is a great way develop brand awareness and reach new potential customers.
4. Create a Twitter Poll
Effectively utilizing Twitter polls is an excellent way to engage and gain insight from the public. Polls can be used in a number of ways to help market your product and promote positive brand awareness. From quick light hearted fun questions, to taking advantage of timely events to promote your brand, to asking followers for predictions or what features they like most about a product, to promoting new offers.
Although not being scientific Twitter polls can also be a useful resource to gauge customer feedback on goods and services, as well as insight into market trends and behaviors.
5. Ensure readers of your web content have clear steps of how to proceed further
Creating web and social media content that effectively markets your brand requires quality content that stands out but also lays instructions for what actions you want the user to take. The industry term is a “call to action.” Where the content is created with the aim of guiding readers to take the next step, with the ultimate goal of converting potential leads into paying customers.
Creating high-quality content that people enjoy and add value to their lives is the key, people buy from brands they like, that align with their beliefs, interests and personal mission especially in yoga. Your marketing content does not always need to be pushing a sale for it to be effective?
Whatever type of online content you create to market your brand, adding an explicit instruction at the end of a post such as to request a like, share or to follow an account can dramatically increase readers taking action.
6. Market your brand through a social media contest
As discussed above in sponsoring an Instagram yoga challenge, marketing your brand through a social media contest is a great tool for building your fan base while enabling you to engage with your audience.
Consideration needs to be taken with regards to what type of contest you want to promote. In general the easier it is to take part in the competition the higher the levels of participation. However, there are benefits of greater engagement in your contest than the conventional sweepstakes model which just ask for a like, share, or email address to participate. Asking participants some basic questions about their consumer habits (i.e., how they heard about your promotion, what their favorite product of yours is) can be a rich source of data.
Promoting social media contests which rely on user-generated content can reduce participation due to the increased barriers to entry. However, the benefits of the greater engagement when users are inspired by creative and fun contests can provide greater positive brand awareness and future active engagements with your brand.
7. Add Pop-up forms on your website
Adding a pop form or banner to your website, if correctly done can be an easy way to grow your audience and increase sales. There are a number of different types of pop-up forms/banners, from taking over your entire screen to small banners that float over part of your page. If your current website does not already include a pop-up form or banner, it might be worth considering testing the impact of adding one.
8. Focus on user generated content
Developing marketing strategies and campaigns that encourage and promote users to produce their own content that showcases your product or service has significant benefits. Studies have shown consumers are more influenced by user generated content than traditional content. Encouraging users to create and share their own photos, videos or written content, which directly or indirectly promotes your brand or product, engages and empowers your audience. As there are no better advocates than your current customers/members, especially those who feel passionately enough to create their own content and share what they love about your brand.
9. Upgrade your personal email signature
Another marketing idea to try is updating your email signature to include a direct link to a promotion. Traditionally email signatures, generally state your name, job title, the company that you work for and contact details. Adding a web link to your email signature which directs potential customers to an ongoing promotion is an excellent way to spread awareness. Whether it be offering a free ebook, a demo, a free trial, or even just a link to one your brand’s social media page, you should not miss out on these opportunities to nurture prospective customers.
10. Start using Infographics
Finally, if you have not considered incorporating infographics into your marketing campaigns, it is about time you give this some serious thought. Infographics are incredibly powerful marketing tools that can help your brand stand out. By organizing data into easy to understand visuals aids, such as a chart or map, consumers are more likely to process, retain and share the infographic.
There are many paid subscriptions services which offer free tools to help you easily create your own infographics. Companies such as Canva and Infog.ram offer free tools and templates to help you get started. Try a few free tools to see what works best for the type of infographic you want to create. Alternatively, you can hire a professional to do the job for you. Visual.ly offers a team of freelance designers who work with you to create visually stunning infographics.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential that your core marketing objectives guide your online strategy, to maximize the impact of your time and effort. Getting the attention of your target audience and engaging with them effectively may take time, to initially determine the most efficient strategies. As described in the article, there are many different ways to grow, energize and inspire your audience through online marketing. It is important that you do not try to do everything at once. Pick one or two methods to incorporate into your current marketing strategy to get started and add to it as and when you feel comfortable.