6 Marketing Ideas to Fill the Mats at Your Martial Arts School

Running a martial arts school means you get to wear all the hats. You’re coaching classes, answering free trial questions, and analyzing retention numbers, sometimes all before you’ve had your morning coffee.

And if you’re like other school owners, marketing often gets shuffled to the back burner. As in, you’ll get to it after you figure out why the mats smell weird again.

The good news is that you don’t need a marketing degree or a mega budget to get more people through the doors of your martial arts school. You just need a handful of practical ideas that you can easily implement to add (and keep) new students.

6 Practical Ideas to Market Your Martial Arts School

As a martial arts school owner, your plate is probably as full as you’d like it to be. So when it comes to marketing, you need a list of ideas that won’t add hours of work of piles of stress. Check out the ideas below, and check them off one at a time as your schedule allows. Each one is designed to be impactful without taking you days to complete.

​1. Start with your Google Business Profile

Before you spend any money on ads, make sure your impactful (and free!) tactics are working for you first. Unfortunately, very few martial arts school owners have taken the time to optimize a Google Business Profile (GBP). And many don’t even have one.

When someone searches, “martial arts in [your area]” or “kids martial arts near me,” your goal is to show up. Three photos from 2019 and no recent reviews is simply not going to do it. Luckily though, updating your page is a low lift with a huge payoff.

Try these things today:

• Make sure that the contact information (address, phone, website, etc.) on your GBP matches what’s on your website, social channels, and online listings
• Add photos that show off the experience inside your martial arts school (then continue to add them consistently)
• Ask happy students and parents to leave a review after a belt promotion or milestone celebration (and be sure to respond to the reviews you get)

Pro Tip: Want more tips to improve local search visibility without hiring an agency or trying to outsmart Google? Download the SEO Cheat Sheet for Fitness Business Owners today!

2. Lower the barrier to entry

When thinking about your offer to prospective students, try to put yourself in their shoes. Being unsure and intimidated is pretty common. And in that mindset, a complicated or high-stakes offer is a good way to send people running the other direction. So, what’s the play?

In a recent Wodify customer success story about Logic Jiu-Jitsu Philadelphia, we talked with owner Dennis Pressey. He said one of his biggest successes was simplifying everything, including his offer:

“Pressey simplified the offer to a single, 28-day program at one price, with no gear or loaner equipment. On the staff side, this meant not having to manage 15 people in borrowed uniforms before every class.”

Apply this concept in your own martial arts school by making sure your offer appeals to prospective students while being manageable for you and your staff.

​3. Make follow-up non-negotiable

​When someone reaches out to inquire about your martial arts school, you have to respond immediately. Striking while the iron is hot prevents your leads from going to check out the competition down the street. But many school owners overlook the fact that not everyone books, shows, and signs up quickly. It can sometimes take weeks or months before someone finally enrolls.

We’re going to guess that with everything else on your plate, you probably don’t have the bandwidth to properly follow up with a lead that takes six months to decide. And that’s exactly why you need the power of automation to help.

Using a tool like Wodify Workflows makes it ridiculously simple. Leads are automatically dropped into the nurture sequence and a response is sent on the spot. Then emails, texts, and internal reminders all keep the dialogue going until they become a student, however long that takes.

4. Turn belt tests and promotions into content

Belt progressions and ceremonies are a rewarding part of running a martial arts school. But if you’re not filming them, you’re missing out on one of your best marketing tactics. The moments you’ll capture are genuine, motivating, and fun. And if you think about the videos that capture your attention on Instagram Reels and TikTok, these fit the bill. A parent crying while their eight-year-old gets their yellow belt will outperform a polished ad every time.

Here are a few examples of quick (vertical) videos you should grab:

• The moment a belt gets tied
• A student talking about the journey it took to get there
• Thirty seconds of high energy at the end of a hard class

If you take a longer video, chop it into multiple shorter posts. When it goes up on your social media channels, don’t forget to tag the students that are featured so they can share it as well.

​5. Create an effective referral program

Your current students are your best sales team, and most of them would probably be excited about referring friends. Oftentimes, fitness business owners (this isn’t exclusive to a martial arts school owner) simply forget to ask.

A successful referral program simply has to have two attributes. First, it has to be consistently visible. A generic “refer a friend” flyer taped to the wall just won’t cut it anymore. Second, the process has to be easy to participate.

Start by choosing an incentive for both sides (the student and their guest). This could be as simple as branded apparel for the student and a discounted first month for the guest. Announce the referral program in classes, via email and text, and on walls or announcement boards at your school. Then, make sure to consistently promote the referral program each month to keep it top of mind.

To take it to the next level, you could also consider making it a friendly competition. Put up a leaderboard near the front of your schol that tracks referrals. Thank your top referrers by name and maybe even call them out at the end of classes.

6. Get cozy with the neighbors around your martial arts school

Local partnerships are such an underrated marketing tool for school owners. From elementary schools to physical therapists to coffee shops, there are endless possibilities to cross-promote in your area. And you’ll likely find that most people have never considered joining a martial arts school, but would try it if someone made it easy.

In addition to a joint promotion or simply sharing each other’s offers, think about hosting a free self-defense workshop at a local school. Or a lunch-and-learn at a nearby office. Consider options for chiropractors or physical therapists whose patience need to rebuild strength and confidence.

Even though partnerships like this take more legwork than posting ads, the quality of leads is substantially higher. People will trust the referral source, and that trust then extends to your business, which is a much more impactful impression than what you’d get with a paid ad.

Marketing Your Martial Arts School: Where to Start

None of the ideas on the list above require a marketing degree or an excessive budget. And you don’t need to overhaul your entire marketing strategy at once.

Start with your Google Business Profile, as it’s free and should be fairly quick. It’s also the biggest contributor to your SEO and the most impactful move you can make today. Then start working through the list according to what will move the needle most for your martial arts school. Create your referral program, film your belt ceremonies, and always pay attention to what actually brings people through your door.

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More reading: Want to go from coach to CEO and spend more time growing your school? Check out Coach to CEO: The MMA School Owner 12-Month Plan today!

​Need help? Wodify is here to give your martial arts school the tools to keep classes full and students on track. Book a demo with our team today to see how it works for your business.