I wrote last week's post about our participation in the local fall festival while still in that post performance adrenaline rush mode we all get. After reflecting on how great an experience it was for my students - and calming down a little - I started thinking about the marketing benefits this event had for my music business.
Even though I've been teaching in the area for over 5 years now, I'm still new to much of the community because they didn't have any direct way to see me before. Opening a location has put me (now us) in front of people who wouldn't have know we existed if they hadn't passed our building.
Because we were invited to this event with such short notice, I decided the best marketing strategy was to just be us.
Materials
There wasn't a whole lot of time to prep marketing materials, so I primarily used what I already had:
- A yard sign with our logo placed outside the tent
- Some banners also with our logo
- Business Cards (of course)
- Rack cards with all of our contact information as well as a description of what we do and our new student specials
- Some t-shirts I whipped up quickly for my kiddos (thank goodness for Michaels!)
Community Marketing Perks
1. It gave us the ability to help out the community
I've been reaching out to the local churches and music teachers to introduce myself and my new music school. I want my business and my families to be active members of the Denville community. We were invited to this event because the person running the entertainment tent received my letter at his church and loved what we have to offer.
2. It made us visible to the community
We were the first act on a rather gloomy day, which meant that not many people were there for our performance as there could've been on a nicer day. However, I did leave our yard sign, business cards, and rack cards at their table the whole day, so those who missed our performance would still know who we are and what we're about.
3. It was a community builder within my own studio
All of my families were extremely excited for this opportunity, even the ones who weren't able to attend. Many of my families know each other from school, sports, recitals & piano parties. Bringing them together for this music event strengthened that bond even more.
A Final Word
Sometimes you don't need a complex marketing plan.
Sometimes you just have to be part of the community.
This was an easy, fun and relatively inexpensive way to get our name out to more people in the community.
To quote Amy Chaplin from PianoPantry.com
"Marketing doesn’t always have to be hard, elaborate, or even unique. Sometimes it just has to be.
Be there.
Be visible.
Be present.
Be the one – the one kids want to be a part of."
Even though I've been teaching in the area for over 5 years now, I'm still new to much of the community because they didn't have any direct way to see me before. Opening a location has put me (now us) in front of people who wouldn't have know we existed if they hadn't passed our building.
Because we were invited to this event with such short notice, I decided the best marketing strategy was to just be us.
Materials
There wasn't a whole lot of time to prep marketing materials, so I primarily used what I already had:
- A yard sign with our logo placed outside the tent
- Some banners also with our logo
- Business Cards (of course)
- Rack cards with all of our contact information as well as a description of what we do and our new student specials
- Some t-shirts I whipped up quickly for my kiddos (thank goodness for Michaels!)
Community Marketing Perks
1. It gave us the ability to help out the community
I've been reaching out to the local churches and music teachers to introduce myself and my new music school. I want my business and my families to be active members of the Denville community. We were invited to this event because the person running the entertainment tent received my letter at his church and loved what we have to offer.
2. It made us visible to the community
We were the first act on a rather gloomy day, which meant that not many people were there for our performance as there could've been on a nicer day. However, I did leave our yard sign, business cards, and rack cards at their table the whole day, so those who missed our performance would still know who we are and what we're about.
3. It was a community builder within my own studio
All of my families were extremely excited for this opportunity, even the ones who weren't able to attend. Many of my families know each other from school, sports, recitals & piano parties. Bringing them together for this music event strengthened that bond even more.
A Final Word
Sometimes you don't need a complex marketing plan.
Sometimes you just have to be part of the community.
This was an easy, fun and relatively inexpensive way to get our name out to more people in the community.
To quote Amy Chaplin from PianoPantry.com
"Marketing doesn’t always have to be hard, elaborate, or even unique. Sometimes it just has to be.
Be there.
Be visible.
Be present.
Be the one – the one kids want to be a part of."
Comments
Post a Comment