10 Ways to Market Your Yoga Studio That Won’t Cost You Any Money

As a successful studio owner, I empathize with the fact that marketing can feel scary and overwhelming. But it doesn't have to if you take it one step at a time.

I’ve owned my yoga studio for over 11 years and have made many mistakes along the way. While I still own and run my own studio, I also work as a yoga studio business consultant. I’ve helped my clients create marketing plans that are strategic, low cost and, most of all, effective.

Being creative with your marketing plan and focusing on one strategy each month will give you the chance to test, adjust, track and plan with focus and grit.

Here are my 10 best tips for marketing your yoga studio: 

1. Make sure your physical signage is visible.

If they can’t find you, they can’t visit.When someone drives or walks past your business, they need to be able to easily see your sign and know it’s a yoga studio. If the name of your studio doesn’t make it obvious that it’s yoga, add the word YOGA to your signage. If you are on a side street, consider adding additional signage like a sandwich board, a corner building sign, or something to help people find you. 
 
Pro tip: This also goes for your website, Google My Business page, and all social media. Add your location, map, parking info, and anything else people need to know to the footer of every page on your website and all your socials. The last thing we want is for a new student to be frustrated when they come to their first class.

2. Update your Google business page often.

Post updates, events and offers every week to your Google My Business listing—it’s free! Google loves it when you keep your listing updated and will serve your business up when people search “yoga near me” more often. Every two weeks, add in your new student offer with a link to purchase and keep it seasonally relevant. Add every event, workshop, retreat, and teacher training you have. Basically, treat your Google My Business page like your social media and keep it up-to-date and relevant. 
 
Pro tip: Utilize the Q&A on your Google business page, keeping in mind that mainly potential new students will be reading it; so, speak to them. You can use the same FAQs you may have on your website and make a reminder on your calendar to check it quarterly to be sure it’s still up to date and valid and that none of your policies have changed.

3. Post a QR code on your front door.

Your QR code should send anyone who walks by your studio to the New Student/Intro Offer page on your website. I use Canva for my graphics and they have a QR code generator that makes creating specific codes and adding them to flyers a piece of cake. 
 
Pro tip: If you have business cards (and you should!), add the same QR code to the back of your business cards.

4. Create an intro offer they can’t refuse.

Be sure that your introductory offer for new clients is a screaming deal and that your conversion funnel to membership is dialed in. Track how many first visits come in from your offer. If it’s less than 70%, then your offer needs adjusting (and probably your drop-in rate does, too). You don’t have to do this math yourself; you can run all of these numbers easily in Mindbody Reports. 
 
Pro tip: Revisit your yoga pricing options often. I advise my consulting clients to only have 4-5 pricing options: Drop-in (it should be so expensive that it feels YUCKY), Intro Offer, 10-class card, and Unlimited Membership. For the 5^th option, use it strategically and don’t post it on your website. Perhaps it’s a mini-membership with 5 classes a month, a limited time sale of a 20-class card, or 6-month membership.

5. Host a free yoga weekend.

I don’t love free stuff as a studio owner and consultant (for example, I advise my clients to just say “no” to first class free—unless you have a very solid sales cadence). However, I do like a very well-planned and executed Free Yoga Weekend. This is a big deal, and not something you do without thoughtful planning; it’s an “all hands on deck” event. Consider adding one of each style of class to the schedule and having specific teachers teach these classes. You will get new people in the door and this a HUGE opportunity to shine and showcase your studio in the best light possible. Before the event, tackle that list of anything you want to do around the studio, like painting, new signs, cleaning, organizing and any other little updates or fixes. 
 
Pro tip: Add this to your marketing plan in the next 6 months but give yourself at least 60 days to plan. Plan your attendance and conversion goals (at least 75%!), and how you’ll make your intro offer is too good to resist. Revisit your Intro to Membership sales sequence and plug any holes, train your teachers or staff, and get ready to rock.

6. Leverage your teachers.

Give each of your teachers a specific and unique promo code to offer to new students to take their first class free. Give new students a free drop-in and then make sure you get them converted to your intro offer before they leave their free class. Be clear about who the code is for (first-time students only) and for how long it’s valid (no more than one month). 
 
Pro tip: Make a social media image for each teacher with their promo code and an example of text to post with promo code redemption details. If you make it easy for your teachers, they will be more likely to post and share. You can even have a little contest to see how many new students you get from teachers by running promotion code reports in Mindbody to see how many of each are redeemed. Consider a special gift or recognition for the teacher who had their promo code redeemed the most.

7. Host a fitness challenge.

Create a 30-day fitness challenge or fitness BINGO for your current members and give them a free sticker or stamp if they bring in a new friend to the studio during the challenge. You may consider gifting your current autopay members a free guest pass to make it easy. 
 
Pro tip: If the guest converts to the intro offer, write a thank you card to the member who invited them and mail it to their home or give it to them personally to express your gratitudefor spreading the word about your studio.

8. Promote your good reviews.

Post a QR code in your studio to your Google and Mindbody reviews page. Take the raving quotes you get from your reviews and use Canva to create social media posts of your them to spread the word.

Pro tip: Thank every person who gives you a review. That personal gratitude will go a long way in encouraging clients to promote your studio.

9. Partner with local influencers.

Identify three people who are current or prospective students who have an active social media following and are your ideal clients. Gift them a few free classes and ask them to share about their experience at your studio taking classes. 
 
Pro tip: Create an ambassador program to encourage repeat promotions in exchange for gifts or free classes. You can make this as formal or as casual as you like.

10. Share your WHY.

Schedule a weekly social media post with the theme “WHY WEDNESDAY.” Keep things simple and answer some of your FAQs in the post, like why yoga is so powerful, why we may end class with Namaste, and why your students are so unique.  
 
Pro Tip: Incorporate your core values into these posts. Be sure to have them visible on your website, in your studio, as part of your onboarding, and posted above your desk.

While every yoga studio strategy is different, marketing is how we share what we love with as many people as possible. Your marketing plans may evolve over time (and they should!), but when you stick to proven techniques that work, you save yourself time and make more profit in the process. I look forward to hearing about your own strategies and experiences. Join me over on Mindbody One and let’s keep the marketing conversation going.