Email Marketing For Karate Schools

The 2010 remake of “The Karate Kid” was good for karate studios. But karate teachers can’t count on movies and Hollywood generating new business! While karate is a timeless sport, both for self-defense and self-esteem purposes, it is a challenge for these studios to attract new students. Word of mouth only goes so far, and with the economy still struggling along, many families aren’t actively searching for additional activities for their children.

Fortunately, email marketing for karate studios is a low-cost, highly effective and highly profitable way for these establishments to promote themselves. The email marketing software required for a karate school’s email marketing campaign is inexpensive to purchase and easy to install and manage. There’s no need to hire anyone to oversee or handle email marketing for karate schools.

Such a program is far easier to set up than traditional means of advertising, as well as more economical and successful. Newspaper ads cost far too much for the dwindling audience they will reach and television and radio ads are almost certainly out of the price range of most karate studios. In addition, these traditional mass media messages are too easy for the consumer to ignore, either by flipping past the advertisement in the paper or changing the channel when it appears on the radio or television.

For karate schools, an email marketing campaign offers the type of hands-on implementation, versatility and “direct hit” that old-fashioned media cannot hope to match. Once the program is set up, building the email marketing database for karate schools is as simple as collecting email addresses from both current and prospective students. Then, any staff member can control not only what is featured in the message but how often these emails are sent out.

For instance, a karate school’s email marketing message has personalization options, both in the subject heading and in the salutation, that go a long way towards ensuring it is read by the intended party. These emails are also an all-in-one promotional tool for the studios, who can list all their pertinent information (such as operating hours, address, phone number and directions) as well as news blurbs about the instructors and their students (such as a story detailing the success of the studio at a recent competition) and photos of teachers and students in action at the studio.

Another unparalleled advantage of karate schools and email marketing is the ability to embed video in the message. The only thing better than reading about a studio’s success and what it offers its students is seeing it in action. Embedding video—which can be viewed right in the message and not in a separate window—is a sure-fire way to get and keep the attention of the target audience. Some studies indicate that a video in an email can increase conversion rates by as much as 50 percent. Such an increase in business will keep karate instructors happy—and ensure the karate school’s email marketing plan is a smashing success!