Six Ways To Encourage Students to Register for Dance Class in the New Year
The start of a new calendar year often spurs people to try a new activity, start a new exercise program, or put their children into new activities during the long winter months. So how do you get them to take action and register for classes now so that you can feel confident going into a new year and that your classes will be full? Here are a few tips:
1. Host a Parent's Night Out or New Year's Eve Party
Let families get some much-needed time to shop and tackle errands while providing fun dance party! Schedule a couple hours and provide a safe place for children to dance and be creative with arts and crafts (our coloring pages are a perfect activity). Parents will enjoy knowing their children are safe and entertained and the teens and younger students will love having a fun place to spend party! Don't forget the glow sticks, black lights and a disco ball! Best of all, this type of event always encourages January sign-ups so be sure to follow up with new leads.
2. Give The Gift of Dance
Allow family and friends to give more than just a present this holiday season. Let them gift an experience! Provide gift cards, certificates, or packages on your website so grandparents and family members can easily purchase the gift of dance!
Note: If you have certain classes that do not allow for enrollment past a certain date consider an expiration date such as the end of January. This also creates a sense of urgency.
3. Make Payments Flexible and Easy
After the holidays people are usually cutting back on their spending. You can increase your odds for people saying yes if they know they can use their credit cards to pay for classes. People enjoy using their cards especially if they get reward points for spending or if it means spreading out payments on their terms. Making it easy for people to do business with you by accepting credit cards will pay off! Increase your tuition by a small percentage to cover the fees. If you don't have a merchant account you can easily get set up with Venmo or Square.
4. Try Fitness Classes
As you know, a holiday season full of parties with delicious food creates fitness-related New Year's resolutions. If you're not offering adult fitness classes, considering adding some to your schedule. Or be creative and offer classes specifically geared to your teens.
5. Ask Current Students to Spread the Word
Asking for a referral is a low-cost, easy to implement marketing tool. Encourage your existing students and dance families to recommend your dance studio. You can offer incentives or a contest for referrals. Get creative! Make sure you have a way to track referrals, such as a field on your online registration form that asks, “How did you hear about our dance studio?”
6. Encourage Positive Reviews
Studies show that 90% of people check out reviews before they visit a business, and nearly 75% say positive reviews increase their trust in a business. Positive reviews can help grow your dance studio but we tend to hold back from asking. Ask for positive reviews each time you send an email or hear a postive comment from your families.
Consistency is KEY!
Remember, as a dance studio owner a consistent marketing schedule will help you grow your business by having a steady flow of new and returning students.
People will come and go, gain and lose interest: this is part of the business. You have an opportunity with a new calendar year to invite new students to come in, host an event, make payments easy and flexible, and offer incentives. and ask for help to spread the word.
Always be inviting! You don't want to let your potential client off the phone or away from your website without extending some kind of invitation. Welcome them to come in and take a trial class or to visit your studio. Give them specific dates that would be preferable; give them the days and times of the class they may want to try or invite them to drop by when something exciting, such as a dress rehearsal, is occurring. This will allow them to mark a date in the calendar and will further guarantee that they make an effort to visit your studio.
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Thank you for a great webinar! It's good to know that we're all feeling the same, no matter where we are in the world. Thanks so much x I cannot tell you enough how good it feels to connect with someone who's willing to look at the truth of the situation with humor and cautious optimism... I definitely needed a lot of that advice, but more important, I needed to hear it from two badass, empowered women. Thank you, the webinar has definitely given me some motivation to put some work and time in to plan our new normal in the studio. Thank you so much for today. Lots of great ideas. Thank you!
