Discover effective strategies for growing your yoga clientele by partnering with local businesses. Learn how to identify the right partnerships, build strong relationships, and leverage mutual benefits to expand your reach and attract new students. Get practical tips and insights from experienced yoga professionals in this comprehensive guide.
We have all been there, waking up motivated in the morning to take on the day while drinking coffee and listening to some upbeat music. But as the day progresses, you hit the morning slump or the afternoon slump. Regardless of the line of your work, this can debilitate your creativity. Creativity can be defined in many ways.
Found a new way to handle a sticky situation with a customer? Creative.
A new way you learn to style your daughter's hair in 5 minutes? Also creative.
Everyone can be productive and creative but unfortunately, desk jobs can hinder your creativity and be unhealthy. Research shows that exercising daily can help in achieving the opposite. Not only exercise and spiritual practices like prayers, meditation, yoga, or reading can also be helpful. Yoga is incredible - it can help people heal, transform, and become their best version. So it comes as no surprise that the yoga industry is booming daily.
You might receive a blank stare when you try to bring up marketing for your yoga studio. Far from a peaceful topic, many yoga trainers struggle with marketing their business while helplessly watching their class sizes shrink. To mention a different perspective, in some cases, the struggle can be purely a mindset issue. Most yoga trainers don’t consider themselves marketers and have no idea of where to start.
Research conducted in 2022 shows that the yoga market has attained a value of $105.9 billion, which is expected to grow to around $177.6 billion by 2028.
Yoga and meditation can provide a retreat to many people from their chaotic and busy lives. Whether practicing bridge pose or cat-cow stretching in the bedroom or in an ashram in India or even in New York City’s Time Square, yoga can provide remarkable mental and physical benefits.
Growing your yoga clientele doesn’t require reinventing the wheel of offering something unseen to blow your client’s mind. Of course, for a business to grow in a crowded marketplace, marketing is a crucial part of the process. Your marketing strategy will attract new clients and retain the old ones.
Yoga Marketing 101
Yoga is a mindful practice that offers several benefits for the mind, body, and general wellness.
The yoga industry alone is worth around $88 billion worldwide and is expected to grow to around $215 billion by 2025.
To build your yoga tribe and grow the business, you need to market your yoga business. Whether you have a yoga retreat or a yoga studio or you’re looking to take your yoga practice to the next digital level, knowing how to market is the key to your success. Understanding yoga marketing can set you apart from competitors rather than being lost in the crowd. Your yoga marketing plan should cover basic questions such as:
Why - your business objectives and goals
Who - target audience
How - marketing channels, activities, and tactics
What - strategies you want to implement
The above is the simplest form of planning when starting a yoga business. Remember these pointers to set a strong foundation for your yoga business.
Yoga Business Plan: Why You Need One
During Covid 19 pandemic, many people took their mats to calm their minds, lift their spirits, and practice yoga. Studies even found that those who practiced yoga and meditation regularly had higher levels of well-being, reducing the chances of depression and other mental issues. It’s not just classes where yoga lovers will invest their money. A huge section of the yoga industry includes apparel, tourism, and equipment. The main goal of your marketing plan should be to attract new registrations and promote the business. And without any proper strategy in place, you can easily waste your efforts and resources. Let’s discuss two main reasons your yoga studio needs a marketing plan.
Stay Competitive
According to a study conducted by IBISWorld, there are around 41,953 yoga studios in the US alone as of 2023 with an increase of 3.4% from 2022.
Your competition! Increasing your marketing efforts is one way to stay competitive in your industry. When starting a yoga business, think about your unique selling point that can solve the problems of your target audience and package it in a compelling way to showcase the value of your services.
Attract New Clients
Your marketing plan details on attracting new clients is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, clients will not walk into your business if you do not influence their decisions. Great marketing doesn’t happen magically. Take the famous Bikram Hot Yoga invented by the renowned yoga guru Bikram Choudary. It’s not like he was recognized and successful in one night, at least not without any brand awareness and reputation. By making strategic decisions, you can put in the resources into the most effective way to grow your yoga clientele.
Building a steady client base is a nightmare for every service-based business. With the right set of ideas and resources, you can kick-start a successful business and grow your yoga clientele. And to help you stir in the right direction, we have curated a few strategies to help you shape a profitable yoga business.
Collaborate With Local Businesses
Establishing a solid brand identity can be the key to growing your yoga clientele. What is it that makes your yoga studio unique? How do you want people to perceive your name? Ask yourself such questions to craft a unique identity for your yoga practice. A sense of acceptance and connection can make you feel less isolated and alone. Look for other businesses in your community you can partner with.
As the owner of a yoga studio, nurturing a community will benefit not only your students but your business as a whole. You can start with cultivating your community with social media, creating Facebook or Instagram handles. Develop spaces where students can connect as well. Building both online and local communities may take time, but it will ultimately support the success of your business while increasing customer reach and word of mouth.
Collaboration Best Practices:
- Make sure the partnership should be of equal benefit to both businesses.
- Don’t construct your pitch as if the business is all about you. Lead with how partnering with you will do best for other companies.
- Make sure the event should be cost-effective.
Develop Your Brand Identity
Owning a yoga business is an exciting opportunity for those passionate about yoga. Start by selecting a name that resonates with your target clientele and helps craft a unique yoga studio identity. This can be further extended with distinct yoga classes, visual elements such as a logo and website, and well-crafted content that showcase who you are and what you offer in your yoga studio. With uniquely tailored classes and experience individual needs, you can attract more students and expand the business.
Create Money-Saving Packages
Who doesn’t like saving money? Selling yoga packages can be a great way to market your yoga studio and increase revenue. Create packages in a way that makes sense for your customers. Instead of selling each session individually, make it cheaper in a whole package, making clients more likely to invest. But don’t let it slip your mind that you have bills to pay. Your services should be priced based on your expertise and time. Consider the low-end and high-end rates in your area. Don’t sell yourself short. Strike with the right prices at the right time.
Start With Organic Social Media Strategy
Because of the wide domain of geographies it can cover, this is the most sought-after idea. And why not? Online presence and social media are the kings of attracting new yoga clientele. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, or YouTube allows you to share content for free while using helpful business tools to expand your yoga business. Embrace these platforms and develop organic digital marketing strategies to leverage the benefits of the yoga business. Traditional ways are no longer a hit in the current digital era. The social media presence of the yoga studio could be a promising idea. A few points to consider
- Develop a strong online presence
- Design content for the yoga industry (including blogs, reels, videos, newsletters, gifs, or polls)
- Leverage search engine marketing
When starting a yoga business, it’s advisable to have accounts on all the platforms but pick only one or two to stay purposefully active. Share helpful tips, student testimonials, motivational content, and services you offer.
Embrace Technology When Starting A Yoga Studio
Management software can help yoga business owners stay organized and efficiently use their time and resources while providing amazing services to their clients. Let us introduce you to a leading cost-effective yoga studio management and scheduling software, Picktime. Using Picktime, you’ll be able to maintain efficient operations and provide better customer service by ensuring everyone has access to all the required information and services they need.
Picktime is a simplified cloud-based yoga appointment scheduling software. Using Picktime, you can manage students, services, and your staff at the same time. With Picktime, you’ll get a customized booking page, a unique URL, with a book now widget for your website. It’s a deviceful software that can be accessed at multiple locations. With Picktime, you have the ability to create classes and appointments, and easily accept an unlimited number of bookings. Plus, you can rely on Picktime to manage payments and invoices for you. You can integrate with your favorite payment gateways - PayPal or Stripe. With Picktime, you’ll get 24Hrs email support and automated SMS & email reminder options to reduce the chances of no-shows and cancellations. Not only this, Picktime lets your users view real-time slot availability so they can book the sessions according to their schedule without you even getting involved.
No extra installations are required and users can also integrate with other business tools, including - GoogleMeet, Zoom, MS Teams, Skype, external calendars (Apple/Google/Outlook), Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and CRMs. Implementing such software can help you run your yoga studio more efficiently and serve members better.
Conclusion
In general, yoga marketing is very visual. A quick Instagram yoga search can return beautiful images of yogis. Whether you’re a freelance yoga instructor or own a successful yoga business, your marketing strategy is the key to the growth and success of your business. With so many businesses competing for attention, it's essential to find ways to stand out from the crowd. You can captivate your audience and take your yoga business to new heights by offering unique classes and community events in warm, inclusive spaces.