Question

Topic: Strategy

Ways To Advertise For Martial Arts School?

Posted by Anonymous on 6/24/2012 at 1:52 PM ET 250 Points
I am a very young advertising assistant for the martial arts dojo of my instructor, with whom I began taking classes with at the YMCA three years ago. Ever since he decided to open his own dojo, we have not been getting many students. We started out sharing a building with a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school and were not very successful. My instructor (who teaches a combination of traditional Japanese styles, which he founded) had three students, myself included, for the majority of that time. His business partner (who teaches Kung Fu and Tai Chi) had four or five students. We decided to hold class in a public park for the summer to raise money for a new location. This has not gone well so far; my instructor has not gained any students, and seems close to losing two of them, and his business partner lost all of his students except for two. Because I do not want to be the only student in class, I offered to help with advertising, although I can not do much because I am about sixteen years old. I have tried talking to my friends to get them interested, posting flyers in local businesses, posting ads on local facebook pages, and nothing seems to be working. This week I will be working with the owner on new marketing ideas. I need suggestions desperately. Please help if you can.
Additional details:
Both classes involve Asian culture and modern fighting tactics.
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My instructor's business partner has a strong personality; people either like or dislike him immediately. Though he has never taken my instructor's class, he is used as a sort of assistant instructor, and often integrates his martial arts style with our's. This could be driving away the people who prefer my instructor's teaching style over his.
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As I mentioned before, I am very young. My instructor needs to approve every type of advertising I do, but he works two jobs and has very little time. He also does not want to take great risks as far as money.
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We are a traditional dojo. We do not go to a lot of tournaments or do olympic style sparring. We also do not have contracts or a "black belt guarentee."
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Our classes are $75 per month, with three one-hour classes a week. Classes take place in an area with many tournament taekwondo or MMA schools, but no other traditional dojo.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by mgoodman on 6/24/2012 at 2:21 PM Moderator
    There are several problems that jump out of your description of what you want to do.

    First, most of what you say is about YOU and your instructor, and what YOU do. Marketing is really about your target audience and what THEY need. People buy benefits (for themselves). You need to define the benefit you're offering ... not just classes in martial arts, but how their lives will be better if they take those classes.

    Second, if you don't market the dojo aggressively then nobody will know it exists. If there's no money to do a good job of marketing, then you'll get what you pay for -- not much. Either the instructor needs to get serious about marketing the business, or he should save his money and find something else to do.

    It also looks like your pricing is very low. It's hard to make any money when you don't charge enough to cover expenses (including marketing). Since the price you charge is a direct reflection of what you think the service is worth, the low price immediately communicates that even you don't think it's worth much.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 6/24/2012 at 5:12 PM Member
    Dear kawaiikuno1,

    Great advice above from Michael.

    To bring in new members you need to review the message you're putting out there. It's NOT bout the dojo, it's about the members and what's in it for them. So stop selling martial arts and start selling a community that's about its members.

    Your primary benefits need to speak to the desired outcomes of potential students: you cannot address your message to just one kind of student and expect to succeed. Multiple market segments will bring you multiple streams of revenue.

    Although you may be "selling" martial arts training, many of your potential students may be looking for basic self defense classes, or for self esteem, or for varying degrees of physical fitness, or for meditation and chi focusing. I've found each of these to be a practical benefit of studying martial arts because I've done a little bit of training in Kung Fu and Tai Chi.

    To many people, martial arts training is all about learning how to beat the crap out of multiple attackers. By offering lower impact, less aggressive classes that are a better match to people's overall abilities, you'll appeal to a wider audience.

    All over South East Asia you'll find groups of seniors doing Tai Chi in the open air. Why not offer Tai Chi classes to seniors and then tack elements of martial arts onto these classes as logical progressions of the moves in Tai Chi?

    Study and practice of Tai Chi leads to better physical stamina, it improves sleep, and it is low impact. Why not start off by offering these benefits to potential students and then branch out from there, building people's interests in further areas of martial arts training as you go. Word of mouth marketing will then help you bring in more students.

    Consider tacking your message on to current events and news items. Instead of charging per class, charge per package, all payable upfront. I agree with Michael on the issue of the instructor coming forward and investing in messaging. Either he's willing to invest or he's not. The more marketing is seen as an expense and not an investment, and the less the message is about the benefits to potential students and more about the school, the fewer sign-ups you'll bring in.

    It's time to step up, center your attention, focus your Chi, and aim your marketing blow six inches the other side of the target of bringing in new students.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/24/2012 at 8:34 PM Accepted
    How are the other martial arts schools doing in your area? Are their class sizes similarly small? Over the years, the bread-and-butter of most dojos have been after-school classes for children. Dojos additionally charge for each belt testing, new belts, etc.

    Most people don't really know the difference between various styles of martial arts, except what they see depicted in movies. And even so, most people don't understand the underlying benefits of short-term training and long-term dedication to the study of their art. Ultimately, what's your sensei's dream dojo - a community of adults practicing 2-3x/week, a group of seniors improving their balance, a group of people who help their community by showing how martial arts "grounds" them, etc.?

    Is your instructor better suited for teaching beginners or advanced students? Teachers generally gravitate to teaching fundamentals (which can be refined over the years) or complex sequences (either form or function). Whatever your teacher's specialty, the message needs to attract those types of students. Most students aren't interested in function (the "martial" part of "martial arts"). Most are interested in dance-like movements that make them feel better.
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