It’s time to get your name out there! With the right marketing strategies, you can let your community know about your offerings and start building your customer base. Marketing helps you get them in the door so you can wow them with your exciting activities and classes.

Email marketing for art studios

If you already have a list of email addresses from reaching out to the community or running programming in the past, email marketing is a good starting point. The key to successful email marketing is keeping it short and highlighting your value. Use these tips when you plan your email marketing for your art studio.

• Use an enticing subject line. Email marketing does not work if they don’t open your email. Create a sense of urgency, intrigue the reader, and/or showcase your value with a strong subject line. Here are a couple of examples:
• ~Only 10 spots left for beginner watercolor!
• ~Book now! Art summer camps are almost full
• ~See what families have to say about our art classes‍
• Provide incentives. If you can offer incentives like discounts or early access, email is a great place to do that: Especially in the subject line!‍
• Keep it short. You are competing against hundreds of other emails per day. It is important to get right to the point with marketing emails. Tell them why you are emailing, show them your value, and give them an easy way to purchase.‍
• End with a call-to-action (CTA). At the end of your email, use a CTA that encourages the reader to make a decision. Sometimes, the decision will be registering for your classes. However, other times it might make more sense for the CTA to be “schedule a call” or “learn more” if the reader is not yet ready to make a purchase.

Review our guide for more in depth information on email marketing for small businesses.

Social media marketing for art studios

Social media is a very important platform when marketing art classes for children and adults. Did you know that Pew Research reports that 72% of all adults in the US use social media? Plus, when it comes to parents, they found that number to be even higher: 83% of parents are actively using social media. Therefore, social media is an important medium for reaching potential customers. Consider these recommendations when establishing a social media marketing strategy for your art studio.

• Highlight high quality photos. Smartphone photography is all you need to get high quality images for your social media marketing campaigns. These images are the first impression a customer will get of your classes, so make sure they are full of smiling faces! And if you use photos of children, remember to always get permission from a parent or guardian beforehand. 
• Showcase user-generated content (UGC). Millennials trust UGC over brand created content. Ask customers to share pictures in photo contests, reshare positive reviews, and get the excitement flowing with social media takeovers. Check out our full guide on user-generated content to see even more ideas.
• Make connections with potential and current customers. Social media is such a great tool because you can easily interact with your community. By making connections, you are increasing the likelihood that they sign up for your classes and refer friends. 

For more guidance on social media marketing for businesses, check out our article, which includes helpful information about setting up business accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

Advertising for art studios

Google Ads are a great marketing tool for new businesses. Google Ads follow a Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising model, which means you bid on search terms and only pay for the clicks your ads receive. There is no spending requirement, so it can be a very cost efficient strategy. Follow these steps when setting up your Google Ads campaign.

• Start with research. First, you need to decide which keywords to target. Keywords are the words or phrases that people search for on Google that trigger your ad. Research which keywords your competitors are targeting by searching those words to see what ads appear. This will give you an understanding of your competition.
• Choose your level. Google Ads have two different levels. The first is campaigns, which is the higher level and the second is ad groups, which is the lower level. Creating different ad groups for different keywords will help your ad be more effective with customers. 
• Plan your budget. You need to consider two different elements that go into your account’s overall spend: Daily budget (the amount of money you spend on each campaign each day) and bid (the cost when someone who searches for your keyword actually clicks on your ad).
• Pick the keywords. Google Ads has a free Keyword Planner tool, which you can use to generate a list of keywords. The Keyword Planner helps you see if certain keywords are too expensive and helps you refine where your ads appear. 
• Choose your devices. Do you want your ads to appear on mobile, desktop, tablet, or all three? In our 2022 Children’s Activity Business Trend Report, we found that 60% of parents booked activities on mobile, 39% on desktop, and 1% on tablet.
• Write the copy. You don’t have a lot of space, so write something catchy and enticing with the keywords. Plus, be sure to add a call-to-action (CTA) like “Sign up today” or “Learn more”.
• Activate and monitor. Turn your ads on and then see how they are doing with Google Analytics, which is free and connected to Google Ads. For more advanced tracking, you can also install a Google Ads pixel on your site. 

Looking for more details on setting up Google advertising for your business? Check out our guide!

Making connections with schools

When you teach classes to children, making connections with schools can help you build customer trust, increase your enrollment numbers, and find new families in your community. Here are some of our top tips to help you make connections with schools.

• Find the right people. Try reaching out to members of the school board, school administrators, and/or the PTA to start the conversation.
• Write a strong email. Catch their attention with your subject line, then in the body, introduce yourself and explain what you are offering. Be straightforward but polite. Let them know why the students would benefit from your classes and how you can make life easier for the school, too. End your email by thanking them for their time and let them know how they can get in touch with you to continue the conversation.
• Use our outreach email generator. With our outreach email generator, you can easily input the above information and create an email that will help you make strong connections with local schools.

Use our guide to learn more about how to make connections with schools.