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Pilates Business Podcast
Lead Generation Strategies: How to Attract More Clients into Your Boutique Fitness Studio
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Sarah Glanfield
If your studio relies on word of mouth and maybe the occasional social media post to bring in new clients, we need to talk. Because let's be honest, just crossing your fingers and hoping that new people walk through the door is not a strategy. It's more of a gamble. And that's why in today's episode, I'm diving into lead generation. This is the engine that really fuels your studio's growth. And I'm going to be sharing some of the biggest mistakes that I see studio owners making when it comes to trying to get new clients in the doors, why your marketing might not be working as well as you'd like and what you should be doing instead. And if you're thinking, I've tried everything and nothing's working, don't worry, I've got you. Let's dive in. Well, hi there. I'm Sarah Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset, and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio. This is the Pilates Business podcast. Well, hey there and welcome back to to another episode of the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Sarah Glanfield and if you're new here, welcome. I'm so glad you're listening in. This is the podcast where we talk about all things business and marketing for boutique fitness studio owners like you. This is our 210th episode, you guys, so if you want to learn, then I suggest you go back and have a little listening to some of the prior episodes. Because I talk about everything from pricing to productivity to organization to hiring, leading, management, and everything in between. The thing I don't talk about is teaching, because that is your expertise. That is where you know what you are doing right there and then. But business side and marketing side is often where there are some gaps. And this is a, a world that is evolving rapidly. Our industry is changing constantly and what worked just even two or three years ago is very, very different to what we're seeing working today. And I've been coaching and consulting the studio owners since 2013, so a long, long time. And I've seen how the studio business has really evolved over that time, how the industry has shifted and evolved over that time. And I think there's this tremendous amount of opportunity in our industry today. But it does mean that you need to be a little bit more sophisticated, often from a business and marketing perspective. And today we're talking about something that truly is paramount to the success of your business, and that is lead generation. Because the thing is, is that if you do not have a steady stream of new people coming into your studio, then your growth will always feel like a bit of an uphill battle. You can have the best classes, yes, the most dedicated instructors, the most beautiful studio, but without a reliable system, a reliable way to attract new clients, you're going to find that growth is slow, perhaps unpredictable, and most importantly for you, something I want you to avoid feeling, which is a feeling of complete frustration. So I get it. And, and many studio owners will tell me, you know, I'm. I'm posting to social media as much as I can, but I don't think it's working. Or people say, you know, I feel like I'm constantly marketing, I feel like I'm constantly doing something, but it's not really working. Or I hear studio owners tell me that their clients love their studio, but despite that, they are still struggling to fill their classes and to fill their schedule. And if that is something that is familiar to you, then you know, know that it's not you. But it might be that we need to perhaps spring clean a little bit the marketing strategies and tactics and tools that you are. Because what we know is that there are some tactics that are outdated. The changes and the rapid changes in our, not just marketing tools, but the way that people purchase what they're looking for, when they purchase has just shifted tremendously and has shifted multiple times very quickly in the last few years especially. But also as a studio owner, I know that you are probably spread quite thin and you may be just trying to get by and do as much as you can, but there may not be a true strategy to it. Or, you know, there are some things that I see studio owners doing that actually ultimately repel clients, which is not what we want at all. So today I'm going to break it down and I'm going to walk you through a little bit more about what lead generation is and what it means for your business. I'm going to talk about some of the biggest challenges and the mistakes that I see studio owners making, and then I want to share with you some of the smarter strategies that actually work. Now, of course, inside Thrive, I take my studio step by step through that exact process of building out a marketing system, one that truly is designed to bring in that very consistent, steady stream of clients. Because this is such a fundamental part of growing a successful business. And I'll add that every studio has a slightly different plan because every studio is different and every studio owner you listening, your skills and talents and interests and goals and resources are all different to the next studio owner and teachers. So we need a plan that works specifically for you. So let's talk a little bit about why this is such a critical focus point for you as a business owner, especially if you're looking to, to, to grow. Maybe, maybe you want to grow rapidly, maybe you want to grow more organically. Either way, lead generation is, is critical to your studio's growth because number one, it doesn't matter how good of a teacher you are or how fabulous your clients are or how fabulous your you are as a teacher. Client churn is real. So even if you have a solid client base, people do move, you know, schedules do change and life does happen. And so what that means is that if you aren't actively bringing people into your business on a regular basis, your studio will start to plateau in terms of growth and revenue or perhaps even worse, decline. And if you're not investing in your marketing efforts, we also see start to see some gaps appear on the schedule. And when that happens, you know, it often is, we may, it may take a little bit of extra effort to fill those gaps on the schedule at that time. So we want to be consistent with our lead generation. Now what we also know is that not everybody who learns about your business, who sees your studio signage on the street, who drives by, who hears about you, is going to become a client. But the more that you interact with your community, the more leads that you generate, the more chances you have of converting them into long term members. So we want to make sure that we are being active about visibility and about acquisition. Then I think the big, most important reason why I'm a big fan of doing this on a very consistent basis is because for me to be able to give to you a, to support you in building, I should say, and gift to you some strategies that work to grow your business. I also want to take away some of the stress and overwhelm and scrambling and hustling that often comes with running any business. And so when you've got a steady pipeline of new clients, you can feel very confident that you will always have the opportunity to grow. And so we want to think of lead generation a bit like watering a plant. If you stop watering it, it doesn't do so well. It starts to wilt, right? And eventually will kind of wilt a little bit more and start to, the leaves will start to brown. Sadly, many of my plants do look like that. But that's because I'm here with you talking about this. And so I know too well that when you then try to over water to perhaps fix the problem, it doesn't work quite as well as you might like. And so it really is about consistency in terms of focus when it comes to lead generation and client acquisition. And so there's a few mistakes I do see studio owners making, and these aren't bad mistakes. These aren't necessarily things that you should stop doing completely. But what I, the first one I do want to highlight as I think a more traditional approach to getting new clients, and that is word of mouth. Now, I think word of mouth is a phenomenal tool in your marketing toolkit. If your clients speak highly of you to their friends and refer people to you, this is a wonderful thing and only a good thing for your business. However, it does leave you out of control of your growth because you're waiting for clients to bring in their friends, and so you're leaving that growth up to chance. Now, there's many things you can do to encourage word of mouth and referrals, right? But if you're not doing any of those things and you're relying on your clients to just perhaps, whenever they feel like it, have that conversation with their friends, then it is not a strategy. And so we can't rely on word of mouth as a marketing strategy. It's a really nice thing to have and obviously is a, a huge compliment to you and your business for sure. And yes, they often are the best clients, but word of mouth alone is not a strategy. The second thing I see many studio owners mistakes that they make is inconsistent marketing, which is, you know, we see this happen because, like, we know life happens where things come up where, you know, you, you're dealing with these fires that happen in the studio that you need to put out and only you can. And so one week you may start out really strong and feeling really good about your marketing and you are consistent with it. And then the next week, oh, boy, you know, lots happen. You're, you're subbing classes, you're, you're dealing with some rent issue, perhaps with your landlord, or, you know, if you're not consistent with your marketing, it doesn't build that momentum. And so what we know is that people need to see and hear about you, perhaps not just multiple times, but in multiple different ways before they take action. Now, the third mistake I See studio owners making quite frequently in their marketing when they do market. And this is really common, actually. And, and so I always want to applaud you for marketing your business and putting yourself out there. It's a good thing. But when you're marketing and you're talking only about the features of what you do, so that means that you're talking about how long your classes are, what equipment you have, where you're located. These are things you offer in your business. Right? We have reformer classes, or we have got barre and yoga and strength. And, you know, these are features of what your business does. But what we know is that your clients come to you looking for something more. They're looking for an experience or they're looking for a change. And so we want to shift the focus of our marketing to, yes, there are some things we absolutely have to inform our clients about, like the length of a class, but we also want to highlight to them the impact of your work on their lives. So how does a client feel when they come into your class versus how they feel when they leave? What change or impact should they expect when they've been working with you for, say, six weeks or six months? How will they feel after their class? Will they feel alive and energized and ready for the day? And these are the sorts of things that are often left out of marketing materials and marketing content that actually has a far more significant impact on encouraging people to take action to book a class. And this is what we really want with our marketing. We want people to take action and book a class. We need to shift from talking about features and instead focus on the benefits and the outcomes. And finally, in addition to that, when I often see folks marketing their business on their studio, sometimes on social media or email, and outside of the studio, inside of the community, I also see that there is no call to action. And this is really important. And it's such a tiny detail. You know, it really is just that that you click this button to book now or why don't you come and take an introductory session with us is all it takes. And if that next step isn't there, guiding them forward, then they will simply move on without even considering taking an action. The more encouraging you can be about guiding your clients forward, the better it will be for your business. Now, these are really common mistakes, and I would say that pretty much 99% of studio owners will, will, will do one or more of these, which is not a big deal. It means that, guess what, there is an opportunity here for us to Do a little bit better. And that is a very positive thing because if there was none, we would be in real trouble. Right. So if you are thinking, oh gosh, yes, I am a bit inconsistent, or maybe I do focus a little bit too much on the features and not the benefits, then don't worry. Let's talk about how to fix it right now. So let's talk a little bit about some of the strategies that we want to make sure that you are doing in your business. And so I mentioned earlier that call to action, that next step. And so the first thing you certainly want to to do is you want to be able to offer them that first step in your business. Offer them something that is interesting for them, it's exciting for them as they're considering becoming your client. That makes it a very easy. Yes. So for many of you that is going to be a, an introductory offer. And this introductory offer should be something that it is sort of a, sort of an independent in between step between them, where they're at right now and them becoming that loyal long term client. And ideally, you designed the experience in your studio for your new clients so that they are guided throughout those early days in the in as part of their journey in your business so that you can guide them forward and manage their expectations and really have the opportunity to showcase what it is you're all about. Because what I know from working with so many studio owners is once you have them into this in the studio, they are all in, right? They know, you know that what you do works. You know that you can help them feel better in their bodies and their lives and feel stronger and confident, all of those things. And so what we want to make sure we're doing is we want to make sure that we're giving them something very easy to say yes to. And that is that very first thing that they buy from you as part of their customer journey. The second thing is you absolutely need to optimize your website. Your website is like the front door, the digital front door to your studio and you should be designing it for new clients. So you want to make sure that your website, it conveys very clearly and articulates the value of what you do in your business. It showcases your brand messaging, what you're all about, who you are, who you're for. And then you want to make sure you've got that very clear call to action. Okay? So optimizing your website for conversions is a really important part of your marketing strategy overall. And this is something that you don't have to do every single week. It sort of can help you for years, but you do certainly want to review it on a regular basis. So if it's been a little while since you had a bit of a website audit, um, then I encourage you to do that. This is something that we do inside of Thrive for our studio owners and as we work through their marketing intensive work, um, and this is really powerful. They can be small tweaks that can have really profound impact on the conversion for their, on for their, for their website. The third strategy is going to be local SEO. And that means that you want to make sure that your website, but also all of the profiles for say Google Business and Apple Business are up to date and relevant to what you do and your local community. So you want, certainly want to spend some time and again, this is not necessarily something you need to do every day, but you want to make sure that when people Google Pilates near me, your studio is showing up. And that is linked to the way that you set up your website for SEO on the back end as well as what the copy that you put on your, on your site. But there is also the, this little thing called Google Business Profile which is where you go to add your business to show up on the Google Maps. This is also where you can share more information about your business, people can add reviews and so on. And as much as you can optimize that profile, the better you positioned you will be for showing up in search. And when you do it well, it also helps you to perhaps avoid the need to spend money on digital advertising. Right? And that's kind of helpful because that is money back in your pocket. So a huge difference for your business is when you start to think about your local SEO, how you're showing up online and then making sure that that next step on your website is really, really clear and powerful. Now the other strategy that I would recommend to everyone, regardless of the stage of business and size of business, is that you have a follow up process in place to keep in touch with anyone who has expressed an interest in working with you or joining your classes. And so that means that there are some people who may come along and make an account in your booking software and then never book a class. Or there may be someone who reaches out to you and sends you an email and then you never hear back. Or there may be someone who calls the studio and you let them know about what to do next and where to book and so on, and then they never come in. And what we want to make sure we're doing at this stage of the customer journey where someone has actually reached out to you and expressed an interest in being your client is that we are being so proactive about guiding them forward that there is no way that they can simply perhaps forget about it or put it on their to do list and it's still there three months later. Right. So that means that you want to have a follow up process in place and inside of Thrive and the marketing intensive. I take the studio owners inside step by step through exactly how I recommend you reach out and stay connected with people who are what we would say, perhaps warm as a, as a, as a lead, but perhaps aren't quite ready to take the next step. And usually what is needed is a little bit of encouragement, but also some very specific information that may be missing from your marketing messaging at that moment. So we certainly want to make sure that you're nurturing those leads early in that customer journey and so you're not losing them through, you know, perhaps just some gaps in your communication. And then finally, from time to time throughout the year, but perhaps not all year round, it can be really helpful to run some promotions. And a promotion doesn't necessarily mean a discount, but it does mean that you are creating an opportunity to perhaps connect with new clients to drive interest in your business. And this can look like anything from a challenge to an open house to a collaboration or even a new client special. And when you do something like this, what it does is it creates a lot of buzz for you in your studio, but also gives you something to share with folks outside of the studio. So perhaps those people who are on the fence will actually make the jump and make the leap and book and come and try a class. And then with your amazing experience that you offer in the studio, with the fantastic teaching that you have and those follow up processes in place, you will have a fabulous new client on your hands who will stay with you for a long, long time. So let's recap. Lead generation, yes, is absolutely fundamental, essential for keeping your studio growing and thriving. And you know, we talked a little bit about some of the mistakes that I see studio owners making and that is just to be honest, is relying perhaps overly too much on word of mouth without a bit of strategy behind it, perhaps being inconsistent, which I know we're all guilty of, myself included, it is a challenge, but when we have a kind of a baseline plan in place, it really, really helps. And then maybe not having a sort of a bigger picture strategy for how to talk about your business, how to invite people into the studio and then how to position yourself in your local market. Now, smart strategies like having a well designed introductory offer and new client experience, website optimization and local SEO can really change the game for your studio. These are the exact things that I show you how to do when you join Thrive and the Marketing Intensive. Because yes, you may know all this already, but actually coming to implement it in your business with what you have is going to be unique to you and you're going to have questions and you're going to want some guidance. And so inside Thrive, I walk studio owners just like you through the step by step process of building a marketing plan and a strategy that actually works. We map out ways to create new leads and to acquire new clients in your business in a way that feels good for you. We optimize your brand messaging and then we set up systems so that you do this on a regular basis and you're not constantly scrambling for new clients. So if you're ready to finally have a clear and repeatable system for attracting and converting leads for to finding people who really are the perfect client for your business, then come and join us instead of Thrive. Let's stop relying just on luck alone and start taking control of the growth of your business and really tapping into the opportunity that exists. So you can find out more@spring3.com forward/thrive. I'm going to link to it in the show notes as well. And so if you love this episode, take a quick screenshot, share it on Instagram, tag me saranspring3 and and let me know which of these resonated with you most. Thanks so much for listening. I'll see you on the next episode. Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder. There is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.