I’m looking for ways to improve my marketing efforts for preschool classes. Any suggestions?
Referrals are everything for this clientele. Most parents of preschoolers are on social media, and they look to their friends and local network for recommendations. Make sure your social channels and website have up-to-date information and schedules, plus information on how to try a class or register.
In your marketing materials, show potential parents what it’s like to be a student at your studio. Post photos of your dancers smiling and joyfully participating. Include your curriculum and describe what a typical class entails, plus any performance opportunities. Highlight the experience of your teachers—specifically their training with preschoolers—and be sure to include testimonials of your current or former parents.
Publicizing your student-teacher ratio or class minimum/maximum will communicate to interested families that their children will receive personalized instruction. If you have viewing windows, closed-circuit TV cameras with waiting-room monitors or regular parent visiting times in class, these are also important features to emphasize.
Another great selling point for this age group is flexibility. Consider creating easy makeup-class policies, shorter performance events (for preschool or younger dancers only) and optional recital participation to let parents know you understand that life with a toddler means plans often change.
Once you have your basic materials and online presence in place, we recommend you experiment with a variety of incentives: Offer free trial classes, sibling discounts, referral credits, discounted dancewear bundle packages or a used-shoe trade-in, and see what yields the best results.
Kathy Blake is the owner of Kathy Blake Dance Studios in Amherst, New Hampshire. She and Suzanne Blake Gerety are the co-founders of DanceStudioOwner.com.
Photo by B Hansen Photography, courtesy of Suzanne Blake Gerety
