“In Studio” Marketing Means Money in Your Pocket
Do you promote and market your Studio? You should. Do you exceed your advertising budget and then have negative or unfounded results? You shouldn't.
Do you keep track of how your advertising dollar is working for you? You should. Or in the end do you toss up your hands in misery and let your marketing project fall wherever it may? You shouldn't.
Now that we know some of "the yeas and the boo hoos" of basic studio advertising...let's talk about finding success with marketing and avoiding those ferocious promotional pitfalls.
Most of my advertising budget, which is not very big, is under the column heading of "Phone Bill". This expense averages out around $565 per month which includes my Yellow Page ad, which is also not very big. What's leftover, which is very little, goes out for a series of newspaper ads at registration time, which although effectively repetitive, are also very little in size. Those 2 blockbuster items alone blow my budget every year.
With my entire advertising budget spent on 2 big ticket items, you can bet I keep track of how the funds spent work for me...or not. I have a place on my Registration Card that asks "How did you find out about us?" I ask the parent to be sure and please put a check for Yellow Pages - Newspaper Ads - Personal Referral - Website or Other. Over the past 4 years I have found the following results. #1 is Personal Referral; #2 is almost a tie between Yellow Pages and Newspaper; #3 is Website and Other comes in at #4. Because I am able to keep track of how my marketing funds are working for me, I do not have to be miserable...but at times I must admit, I still am.
"Why', I ask myself, "must I spend all that money for the Yellow Pages and the Newspaper?" I ponder this situation every year and every year I do place the ads, but they have become smaller and less costly. I still think it is important to have a constant presence in these venues, but I have consciously chosen to cutback and limit the spending.
With Personal Referral constantly coming in at #1, this tells me it's obviously the place I want to concentrate my effort and keep the outside spending to a minimum. Fortunately, it has worked and I have had great success in marketing my business.
First let me tell you that I am not a very good salesman...especially when it is me or my own studio that I am trying to promote. As a matter of fact I am just terrible at promoting and patting myself on the back...but I know it must and should be done...so consequently I look for the easiest but most effective way to get the job done. I let others do it for me.
My worker bees start to spin their honeycomb during the summer months. Let me explain. We opt to have a 4 to 6 week Summer Camp which has been quite successful for us to keep us out of those horrible summer financial doldrums. Every week of camp, Thursday is "Bring A Friend Day". Wow! Our walls are bursting at the seams on those days. There are campers everywhere, in every room, participating in every activity and having a wonderful time! The expense for us is nominal, only the cost of the morning snacks. We plan the events on that day to be sure they do not come with a price tag attached. Both "paid" Camper and "free" Friend have a blast! And best of all, 4 out of 7 times the "free" Friend signs up for Camp the following week or even weeks! It has proven to work more times than not and that is a good enough return on a minimal investment for me. We also get Fall enrollment from these "Bring A Friend To Camp Day"...and that is even better. In researching records over the past 3 years...I found that 1/4th of the Camp "Friends" returned to register for Fall Classes. I will take those numbers any day.
During Fall Registration everyone who signs up for classes receives a Studio Gift Certificate in their Registration Information packet to give to a friend or sibling for a Complimentary Class.... zcourtesy of the DU student. We print out each certificate for pennies and they bring in a good return for the investment. They have space on them for our student to write in their name as the presenter and also the name of the child they are giving the certificate to. We do place an expiration date on them of October 15th...so we see a good return before we get too far into the season. Some of the Gift Certificates are actually used and some are not. The actual registration from the certificates averages out to be 3 out of every 12 that are used. Again enrollment that basically cost nothing but some printing on a copy machine.
The 3rd week in October is "Bring A Friend Week". This is the time that all students are encouraged to bring a friend to class with them. We ask that the friend be of the same age...and stress that they do not have to have had any previous dance training. They are welcomed to join in the class and see if they just basically like to dance! If our student wants to have a friend come to class that is older or younger...they too are welcome...but we ask them to attend a class of their age as well as one that is close to their ability...if they have any training. Yes, we have some classes that are jammed to the walls and some that have a few friends and even some that have no friends... but over all it is a good promotion and marketing pitch. It introduces some children to an art that they have no previous knowledge of and it works in promoting your studio classes. Yes, we do get enrollment from this week. On the average we might register 10-13 new students by the end of the week. We make sure that every Friend that comes, either thru the Gift Certificate or Bring A Friend Week leaves with our brochure. We also get their name and address for our Information Mail Log...which we will use for announcing our registration the following summer. Other than the expense of printing out signs on your computer to announce and promote the event, the cost for this marketing is nil.
As a child...oh so many years ago...I remember seeing men walking the streets wearing "sandwich boards" painted with advertising for one thing or another. I always remembered that those men caught my eye, so I thought why not continue that old tradition, only in a much different way. Just about every piece of dance wear and clothing that we sell at the studio has our name and logo on it...sort of an updated version of the "sandwich board" concept. How cute does a 4 year old look in her pink leotard and tights with a big bow on her pony tail while accompanying her mother on a shipping trip to the food store? Why she is just precious! Everyone turns to do a double take at her in the shopping cart! Most all of our students who are well groomed in their studio uniform with our name and logo on it also get many double takes while out in public. I insist that our dancers over 9 years of age wear a cover up to and from the studio... shorts or pants are a must. They usually, but not all the time, opt to wear attire with our logo on it for that purpose as well. Even if they wear their own pants, our leotards are imprinted on the left chest area, so the logo is always visible, it is not hidden down on the hip where no one can see it.
Throughout the year we do other "sandwich board" concepts with the following shirts that we complimentary give out for such events as "Dancer of the Month"; Early Registration; Studio Faculty & Staff shirts and Recital Staff shirts. We sell assorted styles and colors of Studio t-shirts and Recital theme
t-shirts too. All these shirts and uniform leotards being worn out in public promote your studio on a daily basis. Don't pass up this opportunity as a marketing tool. Design your art work for each shirt, always including your studio name and logo if possible and make it work for you. You'll be oh so glad you did!
At the end of the year we give out Referral Gifts to those students who recommended a friend to the studio. Both the student and their friend MUST perform in the Recital -- i.e. stay all year, for the gift to be given out. We are able to keep track of these referrals through our registration cards which ask "Who referred you to the studio?" When the registration cards are filled out and before they are filed, we transfer the recommendation information to an on going log sheet kept all year. The gifts that we give out are always under $5.00 each. I usually make up a colorful gift bag, geared to various age groups, from several Dollar Store items. Each bag has a gift tag with the recipients name and a short computer printed Thank You message. I individually sign each one, so it makes the note a bit more personal and meaningful. These gifts are "presented"...not merely passed out in class. I want a bit of flair involved to let the other students know that they too can receive a nice gift next year if they refer someone to the studio for classes. Again...so inexpensive and simple...but so effective!
Are you a believer yet? I hope so! All of these "In Studio" promotions are so practical and oh so very easy on the pocket! I am sure there are many more promotions that a lot of you probably use. If you do something that is reasonably priced to promote your studio that also might be a bit eclectic or unusual, I would love to hear about it. Will you share it with us? I sure hope so...and so do many of our readers. Please send your marketing ideas to danceun@aol.com and with your permission I will share them with one and all. I'll be anxious to hear from you.