Maximise Impact with Minimal Effort: 5 Dance School Marketing Hacks

Running a dance school involves more than just teaching choreography and organising events. To ensure growth and success, effective marketing is crucial and without it, your school may struggle to attract new students and retain existing ones. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the mass of other responsibilities, and your dance school marketing efforts can often get sidelined. But it doesn’t have to be difficult, consistency is key; just as we teach our dancers to stick with their training over time to see results, your dance school marketing efforts also need a regular, consistent approach. 

At slower times during the year, you can take on bigger projects like overhauling your website or creating a marketing video to attract new students.. Spreading the bigger projects throughout the year and engaging in smaller marketing activities on a weekly and monthly basis, will help contribute to your overall success, allowing you to stay consistent. From harnessing the power of social media to utilising technology, there are numerous strategies that can elevate your school’s visibility and appeal. These strategies are effective without requiring excessive time or effort, making them ideal for elevating your dance school’s brand.

Your website and social media pages are often the first points of contact for potential students and parents. If your content is outdated or if you have not published new content in a while, people will wonder if you are still in business, potentially leading them to choosing a competitor. A simple but effective dance school marketing strategy to start with is to take just 10 minutes a week to make sure that your website and social media profiles are updated with any changes to your class schedules or news about upcoming events. Regular website updates not only show visitors that your school is active and thriving, it also shows search engines like Google that your site is being regularly maintained. This can have Search Engine Optimisation benefits that will lead to your dance school’s website having better visibility on search engines.

Utilising automation can save you time and energy that can be better spent elsewhere in your business. One easy way to do this is by scheduling a monthly newsletter for your existing parents as regular updates keep them informed and engaged, helping to boost retention and making them feel valued and part of the company. Don’t stress about writing these yourself, AI copywriting tools like ChatGPT can help. Simply ask it to create an email newsletter with your key information and let AI craft a professional email in less than 20 seconds that you will then only have to spend 5 - 10 minutes editing and bringing in line with your brand. 

As an example, a prompt to give ChatGPT: “Create an email newsletter for a dance school with the following information: Show confirmed for 14th December, new acro class to be launched in September and dancewear uniform website coming soon”.

Please bear in mind that while using ChatGPT or other AI Copywriting Tools to help improve efficiency is absolutely worthwhile, it is important not to become reliant on it. As an efficiency and research tool, it can help to save a great deal of time but we would always recommend editing any AI Written content to ensure that it has a human touch. Using AI to simply churn out content - be it for digital content, print material, or any other purpose - is tempting but will almost certainly backfire, as your dance school marketing collateral will become bland, repetitive, and littered with those AI Copy-isms that we’ve all come to know and have a giggle at.

Encouraging creativity in your students can go beyond being just a teaching method; it can also be a highly effective dance school marketing strategy that elevates your brand and fosters a strong sense of community. Consider hosting monthly dance sessions where students collaborate to create their own group choreography. Encourage them to film their performances and share them on their social media profiles. This user-generated content is authentic and acts as a powerful incentive for prospective students who are drawn to the dynamic, creative environment you’ve built.

Visual content is key to catching the eye of potential new customers. Spend a couple of hours each month creating social media templates on Canva. There are 1000’s of existing templates you can use and edit to match your brand with updates, fun posts, etc. These templates can be used to schedule posts for the next month, ensuring your school is always visible online. Posting at least once a week keeps your business fresh in people’s minds, and with ready-made templates, you’ll find it easy to maintain consistency. 

For a small investment of time, a Google Business Profile can significantly enhance your dance school’s reach, reputation, and online presence. In just 30-40 minutes, you can create a profile that helps your school show up in local search results, making it easier for potential students to find you when they search for dance classes in your area. Highlighting essential information such as location, class schedule, and contact details can improve your business’ local SEO. 

Hubspot found that 90% of shoppers read online reviews before visiting a business or making a purchase and that 46% of UK consumers rely more on online reviews than they did in the last two years. Asking your students to leave reviews not only enhances your credibility but also signals to Google that your business is trustworthy and relevant, which can help to boost your ranking in search results, driving even more traffic to your profile. 

In conclusion, running a dance school requires a balance of artistry and business savvy. You don’t need to be a marketing expert or dedicate countless hours each week to keep your school in the spotlight. Instead, focus on taking small, strategic steps and thinking creatively. By exploring innovative and time saving approaches to promotion, you can ensure your dance school marketing is as effective as possible without overwhelming your schedule.