|
|
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
|
02-01-2011, 05:08 AM
|
#1
|
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 22
Offline
|
Successful Dojo Advertising?
Which advertising strategies have been the most successful in attracting people to your dojo? I am interested in hearing which advertising strategies, electronic, web-based & traditional have seen the greatest number of people actually stepping on to your tatami. I accept that once on the mat different forces come in to play. It seems to me that a great number of fantastic instructors have very poor attendance and very few drop ins. Therefore aikido may well benefit from a more professional approach to advertising and client base interaction.
|
|
|
|
02-01-2011, 10:36 AM
|
#2
|
Location: Left Coast
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,339
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Our community has a "recreation guide" it publishes three times yearly that goes to every household. Prospective members can sign up for a limited number of beginner's classes through the city rec dept w/o actually "joining" the dojo and I believe the majority of both our kids and adult new students come via this.
|
Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
|
|
|
02-02-2011, 12:37 AM
|
#3
|
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 22
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Thank you that is great advice. I will get on to the local community papers to see what process is for placing an advert.
Does that mean you don't get much effect from your website?
|
|
|
|
02-02-2011, 07:31 AM
|
#4
|
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,476
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
We ran an ad in the local shoppers guide for years. We also did demos and workshops and taught at local colleges. Our kids class brought in some adults. Flyers are good; cheap and easy to distribute. Now we just use our website and word of mouth.
Mary
|
|
|
|
02-02-2011, 08:39 AM
|
#5
|
Location: Left Coast
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,339
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Quote:
Paul Finn wrote:
Does that mean you don't get much effect from your website?
|
Well this is a rural area - when I trained on a big city there were many dojos to chose from and there was a larger pop. of folks accustomed to doing comparison searching online - in that setting the website DID bring folks in.
|
Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
|
|
|
02-02-2011, 02:41 PM
|
#6
|
Dojo: Integral Dojo
Location: Tel Aviv
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 41
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
one of the cool things i learned at my last dojo was to involve the dojo members in distributing the flyers. We had a list of all the places to bring flyers and people would put their name by the ones they agreed to put flyers up at.
I always enjoyed it because I like having new people come in and see what we are about, so I never felt like I was being taken advantage of or anything- and it wasn't forced on me, merely suggested.
|
|
|
|
02-02-2011, 03:31 PM
|
#7
|
Dojo: Brisbane Aikido Republic
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 298
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Attracting members is one thing, keeping them quite another. Things I've learnt are different strategies work better in different places - if you can ask around your local network you might save some time. demos, leaflets and local newspaper ads seem to be highly suspectable to location - web seems to be a no brainer and web 2.0 the one to watch
Also the general public are not very discerning, so if your hiding your light under the traditional bush (i.e. being modest and not self promoting) its not what the 'market' responds to.
Retention sees only a small percentage of walk-ins actually stick around long enough to become serious, coping with this churn is difficult.
Critical mass - i.e. enough students on the mat to create a 'vibe' is essential to improving retention.
I have some stats, based on 10yrs of students I published on the forum before - if there is intrest i'll dig out the link
best,
dan
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 11:44 AM
|
#8
|
Dojo: Integral Dojo
Location: Tel Aviv
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 41
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Hey Dan! I'd love to read your article and learn from your experience.
Thanks!
Zach
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 01:10 PM
|
#9
|
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 22
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Dan,
I'd be very interested to hear your stats.
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 01:55 PM
|
#10
|
Location: Indianapolis
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 165
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
I recall reading Dan's stats before and found them to be a bit disheartening.
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 05:46 PM
|
#11
|
Dojo: Brisbane Aikido Republic
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 298
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Here is the link to some articles/stats maybe of intrest
http://www.aikidorepublic.com/aikido...ikido-students
unfortunately yes the stats are sobering, but they are for a large dojo in a large town with a mobile population (uni students) who choose between lots of activities. Friends that run small dojo in small towns can be a bit different so YMMV - its a bench market of sorts only
best,
dan
|
|
|
|
02-03-2011, 09:18 PM
|
#12
|
Location: Columbus, MS
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 17
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
We're a university dojo -- the best results we've had have been with flyers posted at the beginning of the fall semester, before students get busy. Demonstrations get people in well, but it's harder to get those organized.
|
|
|
|
02-04-2011, 07:14 AM
|
#13
|
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,476
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Don't let the stats discourage you. We live in a small town in a lightly populated county. There is another Aikido dojo in town. If we listened to stats we wouldn't have bothered. 24 years later we are still here.
"Gorilla marketing" is a great book about how to market on a shoestring budget.
Mary
|
|
|
|
02-04-2011, 08:39 AM
|
#14
|
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Here's another thought: who are the potential students? I expect it varies a lot from place to place, and thus, the best medium to reach them is going to change too. Also, who are the potential keepers -- and do you really want to bring in students who are just going to raise your churn ratio and who aren't going to be keepers (even in a limited sense, such as university students who will almost certainly be moving on in a few years but who may train with dedication while they're here)?
|
|
|
|
02-12-2019, 10:01 AM
|
#15
|
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,476
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Hmm I wonder how marketing has changed in our new age. Any ideas?
|
|
|
|
02-19-2019, 07:53 AM
|
#16
|
Dojo: Atlanta School of Aikido
Location: Atlanta, GA
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 387
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Has anyone had any success with 'Yelp'? They hound me regularly, but I have tried pay per click and it was a nerds fantasy, lots of clicks, but no one showed up.
I told them I would pay them a months dues for anyone they get to show up and try the class - but that is not their revenue model - I refuse to participate in the science experiment, where they get paid and no one shows up.....
|
|
|
|
02-19-2019, 08:40 AM
|
#17
|
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
Offline
|
Re: Successful Dojo Advertising?
Quote:
Larry Feldman wrote:
Has anyone had any success with 'Yelp'? They hound me regularly, but I have tried pay per click and it was a nerds fantasy, lots of clicks, but no one showed up.
I told them I would pay them a months dues for anyone they get to show up and try the class - but that is not their revenue model - I refuse to participate in the science experiment, where they get paid and no one shows up.....
|
I'd stay far away from Yelp, but that's just me. I've heard the usual shady things about them, plus martial arts is pretty far from their usual restaurant-and-bar line of businesses.
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:23 AM.
|
vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
|
|