Workshops and events are a fun way to show your yoga, meditation or spin studio’s personality, to build a stronger community of likeminded individuals and to increase exposure to potential new members and customers.
But, how can you make sure your events actually generate an ROI for your business?
Incorporate these simple tactics into your events and workshops to garner better results.
Use partnerships to cross-promote and increase awareness
Team up with companies that share the same target demographic as you to share in the promotional efforts and rewards of the event.
For example, if you are a meditation center you could look to partner with a vegan cafe, a mala jewelry designer, a zafu or meditation pillow company and an essential oil artisan. While your audience demographics may not line up perfectly, chances are there is a very strong overlap. This will help get your brand and company exposed to potential new buyers.
Each co-hosting company should equally share in the marketing efforts by posting on social media, emailing their lists and distributing flyers the same amount of of times. In partnerships, it is best practice to clearly lay out expectations and responsibilities early to ensure the success of the partnership and longevity of the relationship.
Offer discounts for bringing a friend
A simple, effective way to boost event revenue and attendance is to offer a price break or discount when more tickets are purchased.
For example, an event attendee could by one ticket for $40 or could buy two tickets for $65.
Let’s face it, most event-goers bring at least one friend. By taking $15 off the two ticket purchase you have now made sure that your event has:
- Generated an additional $30 in revenue
- Increased headcount by at least one
- Raised the likelihood of the news about the event traveling by word of mouth
This pricing strategy is called “bundle pricing,” and it has a very strong psychological effect. In this strategy, the consumer perceives a the pain of spending money less and is convinced they are getting a bargain.
Depending on the anticipated size of your event, you could look to bundle tickets in higher quantities as well.
Capture email addresses during registration to grow your email list
This one may seem a bit obvious, but use your event registration system as an opportunity to expand your email or newsletter list.
In most cases, the system you use to collect event registrations and fees won’t integrate with your email marketing provider, so just make suer to export the final list and attendees and import their information into your email platform.
Create an event or studio hashtag to increase social engagement
Spread awareness of your event before, during and after by encouraging the use of an event specific hashtag or your studio’s hashtag (depending on which you think would be more effective).
For example, you could use #ThirdEyeYoga if that’s your studio’s typical hashtag or create #ThirdEyeYogaFlightWorkshop as an event specific hashtag.
In today’s day and age, most event goers will be posting about your event at some point or another on social media and most social media consumers know to include relevant hashtags for businesses and events, so why not help curate all of those photos together for potential attendees to see.
Tip: make sure to sure your event goers some love by liking, commenting or reposting their photos. It will make them feel noticed, humanizing your brand and building a greater sense of community.
Run a contest on social media to amplify your event’s reach
Another simple way to get news of your event outside of your network and to reach your target audience is to run a content on social media.
You could look to structure the content is many ways, but there are a few key elements you will want to include on each platform to make sure your message is amplified. Those elements could include:
Instagram:
- Tag a friend and like this photo (this is the easiest for your consumers to execute)
- Screenshot and post this image
Twitter:
- Retweet
- Tweet using hashtag #ThirdEyeYogaFlightWorkshop
Facebook:
- Tag a friend
- Share this post
The point here, is to ask your followers to take an action that will make sure your event news and information is shared.
As far as what you giveaway for the contest, pick what makes sense for your business. Some ideas could include: a free pair of tickets to the event, a free class to your studio, a sample of your product, a gift bag of products that will be at the event, etc.
Send a post-event email to draw attendees back to your studio
At the conclusion of your event, it’s highly likely that your guests are going to leave on a high vibration from the new friends they made, memories they created and experiences they had.
Extend this positive feeling by sending a post-event email. This email should have three goals:
- Thank them for coming and include any photos or recaps of the event: relive the event and remind event-goers how fun it was!
- Invite them back to your studio with an offer: now that they’ve had a glimpse, use this opportunity to invite them back to your studio by offering a discount on classes, memberships or future events
- Fill them in on any other news about your business: this is a great spot to include an upcoming workshop or event calendar, new class or teacher announcements, or to share any other general information about your business
Apply some or all of these strategies to your events, and we’re sure you’ll be able to continue to grow your business!
Need help building an event strategy or producing your event?
Check out our event + experiential marketing capabilities.
AH+M Strategic Consulting 