The first order of business for any yoga studio is attracting a strong base of students. Savvy yoga studio owners get creative to market their yoga studio with offers that make potential students sit up and take notice. Once in the door, yoga studios can worry about getting yoga students to want to come back.
Yoga Studio Marketing
The sheer number of ways to market a yoga studio to new students is enough to leave any studio owner wondering where to start. From Groupon to special “new to yoga” series packages, the possibilities might seem endless. Do students want cheap or free classes? Should you tap your existing student base with a bring a friend to yoga class incentives?
All of these approach work. The ones that work the best depends on your yoga studio and goals. Here’s the lowdown on some common introductory offers and how to make the most of them to grow you studios student base.
Groupon
This is by far the best-known introductory offer for most yoga studios. Whether you’re in New York or New Mexico, chances are you—and your students—are familiar with Groupon’s daily deals.
Upside:
Groupon is cheap PR for your studio. You build visibility through the scale of Groupon, and students are able to find your studio with ease. And, they’re a lot more likely to try something if it’s free or inexpensive.
Downside:
Don’t count on it as a moneymaker. As Yogadork points out, it’s hard to get Groupon students back in the door once the deal is over. Some students will happily “gypsy” around to whatever studio is affordable. Others are simply giving yoga a go and won’t stick with it if they have to pay.
Making it Work:
Think about your needs. If you just need exposure and to get students in the door it might be worth a try. Make sure to speak with your teachers before so they don’t feel overburdened by the large class sizes. You might even want to consider offering them a bonus for extra students.
Free or Low-Cost New Student Offers
From offering the first class for free to seven days for $7, many yoga studios use big discounts to lure in new students. The actual structure of the offer is up to you, but common ones include 7 days for $7, the first month for free or at discount rate.
Upside:
For students on a budget or ones who aren’t sure yoga is for them free classes and discount offers make the risk of taking a class seem more manageable. If you create a customized pricing structure this strategy can be made more cost effective in the long run.
Downside:
As with Groupon, there’s always a risk of students not coming back once the trial period is over. It can also be off-putting for current students to see the deals on offer for new yogis when they are paying full price.
Making it Work:
Create promotions and offers with a long term focus. If you offer a student the first month for free, consider offering a discount if a student signs up for an unlimited pass later. Make sure to keep your current students in mind by creating discount offers for them such as 10% off if they buy more than x classes at a time.
Refer a Friend
Refer are a friend programs are a great way to get existing students to help recruite new students for your yoga studio.
Upside:
There will be a personal connection, so new student will feel more comfortable and motivated to keep coming back.
Downside:
Not every yoga student knows a bunch of other yogis. For refer a friend programs to work you need to be focused on quality of referrals not quantity.
Making it Work:
Set the bar for your refer a friend program at an approachable level. Don’t expect students to refer more than one friend, and make it worthwhile if they do. Free classes or clothing are great incentives.
Beginner Yoga Series
Many new students feel scared walking into a class with more advanced practicioners. Offering a prepaid series for new students can be a great option to build your base of yoga students.
Upside:
With a beginners yoga series students have the security of knowing what they’re getting when they sign up and you get the security of upfront payment.
Downside:
Some students might feel limited by the single-series format and the upfront commitment of prepaying for the series.
Making it Work:
To convert your beginner yoga series into a source of new students try offering add-on incentives like a discount if they sign up for another class or class pass.
Conclusion
Take time to go over these marketing strategies with your teachers and give some of them a trial run. Sometimes, what works once won’t work again, and sometimes you’ll hit the gold mine. Keep being flexible in your approach.