Do you run a yoga studio and you want to increase clients patronage to your business? If YES, here are 17 inexpensive smart ways to grow your yoga business.
Yoga instructors guide their students in the practice of the various aspects of yoga. They help students learn correct forms of yoga poses without hurting themselves. Yoga instructors may also provide guidance in yogic philosophy as well as areas complementary to yoga, such as nutrition and meditation.
A yoga training center is a good business to set up, but if you are still new in the neighborhood, you may experience some sluggish start off. Again, business always has the tendency to slow down due to one reason or the other, and if you get to this point, you need to find ways to boost your business patronage.
How to Grow and Increase your Yoga Business Patronage
- Tailor your brand
Yoga comes in different forms, and you can’t just claim that you handle every form of yoga. For this reason, your first step when you want to promote a yoga class is to define your brand. Yoga classes are booming, which is great news for those who want to work on their core. But it also means you have to set yourself apart from the others.
You need to sit back and figure out what makes your class special. You could focus on teaching seniors only, or you could combine your classes with meditation and incense or you can teach the disable. Your brand will guide your marketing efforts and help you find your target audience.
2. Find people who resonate to your brand
After you tailor your brand down to a particular audience, you now have to identify the age-group of your target audience and create a marketing plan accordingly. If your business is restricted to specific areas/localities, you need to be thorough about the age group of people.
Your locality can have average number of old adults, students, kids, etc. Based on the majority, design the yoga class packages. Chances are that you already know a few people who are interested in the same things as you. Do a bit of research and find out where your audience hangs out.
It is typical that younger people will be on Instagram and Snapchat. Older demographics can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn. Attend some yoga-specific meetups to connects with other teachers and students. It’s a good way to meet fellow professionals and prospective students for your class.
3. Make private lessons a priority
Yet another way you can increase your yoga business patronage is to teach private lessons. Private yoga lessons are a great way for you to grow your yoga business, as your student or students will appreciate the one-on-one attention. It might also be considered a smart business move, as you can charge higher rates for your time.
Not only will your students appreciate the focus and energy you give them, but they will also appreciate the value of your experience.
Whether it’s teaching a single class or perhaps selling students a package of private classes, it is one of the best ways for you to make some extra money and create a lasting impression on an individual’s practice. Also, you want to keep in mind that pricing your private lessons depends on your experience and whom you’re selling the lessons to.
4. Work the social media channels
It should go without saying that you need to be on social media. Which ones you should focus on will depend on your target demographic. But everyone is typically on Facebook. Facebook is also the king of social media ads because you can make them ultra-specific. Unfortunately, you won’t get much organic exposure on Facebook anymore.
Instagram has the highest organic engagement of all the social media channels. It also allows you to cross-post to Facebook and Twitter. You can also find out ways you can optimize the various social media channels for the good of your business.
5. Get a business website
Whether you are an individual trainer or a yoga studio owner, you should have proper website, which is very essential to stretch the promotion wings online. Having a website can allow you to build deeper relationships with your students. Website provides lots of new ways to increase the class size and allows you to easily connect with other people in the industry.
Your site is a very valuable tool for letting people find you on Google and other search engines. But for that to happen you need to put some work into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). A good way to do that is to find out what your target audience is searching for.
Maybe they’re searching for “yoga classes in London” or “alternative yoga classes”. Start writing some informative and inspirational blog posts around these search terms. Then promote them on your social media channels and to your mailing list.
6. Offer workshops
Another great way to create more abundance and go deeper into yoga teachings is by offering workshops. Typically, workshops can last anywhere from three to six hours but could also go into a full weekend or even into a long series. Workshops allow you to dive deeper into a particular subject, for example handstands, backbends, or pranayama and meditation. Workshops create leverage, meaning you have premium pricing with multiple people, at the same time.
Pick a subject that you think will interest people. Choose something that you can deliver with ease and professionalism. In addition, look for a niche that you can sell to, while still keeping in mind of your following. You want to teach something that your followers would also be interested in, as well as perspective students. If your workshops are successful, you can get a lot of yoga signups from there.
7. Create your own mailing list
Email marketing may have slowed down from what it was in the past, but it still beats many other traditional methods of advertising. Everyone has an email address, and the vast majority of them check their inbox every day. So, how do you take advantage of this and build a mailing list? Offer an incentive.
It could be a free instructional yoga video, an ebook, or a free taster class. Once you’ve got people to subscribe, you need to make sure they stay subscribed. You want to ensure that people look forward to hearing from you. Always offer something interesting, whether it’s a tip for practicing at home or a link to your latest blog post.
8. Be willing to share what you know
While some yogis are very strict about not teaching without payment, but if you really want to grow your yoga business, you have to be willing to share with others what you know. With experience and networking you can begin offering your yoga classes, or workshops to different festivals, conferences, or conventions in your community.
These offers can be really fun and give you access to a lot of people all at one time, which can help to grow your yoga business. Conferences and festivals also provide you with free access to more workshops with some of the top teachers. This can help you to gain more knowledge about the yoga world! It also gives you expert status in front of the public, which is great for your resume.
9. Look into teacher training
After years of teaching and offering your services to the community, you may want to think about starting your own teacher training. This takes a lot of planning but can be very rewarding. Since there are many teacher trainings out there, try and figure out what you can do to make yours unique.
Also, make sure you have supporting documents such as manuals and other guidelines to better help your students in their yoga school course. A syllabus and outline is very helpful in maintaining student engagement and increase the level of participation.
10. Think quality over quantity
Whichever of these ways of increasing your reach to the public are, be aware that you want to make all your offerings beneficial and valuable. The value you provide to your students can make a lasting impression.
You can always explore the different options out there and do some research as to what others are doing. But remember your yoga teaching is a journey of exploration to what you’re really passionate about. There is never a wrong time to do something bold, so go for it.
11. Use social media influencers
Ever wondered why famous celebrities get hired for TV commercials and magazine ads? That’s because they’re influencers. A lot of top celebrities swear by yoga, but maybe your budget won’t stretch that far. Fortunately, the web is full of smaller and more affordable influencers.
Reach out to yoga fans on Instagram or vloggers on YouTube who could be interested. If they mention your yoga class to their followers, it’s a big win. You can also find influencers out there in the real world. Contact some local charities or youth clubs and offer a free introduction class through them. This can help your business tremendously.
12. Invite people personally
Although most people are busy with their lives, some still have the time to think about the welfare of their bodies and emotions. Speak to everyone you know about your yoga class. Don’t be a walking infomercial (that can be annoying), but don’t be afraid to slip it into conversations either.
Tell your neighbour. Speak to your hairdresser. Mention it when you take your dog to the vet. You’d be surprised how well it works.
13. Use word of mouth
You’re not the only one who can talk to friends and family about your yoga classes. Your students will probably also mention it at some point. Why not use your students to help spread the word? They probably have friends with similar interests too.
You will find no better brand ambassador than someone who’s tried your yoga classes personally. They will be the best advertising money can’t buy. Feel free to help them bring their friends along by giving them an incentive. Offer their friends a discount for having come over.
14. Endavour to Get repeat business
To be frank with you, repeat business is what actually grows a business. Do your best to nurture the relationship you have with your current students. Try to become their friend and trusted adviser. Ask them about their other interests so you get to know them better.
Not only will you all have a better time, but your yoga classes will feel less like a business transaction. Finally, you’ll also discover new subjects you can write about in your blog. Maybe your classes have helped your students in other areas of their lives.
There are lots of marketing techniques available to brand your business but still a word of mouth is always important to improve the network wing. Provide quality service, so that clients would recommend your yoga studio to other people. They may also provide positive feedback and ratings. In yoga studio management, “word of mouth” opinion counts a lot in achieving repeat business.
15. Hire Great Teachers and Promote Them
A business is only as good as its staff, and this is equally true for yoga studios. Someone may be a qualified yoga instructor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their style of teaching yoga will be aligned with your brand. This is something you need to be sure of during the hiring process, and when you decide on the structure of your yoga brand’s values.
If you get your teacher hiring process right, you won’t need to worry about instructors taking clients with them when they leave. You’re likely a great yoga teacher yourself, and hopefully, you have some equally skilled instructors teaching your classes. So promote them!
Social media is an excellent platform for this type of marketing. Use it as an opportunity to create mini-profiles on your staff to add a personal touch to your social content and build communities. Share snippets of them teaching to inspire more potential yogis to try a class. Have your teachers link through to your studio’s profile on their accounts, as well.
16. Become a yoga advisor
Yet another way you can increase patronage at your yoga studio is to become a yoga advisor. As a yoga advisor, you need to provide guidance for the students in choosing the right yoga classes to choose their individual needs and goals.
Timely guidance can help in resolving the complex problems. Give assistance that helps the clients to figure out where to start their journey into yoga and to answer any questions about the different types of classes, memberships and studio facilities.
17. Conduct events regularly
Events are another way to keep up the buzz about your yoga studio. These events can come in various forms and can be both online and offline. Hosting your event at a studio gets you audience automatically. Since the studio has a vested interest in the event doing well, they will help to promote it using their own newsletters and media channels. Create event listings on Facebook and make flyers, these are all ways to promote both yourself and the studio.