Raise your hand if you’ve witnessed the magic that is being a dancer’s teacher from the time they’re 3 until the time they head off to college at 18. 🙋🏼♀️
It’s a special kind of bond, and those dancers live in a special place in our hearts. There’s something about being along for the ride, and seeing a dancer grow, change, and develop, that tugs at our heartstrings.
It also serves as a reminder for why we do what we do; it reminds us that helping to foster a love of dance that lasts a lifetime is a special privilege, and one of the best jobs in the world.
All studio owners want their students to be forever students, and to witness the magic of watching a dancer grow up. So how can we make that happen?
What’s the key to turning recreational, occasional, or summer students into forever students?
That’s what we’re diving into today in part 3 of our 3 part blog series on Summer Program Marketing Plans for studio owners! We’ve already talked about the steps you need to take to fill up your summer programs, and the 3 things you need to streamline your summer sign ups, so now it’s time to think about what happens after you’ve done those things.
What happens when the end of summer rolls around? How can you keep your summer dance students interested and excited to keep taking classes at the studio – turning them into forever students?
Well, some of that depends on your preferences and how your studio does things, but here’s our number one best practice to use.
How to Turn Your Summer Students into FOREVER Students
It’s all in the marketing!
Determine The Next Step
The best time to have a map is before you enter the woods. – Brendon Burchard
🧐 Think about what the ideal next step for a student might be.
👉🏻 If it’s early in the summer, and a dancer has only done one summer camp or summer program, are they a good fit for another one?
👉🏻 If it’s closer to fall, what class can you enroll them in that will pique their interest and motivate them to keep going? Are you planning a fall or winter performance that you can tease them with?
Follow Through On The Next Step
🗺 Once you’ve mapped out all the possibilities it’s time to create personalized follow-up emails. (Based on this blog, you knew we were going to say that, right?)
If you’re looking for a guide with specifics on what kind of emails you should be sending when, make sure you grab our Summer Program Marketing Plan Freebie! It’s got everything you need so that you don’t have to guess at what to say in your emails.
📧 Here’s an example schedule of follow up emails:
- Email #1 – Thank you for coming! Exclusive offer inside!
- Email #2 – Let’s continue the fun!
- Email #3 – Options to continue
Email #1 should thank parents for being a part of your summer programs and recap all the things their student got to do and participate in at the studio (this is a chance for you to highlight the value you provide!).
This is also a prime time to extend an exclusive offer to parents; this could be a dollar amount or percentage off another summer program, or fall tuition.
Some studios even offer Amazon or Target gift cards as a promo. Whatever you go for, write your email with the end goal in mind and make this an offer that’s impossible to refuse!
Email #2 should continue the vibes you put out in the first email.
Highlight the value you provide as a studio, what the benefits of dance are, your amazing staff and curriculum, and find a way to keep your customer interested.
Maybe put together a virtual photo album of dancers at summer camp you can share, or host an open house where kids and parents can see the costumes you’ll use for your fall or winter performance. This should be all about keeping the fun and momentum going.
Finally, Email #3 should bring it all home.
Hopefully, by this point, you’ve had parents already opt-in to whatever the next stage is (another summer program, enrolling for fall, etc.) so if they haven’t yet, now is your chance to show them what they’ll be missing out on, and offer them easy ways to keep going.
You might offer a free trial class, so their dancer can try out a new class they’re interested in, or offer a discount when they bring or refer a friend to a dance class.
Again, you get to choose what works best for you and your studio. At the very least, have them opt-in to your email newsletter, so you can capture their information and continue to market your classes, performances, and events to them.
As we mentioned, it’s helpful to begin with the end in mind.
The end goal is to take your summer students and turn them into forever students that you can depend upon year after year.
When you keep that in mind, it will be easy for you to create everything from classes, performances, events, and emails that will make them feel connected and loyal to you.
It’s also helpful to ask yourself how you’d like to be treated, or what would make you feel special. Think about your favorite brands and companies; what do they do that you love, and how can you turn that into something you can use for your dance parents/students?
This simple mindset shift can change everything!
Let’s RECAP!
We’ve covered a lot of ground in this series!
In our first blog, we gave you specific action steps that will help you fill up your summer programs.
In our second blog of the series, we dove into essential tools you can use to streamline your registrations and communication, and today, we brought it all together with strategies to make your summer students forever students.
Don’t forget to download a copy of our Freebie, the Summer Program Marketing Plan. It’ll become your go-to guide for planning and executing successful summer dance programs, and has lots of extra tips and tricks that we didn’t mention in the blog.
One final thing you should know? We’ll be hosting an Ask Me Anything event at the end of the month, where you can bring all your summer program and summer dance camp questions to have them answered by our Automation Experts!
🥂 Cheers to having your best summer ever!