Wouldn’t you love to know the magic formula for advertising?
I’d love someone to take me aside and say, “Psssst….put in $500 worth of Facebook Ads, three blogs posts, eight Instagram stories and you’re golden!” Yay! Mystery solved!
No such luck. Marketing is a fickle beast and every campaign is different. But while there may not be definitive recipe for maxing out attendance in your programs, these three must-follow rules will set a solid foundation to help you on your way. They seem simple, but you’d be amazed at how easy it is to miss these three basic principles!
Check it out.
Rule #1: go to where your people are.
Find out where you connect with your community and go find them there. By “your people,” I mean your ideal student. Not everyone. Your very specific, quirky, and unique ideal student.
In the virtual world, check out:
- Where they hang on social media: Facebook? Instagram? Snapchat? Pinterest?
- Do they hang out in online forums or Facebook Pages?
- Are they reading blogs or online periodicals?
- Are they participating in conversations in sister industries like naturopathy?
- (Also find out where your competitors are making an online splash; chances are, there’s a strong community of students there!)
IRL:
- Which studios are they at?
- Where do they live?
- Are they at neighborhood coffee shops, restaurant, juiceries?
- Are they reading periodicals, listings?
- Are they working with other service providers (chiros, naturopaths, retail vendors)?
And once you know where the majority of your people are: go there. Presto, this is where you should focus your energy.
Rule #2: build community before sales.
In social media, the number one mistake that people make is advertising to a cold audience. Social media is not a sales platform; it is a community platform. As my Instagram mentor said, “Compel, connect, convert.” This means that you put your party online, invite people to your party, and then you eventually tell them that – hey! – you’ve got something for sale that they might like.
Like Captain Picard says, “Engage!”
To create community on social media, it has to be a two-way street. If you’re just posting your own stuff without connecting to what’s going on with other people, they are going to feel the lack of love. Engage with your community through discussions, commenting, and showing that you care about their lives and their photo of that really cute kitten.
Rule #3: Tell people what you’re doing.
Sometimes half the battle with marketing is just opening your mouth!
People won’t know about your offerings unless you tell them. It can be super uncomfortable at first to tell people what you’re doing if it feels like you’re just making a sales pitch. Reconnect to your greater purpose for creating your course (for a free course that helps you with this, check this out), and your mission as a yoga teacher. Feel the power of your mission in your bones. Think about your experiences as a student and how transformational it has been for you to work with your favorite teacher! Now, imagine that you are providing that same amazing experience for your students.
When you remember why your work is so darn important, you’ll realize that sharing it is just another way to deepen your connection with your peeps, and help make the world a better place.
Now go be successful!
For more how to’s on marketing, check out “Market For Success.”
