Defining Your Martial Arts Business Marketing Strategy

The way your business will survive is by selling the goods and services you offer. marketing them is the key to success.  That’s why a plan setting out just what your sales goals are is so important.

The first of these steps on how to create your own martial arts business marketing strategy is your image and the image of your school, those we have discussed in brief in the previous topic.  Second, is creation of an interesting advertising campaign or creation of a locally sponsored event.  These can work wonders for you and need not be done lavishly, exceeding your budget.

 Organizing your abilities into doable goals is vitally important.  Doing that let’s you forecast opportunities and trends, and can make you leader in your area.

HOW DOES DEFINING YOUR MARTIAL ARTS BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY HELP YOUR BUSINESS?

1. It allows you to keep easily organized information about your operation, your potential market and the competition.  And it keeps that information current.

 2. It provides that all your business functions, selling, buying, advertising, credit, customer service – work together.

3. It forces you to set goals and deadlines, and use specific strategies.

4. Most importantly, it takes those ideas out of your head and puts them into writing.

WHAT TO INCLUDE?

1. review your operations position, the marketplace, and problems and opportunities.

2. List your recent past in terms of-.

* Total and monthly dollar sales.

* Total expenses.

Percent of sales for personal selling, promotion, advertising, publicity, and other communication.

3. Key characteristics of your market:

* Your typical customer.

* Your customers’ attitudes and motivations.

* Potential customers.

4. What your offering:

* The quality of what you sell.

* How you present your business.

* Support services you offer your customers.

Your prices, service charges, allowances or promotional incentives.

5. Sales techniques:

* How much help do you give your customers.

* What kind of training do you give your sales staff.

* The cost of training your personnel.

What incentives do you offer for staff members and for those offering top customer help.

6. How do you promote your products and services:

* What promotions have you tried.

* Cooperative events, specials, sales or other promotions.

7. How do you advertise:

What do you do consistently that will make the buying public notice you.

How much does your ad campaign cost and how effective is it?

The relationship between advertising and sales.

PLANNING ADVERTISEMENTS

You can stack your business with top notch services, but if buyers don’t know who you are or what your selling, it won’t do much good. basically that’s why you should advertise, because you need customers to turn a profit.

HOW ADVERTISING WORKS

Many people think they waste money on advertising, but the real problem is they haven’t measured its effect.

What do you want the ad to accomplish?

* Bigger sales than the same time last year.

* More traffic

* Improved image and reputation.

* Explain services, credit programs, pricing policy.

* Introduce your staff especially experts.

The most common reason an ad flops:

Is your ego has gotten in the way.  Don’t use your picture in the ad.

You don’t have enough sales people to handle the business you’ve attracted.

You relied on advertising to compensate for your basic mistakes.  Even the best effort can’t make up for poor location, a poor selection of untrained personal, unreasonably high prices.

You don’t know how to advertise.

You have to coordinate the ad and your staff, they have to know what your doing so they can prepare to answer the customers questions.

DEVELOPING A SEASON’S CAMPAIGN

* Develop a yearly advertising budget as part of your marketing plan.  A good rule of thumb is 10% of your gross revenue.  Here’s how you do it:

* Set sales goals.  Be realistic in the number of new clients you want in the studio each week.  Plan to sell only 3 in 10.

* Decide how much advertising you want to do during each month.

* Decide what to promote.

GIMMICKS THAT CAN WORK

* Handbills.  Short and sweet advertising messages you slip under the windshield wipers.  The least expensive way to advertise locally.

* Inflatables.  Balloons with your school name, address and logo on a string tied to car aerials.

* Shopping bags.  Grocery stores often accept advertising on their shopping bags in a locale market.

Theater screen advertising.  Inexpensive and young people and woman are pre-dominant movie goers.

In house promotions.  Some of your bests assets are your satisfied clients.  Develop a sales promotion using them.

TYPES OF ADS

Immediate response ads – Lure people in to buy within a specified period of time.

Attitude advertising- You decide what image you want to

foster and plan each ad around that position.

TIPS

* Plan the ad around one idea.

* Pick one type face and stick to it.

* Simple layouts.

* Use your logo (name)

* Make your phone number and address very easily seen.

People read distinctive ads, so make yours different from the competition.

* Use a large picture or headline.

* Main benefit of the headline – “What’s’ in it for me?”

* Complete sentences are easier to read.

* Dollars prices grab attention.  Readers will overestimate prices you leave out.

THREE BASIC RULES IN ADVERTISING

1. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

2. Keep the ad clear and concise, don’t use TOO many words.

3. Let them see your phone number and address clearly, or how else can they find you.