How to Multiply the Results of ANY Type of Print Advertising, Quickly and Easily, Without Spending Another Dime!

Part 1: The “Mindset” of the Marketer

In this series we’ll explore the fundamentals of HIGHLY EFFECTIVE marketing and advertising.

Advertising pieces that GET RESULTS, and that generate business for you and your school.

The VERY FIRST step in creating more effective marketing pieces is to challenge your own perceptions of marketing and your business. In order to create HIGHLY IMPACT-FULL marketing, we must have a VERY clear picture of the “Who” as well as the “What”.

The Who:

You MUST very clearly define “Who is your IDEAL Customer”!

Are you trying to attract the Pre-School student, or the Adult Self defense market? The 17 to 24 year old high talent athlete, or the 55+ retiree? Are you interested in acquiring high end “Mass Affluent” customers, or are you targeting lower to mid income students? All these market segments have their own set of challenges and opportunities, and each segment MUST be “spoken to” differently.

Once you’ve drawn a bulls eye on your “Perfect” client/student, you must then determine the specific benefits your School will provide to that student.

It’s an all too common mistake to think that you can be “all things to all people”. I see ads every day from school owners with 4,5,6 or more SEPARATE and different messages on one single piece. This is a SURE way to depress response, and cripple your results! In general, if you are telling more than 1 “story”, or message, than you are becoming ½ as appealing to each segment of the market.

For example, in today’s market, the MMA craze is almost everywhere. So imagine if you will, you are the Mother of an 8 year old daughter, potentially interested in the martial arts for your daughter. Then a postcard turns up in your mailbox depicting a cute 8 year old in a karate uniform, and in the next image, a picture of 2, 22 year old MMA students with no shirt grappling in a cage.

Would that image make you more or less interested in the school?

And, frankly, vise versa. If you were looking for a quality MMA program, and you received the same marketing piece, you’d have to seriously consider…. “These guys are teaching 4 year olds……..Is this the right place for me”??

So your marketing messages NEED to be LASER BEAM focused! You have to pick EXACTLY WHO you are marketing to, and zero in on them!

 

The What:

Once you’ve determined the “Who”, now you must decide how you can serve them best.

The acronym we use is W.I.I.F.M. When a prospective customer/student/client is looking at your ad, they are asking themselves WHAT’s IN IT FOR ME! You must craft your message to speak to the needs, wants, desires, problems, and pains of your prospective student. EVERYTHING in your marketing piece should be about THEM……NOT YOU!!!

As martial artists, we are very proud if our lineage, our training, our “resume” if you will. But the average prospective student doesn’t care how many trophies you’ve won, how many titles you’ve earned, nor how many square feet your “state of the art facility” is. All they care about is solving a problem that they have or want to avoid, or gaining a particular benefit of training whether it’s getting in better shape, learning to defend themselves, or living a more balanced life.

So, you should take out a blank sheet of paper, and REALLY think about WHY someone would want to be your student. What will THEY gain, what will THEY achieve, what problems can you solve for THEM. The answers to these questions should be what your ad or marketing piece is composed of, NOT your resume or pedigree!

It’s then a VERY valuable exercise to try describing the benefits of training with you is several completely different ways. For example, if you are describing how you’ll help your students get in better shape, you should think about how to describe this:

• You’ll get into the best shape of your life
• You clothes will fit better……just in time for Swim Suit season
• You’ll have a greater sense of self confidence when you walk into a room in your ‘skinny’ jeans

Etc…etc.

Just keep in mind that a prospective customer (rightfully) is only interested in what’s in it for them, and you’ll keep your marketing piece on the right track!

For our NAPMA MEMBERS ONLY, we now have a “Print on Demand” marketing resource center, where you can select a “Done For You” marketing template, customize your offer, your bonus, and your contact information, and have an INSTANT online proof! You can have the materials (postcards, flyers, ad cards, book markers, take ones, door hangers etc) either shipped straight to you, OR you can have a mailing sent straight to your prospects!

This is a BRAND NEW service I know our members are going to LOVE!

**Article Provided By NAPMA, The National Association of Professional Marital Artists, the Martial Arts Leaders in Helping School Owners Add $150,000.00/year to Their Personal Income With Their Martial Arts School.

**Need help accelerating your martial arts marketing results, or martial arts business growth? Check out NAPMA the National Association of Professional Martial Artists. They are the industry leaders in helping martial arts school owners build the business of their dreams!visit: www.NapmaFreeOffer.com

Current NAPMA Members also receive discounts on all MartialArtsPrintShop.com products and services.