Stop the Revenue Rollercoaster!

Struggling to keep your Pilates studio top-of-mind with potential clients? In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield dives deep into the power of consistent marketing. 

Learn how to ditch the one-and-done marketing blitz and develop a strategic approach that builds brand awareness, fosters relationships, and keeps those new clients rolling in. 

Discover tips for creating valuable content, engaging with your audience on social media, and streamlining your marketing efforts with the right tools.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Do you ever feel like a brand is stalking you? Maybe it's the away suitcase, the whoop strap, the aura ring element, you name it. It pops up everywhere. But here's the thing it's not just magic. It's all about consistent marketing, and being consistent with your marketing is one of the top struggles that I see studio owners experiencing today, and it's often the thing that gets pushed to the bottom of the list, especially if you're busy. But that is not the time to ignore your marketing. So why is consistency so important and how do you use the power of consistency to your advantage to keep your studio thriving? We're diving deep into that question today to help you avoid hitting that revenue rollercoaster.

Speaker 2: 0:48

Well, hi there, I'm Saren Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for Boutique Fitness Studio and I'm so happy that you're here with me today, as you might be able to tell I managed to pick up a bug from one of my kids.

Speaker 1: 1:00

All you'll find are a few key strategies of the right mindset and some support along the way.

Speaker 1: 1:04

So bear with me, I've got my honey and lemon and ginger tea sitting here, so join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio and we have to keep on going and that's kind of what I'm here to talk to you about today, because one of the things that has been showing up for me as I've been talking to studios, studio owners, recently, is how hard it can be to stay consistent with marketing efforts and, in fact, for many of the studio owners that I speak to, many of them are saying to me hey, sarah, I'm not sure I need more marketing. Right now I'm actually struggling to stay on top of all the things I need to do, and I'm thinking that marketing might be the thing that I'm going to just let go for a while. You know, when you run amazing studios like you do, you have killer classes, incredible workouts, you've built wonderful communities and you likely have a passion for movement that is very contagious, and so it is no surprise to me that you have built a wonderful business that is busy and thriving in this world that we're in today, where many, many people are looking for exactly that. But what happens when you sort of put a pause on your marketing is not that you will see an impact today or tomorrow or next week, but it will likely impact your business three, four, five or even six months from now, their marketing and their business, and it is so incredibly frustrating for those studio owners who have sort of shifted their focus towards, perhaps, operations or new projects, with the sort of thinking that perhaps their marketing will just do its job all on its own. And what happens is sort of months later sometimes weeks, but usually it's months later they see the impact in their business and they start to see a decline in revenue, and all of a sudden they're faced with some tough choices. Do they take classes off the schedule? Do they perhaps maybe need to have some conversations with teachers about how many hours they're available and able to teach, how many hours they're available and able to teach?

Speaker 1: 3:27

And so it's not such a good thing to have this sort of like up and down focus on your marketing, because it does impact your business overall in the long term, and it might be something that you feel like it's not really worth it right now, but it's one of those things that, when you're consistent with it, you really then do have true control over your revenue growth and over your profits, right? So what happens when you aren't consistent with your marketing is that it does have that impact and it does create this sort of rollercoaster effect on your revenue and your profits, and I don't want that for you because that is not only frustrating but it does lead to you having to make some tough choices around your business and how you continue to operate and run it, and waiting those months to then start your marketing again it sort of has that lag again. So to wait another three months before you start to see clients come in the studio again is also not going to be helpful to you. So we want to make sure we're being consistent with our marketing. It really really is so critically important, even if your classes are full, even if your schedule is full, even if you're busy right now, because you will see an impact if you press pause on your marketing campaigns when you're building a business and growing a business, and even when you're in that season of perhaps stabilizing your business, you still want to show up regularly across different channels and in different places. Right, it's just like building a friendship. You wouldn't just sort of disappear for months on end. Right, Consistency is what really builds brand awareness and makes you that go-to studio in their minds and keeps your brand top of mind. Okay, now I know what you're thinking, because I speak to studio owners, just like you, every single day of the week and you're thinking, oh my gosh, saren, really that sounds like a ton of work. But here's the good news it does not have to be that way and if you know anything about me, you know I am all about setting you up for success without adding more and more and more hours to your schedule. So consistent marketing does not have to be overwhelming, but you do need to put some systems and processes in place in order to make sure that your marketing stays consistent and that make sure that you are able to show up on a regular basis and make sure your brand is visible.

Speaker 1: 5:58

So imagine that you perhaps did a big marketing campaign at the beginning of the year. You were super active on social media. You were sending out emails. Perhaps you were involved in some local community events and you found that really drove, got you a lot of clients in the door. Everyone was talking about you. It felt amazing, right. And all of a sudden you've got a thriving, busy studio. You shift your focus completely to perhaps servicing those clients, which is absolutely what you should be doing, but you vanish for months within your local community. You disappear off a social media bar. The occasional post, your emails kind of go to the wayside and all of that effort you put into creating that brand awareness has gone and disappeared. Now, on the flip side, if you had implemented a very systematic approach to your marketing, where you had campaigns planned out, where you were consistently sharing content on a regular basis that was inspiring and informative and engaging, you were active in your local community on a regular basis, participating in events, and you're leveraging email marketing, maybe you even run some targeted ads and it sounds like a lot, but when you set up these systems around these areas, it does not have to be that way, and I'm going to ask you to think about which of those two scenarios sounds like a recipe for more clients and more revenue over the course of the next six to 12 months. Spoiler alert it's not the one with a disappearing act.

Speaker 1: 7:33

Right Now, when it comes to your marketing, there is immense power in being consistent, and when we talk about being consistent, what does that look like? If you've listened to me for a while, you'll know I'm not about spamming people with promotions and discounts on an ongoing basis. That is not at all what I'm here about at all. But we're also not about bombarding people with just completely random posts. Everything that we do in your business should be intentional and fully aligned with your brand and your brand values, and so the kind of content that you are sharing, say, on social media, the places that you are showing up in your community, should all planned around who it is that you want to work with and what they are interested in. And so, whether that's the content you're posting on social media or the content you're writing in emails or what you're saying at your local community events, who'm all about not wasting your time.

Speaker 1: 8:36

I want to make sure you are as productive as possible with the time that you spend on your marketing. I want to see you get a return on your investment there, which means we want to make sure that what we're doing and what you're doing is effective and getting you the results and outcomes that you want. And when it comes to results and outcomes, truly it's not about how many likes you get, because, let's face it, when you're getting likes on Instagram, those likes can be coming from people who live on the other side of the world and are not actually going to be your clients, right? What I am talking about is tracking your numbers and your data to be able to pinpoint which marketing tactics and strategies you're implementing are effective, and so you want to make sure that you're able to do that, because you are regularly tracking data in your business and this is another one of the systems that I recommend that you use in your business on a regular basis and this doesn't mean just pulling up the dashboard and having a quick look to see what your revenue numbers are. This is about strategically monitoring where revenue is coming from in your business and what activities it is tied to.

Speaker 1: 10:00

So you want to make sure you're very thoughtful about what you're sharing in your content, where you're sharing that content and where you are showing up. The most important thing you're doing with all of your marketing and the reason why that consistency is so incredibly important is that you are in a relationship business right. You see your clients on a regular basis. You know a lot about their lives. You're supporting them in lots of different ways, from including them in your community to helping them be able to take care of themselves better and leading them towards a more healthier and happier life, and so you want to make sure that you are showing up for your people, um, and that you are engaging with them and it's not just a sort of one wayway street that you're responding to emails, to inquiries, to messages, to text messages, to direct messages and to comments. That shows that you care and that fosters a sense of community.

Speaker 1: 11:03

So don't forget the power of that two-way conversation and look for opportunities to engage in that in all of the different places that you show up with your business. Now, I know that you're busy and so it doesn't have to be a complicated plan that you're putting together, and I'm a big, big proponent of making sure that you are using every single piece of content in all the different ways that you possibly can. And we know that there are a million different things vying for the attention of your clients as a lot of different people pulling their attention in lots of different ways. But when you're showing up with the intention of engaging and developing a relationship, you'll find that that does come back to reward you and your business, and so you want to look for ways to make sure that you're able to do that in your business and, using the different tools that are available to you to make sure that you're able to deliver on an amazing customer experience Within your software platforms. There are multiple ways that you can engage with your clients on a regular basis. There's also multiple ways you can do that within social media. And then also, don't forget the power of those in-person conversations as well, and being thoughtful about what you're sharing and when you're sharing that. Your brand messaging is critical here. So you want to make sure you're investing in scheduling platforms, in software for your studio and in email marketing tools that allow you to be as engaging as you possibly can be with your clients.

Speaker 1: 12:44

Now, I know, as I've said many times already on this podcast today, you are busy and you have a lot going on, not just in your studio, but probably in your home life as well, and that eats into so many different hours of the day and you're being pulled in so many different directions, right, and so I'm a huge fan of carving out specific times of the day to be able to respond and engage with your clients, and when you take the time to carve out that time, when you're able to structure your time that way, you'll find yourself to be so much more productive. But also when you leave the studio or you want to go and do your own workout, you want to take a walk, read a book, be with your family. That is time that you do not have to need, do not need to be worrying about replying to that email or replying to that comment or getting back to that client. So structuring your time as a business owner is one of the key components of building a strong, successful business. If you are bouncing from one thing to the next, it is a recipe for overwhelm on a massive scale. So I want to help you to be able to systematize your business, to be able to implement systems that support you and your business in growing successfully.

Speaker 1: 14:01

And consistent marketing is powerful and it's all about showing up for your clients and regularly building trust and establishing yourself as the go-to studio in their minds.

Speaker 1: 14:15

And the best part is that today's world, with all of the tools that we have available, consistency doesn't have to mean being overwhelmed. You can create processes that make it just so simple and straightforward and not complicated or exhausting or overwhelming at all. So when you implement some of these strategies I've shared with you today and you're able to leverage the right tools, you can really streamline your marketing efforts and sit back and watch your studio thrive Not just today, but three months, six months, nine months and 12 months from now. So don't forget consistency is the key to building a thriving studio business and I encourage you to stick with it even if your studio is full. Let me know if you want some more help on this and keep on going. I really hope this episode of the Pilates Business Podcast was insightful to you and if it was be sure to never miss another episode by hitting that follow or subscribe button wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 2: 15:24

Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder there is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.