WHAT IF MY MARKETING ISN'T WORKING? DOES THAT MEAN IT SUCKS?
SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't suck!
Yesterday I went to this great martial arts school near my house. I go every Wednesday now to meet with a few local school owners. They're all technically in competition with each other, but they love to put that aside to just talk about what everyone is doing. (THIS IS SOMETHING I'LL TALK ABOUT IN ANOTHER POST SOON: HOW COOL IT IS TO FORM WEEKLY MASTER SESSIONS WITH OTHER LOCAL SCHOOLS) We talk about..How's your month looking? How many new students are you getting? And most importantly for this post…how is your marketing doing?
For the purpose of simplicity let's stick to printed marketing materials for now. We'll talk again soon about the importance of Social Media marketing, but a Martial School is a local business…the old school marketing tactics still apply to you. You need to get your name out there every single day in every way possible.
LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING:
- WHERE DO I START WITH LOCAL MARKETING?
In this scenario we're assuming you already have an awesome looking school. You have your sign lit up all day, schedules are printed, your pro-shop is stocked.
You need to start where everyone starts. You need flyers. You need business cards. You need mailers. We can help you with all of that of course. Our designs have been tested and are proven to work. They are printed on high-quality, beautiful full-color card stock with your school's info and your SPECIAL OFFER and CALL TO ACTION.
You can make your own and that's totally fine! Just get them in your hands…and then what?
- HOW DO I GET THESE IN THE HANDS OF PEOPLE IN MY
NEIGHBORHOOD?
You pass them out! This is the easy part. If you order 5000 Rack Cards there is no reason you should still have any left after a few weeks. You go to every single local business in your town and ask if you can put 50 down. This is a great way to form relationships with other local business owners. You can all help each other out, and you should!
Go to every local school and ask if they can pass them out to students. Go to the mall and pass them out to everyone walking by. Walk around your neighborhood and leave one on every car.
Every day is an opportunity to reach hundreds of potential new students. You just need to do the work.
- IT'S NOT WORKING! MY MARKETING MUST SUCK!
Okay. So a few businesses said they won't allow you to put your cards on their counter. Maybe the local elementary school said to change it and come back again. Maybe you didn't get any new sign ups this month!
You're marketing must suck! Nope. It's time to try again and again and again and again.
You're getting your name out there and that's the most important thing. This is a process and you need to be a part of it. We don't give up. We keep going until it works.
- CALM DOWN! LET'S FIX IT:
It's just not working. That's fine. Let's fix it! Maybe you need to re-think the marketing for your town. Are you pushing your adult BJJ classes when you have three thriving elementary schools? It's time to promote kid's parties.
Is your print not working at all? Maybe it's time for a new website or some Facebook marketing. We can help you with those things.
The idea is: your marketing does not suck…it just hasn't worked yet. It's time to work hard and make it work.