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How To Increase Yoga Class Attendance

December 7, 2021

In the drive to increase wellbeing, more and more people are joining yoga classes. With the yoga market size set to reach $66.2 billion by 2027, it’s fast becoming a crowded industry. This can make it more difficult to drum up business.

Although smaller class sizes can offer that boutique feel, it’s going to be hard to turn a profit – especially as you can’t afford a single member to skip a week. To grow a successful yoga business, you’ll need to start with a strong catalogue of clients.  

Whether you’re about to host your first session or have years of experience under your belt, we’ll show you how to increase yoga class attendance and make your business a roaring success.

 

A guide on how to increase yoga class attendance:

Follow our 12 steps on how to increase yoga class attendance and watch the bookings come rolling in!

 

  1. Find your niche
  2. Make booking easier
  3. Look at attendance reports
  4. Take deposit payments
  5. Use social media
  6. Contact local media
  7. Attend events
  8. Create a loyalty program
  9. Start a competition
  10. Send marketing emails
  11. Invite special guests
  12. Be consistent and passionate

 

 

1. Find your niche


 
Since people have become more conscious of their health and wellbeing, the yoga market has exploded. With a new yoga class popping up every week, there’s a lot of competition to fend off. The easiest way to stand out from the crowd is to offer something different whilst giving your audience what they want. With over a hundred different styles of yoga to choose from, perhaps opt for a practice that hasn’t been done before in your town. 

 

We understand that you may have years of expertise in a certain type of yoga, and we don’t want you to give this up. Finding your niche could be as simple as reading an inspirational quote at the end of the session or using essential oils. If you have a broad skill set, you could even offer a course that includes different styles of yoga every week.

 

2. Make booking easier


 
It may be the case that people are interested in attending your yoga class, but don’t know how to book! Or even worse, your current scheduling process may be long and unclear, forcing people to abort the booking. 

 

Simply improving the booking journey brings you one step closer to increasing attendance. With scheduling software from providers such as BookingLive, users can view your yoga class times, sign up for their preferred slot and pay in advance in five simple steps. Not only does this improve the user experience, but it also saves you a lot of hassle too. Gone are the days of juggling bookings via text, email and social media with people paying in cash. By taking advance payments, you won’t lose out even if people don’t show. 

 

Sometimes people won’t attend a yoga class purely because they forgot about it! The online booking system features automated email and SMS reminders which are proven to reduce no-shows. A quick change to this software solution could save your yoga business’ finances.

 

3. Look at attendance reports


 
To increase yoga class attendance, it’s helpful to understand the behaviours of your target audience. What day of the week currently brings in the most attendees? Is there a specific class that performs head and shoulders above the rest? Wouldn’t it be great if you could access this invaluable information from your phone?

 

BookingLive comes to the rescue again! A cool feature of the software is its ability to run automated reports. You can then view these reports from the booking app on your phone so you can see the data in real-time. By gaining insight into the most popular classes and times to schedule them, you can customise your marketing campaigns. 

 

If a 9pm class is causing your business a loss, you may want to scrap it and swap in an extra 6pm class in the week if it proves more popular, for example. Reports can also help you recognise patterns in the types of attendees visiting each yoga class. For instance, you may find that students prefer to work out in the morning whereas parents may prefer to attend in the evening. You can then target these different demographics through tailored promotions – leading to increased yoga class attendance.

 

4. Take deposit payments


 
Nobody likes to lose money so a great motivator to get people to attend week in week out is to take deposit payments. Of course, this shouldn’t be compulsory but many attendees will come onboard with the payment plan – particularly those that need that extra push to get fit or perhaps people find it more convenient to buy classes in bulk.

 

This is a nice way to work in yoga class programs such as a 10 week plan to improve flexibility. These sorts of schemes can attract new attendees that fancy a taste of yoga. They’ll enjoy their 10 weeks so much that it’s likely they’ll sign up for 10 more!

 

5. Use social media


 
If you don’t already have a social media account on Facebook and Instagram, stop what you’re doing and sign up now! Social media unlocks so many opportunities for your business and this step is not to be missed if you want to increase yoga class attendance. We’ll share some of the top ways to utilise social media as part of your strategy.

 

Join Facebook groups 

Yoga classes can really bring a community together so join as many local Facebook groups as you can to get involved. Engage in conversations and connect with other professionals in the industry to establish yourself in the area.

 

Utilise hashtags 

To give your posts a further reach, sprinkle in some specific hashtags. It’s been found that Instagram posts with at least one hashtag get 29% more interactions. If you can find 11 relevant, quality hashtags, this can push engagement even further to 79.5%! You can find hashtag ideas from sites such as All Hashtag but we’ll get you started with some targeted terms #yogainspiration #yogachallenge #yogaeveryday #yogapose #yogajourney

 

Post tutorials

Share a snippet of your expertise on social media to persuade people to attend your yoga class. All you need to do is film a short clip on how to perform a pose. Demonstrate a variety of moves that are suited to both beginners and more advanced yogis. Then in the caption of your video, embed a link to your booking page for users to sign up.

 

6. Contact local media


 
There are certain demographics that use the local media as a source of information rather than social media, so it’s important to tap into this stream too if you want to increase yoga class attendance. 

 

Local media could be anything from the newspaper to the radio station to the news programme on TV. To make this type of media willing to promote your business, they need a good story about your yoga classes. Perhaps you could talk about the benefits of yoga in a radio interview or ask to be a regular columnist in a wellness magazine. Better still, reach out to these news channels and introduce yourself and show them how your yoga classes deserve their own segment.

 

7. Attend events


 
Similarly to contacting the local media, attending events will help to get your name out there in the community. Keep an eye on the local news and ask for a stand at upcoming festivals or events. This is a great opportunity to showcase your expertise live in front of an audience and will grow your network. And the more contacts you have, the better. 

 

8. Create a loyalty program


 
Once you’ve built your client base, you want them to stay loyal and show up for you every week. A loyalty program is an effective way to increase the commitment of your current members. It can also be used in combination with a referral scheme to maximise yoga class attendance. The scheme doesn’t have to be anything complicated. Most yoga classes use a points system that accumulates to make rewards. 

 

Some ideas for loyalty programs:

 

  • Bring a friend for 5 or more classes and get a free yoga mat
  • Collect 150 loyalty points to win a meditation book
  • Get your first beginners yoga class for free when you join with a friend 
  • Attend the class for 10 consecutive weeks to be entered into a prize draw
  • Share the yoga class on social media to earn 20 loyalty points

 

9. Start a competition


 
Who isn’t going to be up for a yoga challenge? Competitions fuel excitement around your yoga class and won’t cost you a penny. 

 

This is a great time to get creative to promote challenges of varying lengths to suit different audiences. For example, you could run a 10 day yoga pose challenge for those just starting out or a new year, new me challenge to get people to attend 3 times a week for the whole of January. Encourage members to share their progress on social media as this will boost brand awareness and attract new clients.

 

Competitions link well to loyalty programs too. Offer loyalty points to people that sign up for the challenge, with an added bonus prize for those that complete it. When you combine all of these marketing strategies, prepare for your yoga class attendance to skyrocket!

 

10. Send marketing emails


 

If you’ve followed our previous steps on how to increase yoga class attendance, then you’ve got a solid marketing campaign at this point. To give your business the edge, consider marketing emails. You want to spread the word on as many platforms as you can, and personalised emails give that special touch. 

 

Just because they’re customised doesn’t mean you’ll have to write them out one by one. You can send automated emails at the click of a button with BookingLive’s MailChimp integration. Some information you could include to increase yoga class attendance:

 

  • New class releases 
  • Upcoming yoga competitions 
  • Winners of your previous yoga competition
  • Words of encouragement for new clients
  • Special offers on your yoga classes
  • Your latest blog post
  • Wellness tips
  • Case studies
  • Details on upcoming local events you’ll be attending
  • Congratulate members for reaching a milestone e.g. attending their 100th class

 

It’s handy to set up triggers that prompt the email to be sent. For example, notifying members that haven’t attended for a month about a special offer may motivate them to get back in the swing of it. Whereas a one-off member may attend again after you send case studies of people’s experiences at your classes.

 

 

11. Invite special guests


 
If you follow our guide and interact on social media, you’ll have built up connections with other professionals in the industry. A great way to increase yoga class attendance is to collaborate with these fellow experts in the wellness space. The types of services you should look out for include:

 

  • Acupuncturist
  • Reiki practitioner
  • Massage therapist 
  • Health coach 
  • Meditation teacher
  • Reflexologist 
  • Aromatherapist
  • Motivational speaker
  • Physiotherapist
  • Nutritionist 
  • Injury rehabilitation specialist

 

The key is to nurture these relationships so that the professionals return to speak at your yoga classes. You could maybe become a guest at one of their sessions in return. This way you’re getting double promo and could even attract new attendees during your visit.

 

12. Be consistent and passionate


 
How can you expect your members to attend every week if you’re not consistent? To be consistent, you may have to sacrifice the odd weekend getaway whilst you establish yourself in the community. Loyalty works both ways so come prepared for each session with the right equipment and show up on time! Engage with your members before the class starts and stay behind to answer any questions or one-on-one guidance.

 

To run a successful yoga class, your heart has got to be in it as your clients will notice if your energy is off. People practice yoga to unwind and feel re-energised, so your spirit has to match the mood. Show your passion to positively influence others in the room and they’ll be itching to schedule another class with you. Remember, the better the experience, the more likely members are to recommend your sessions to a friend. Over time, these referrals will rack up your yoga class numbers.

 

We hope that our guide on how to increase yoga class attendance helps you to grow your business! To find out more about how a booking system can help, contact us today or book a demo now. 

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