The Studio of the Future: What to Expect & How to Adjust Your Business
2020 has started a little rough so far. Many of us (and our businesses!) are a bit shaken up...and we’ve realized the way we’ve been doing things isn’t working as well as it did just a few weeks ago.
Sure, things are challenging right now - but there’s also an incredible opportunity to grow and prepare for a smarter, brighter future for our studios and businesses. This is the time to create a stronger, more flexible business.
Let’s talk about how… okay?
Same great studio content, packaged to deliver more value.
The biggest question I’m hearing right now is this: “How do I continue to adapt?” The simple answer is… make online a regular part of your business. Traditionally, you’ve served your customers through in-person classes, appointments and workshops. That is likely still the core of your business—and I believe in most cases 100% should be. The world needs your brick and mortar wellness businesses. However, the last few months have shown us all a new way for local businesses to work within their communities.
Only 7% of Mindbody consumers noted participating in digital fitness programs in 2019, but 85% reported participating in live stream workouts regularly in April 2020. That’s a huge adoption rate due in large part to online workouts being offered by the local business they already love and feel connected to!
I believe the studio of the future will combine traditional in-person work with online classes and content, bringing the incredible value or instructor expertise, community, and overall wellness to your clients through a variety of mediums.
The studio of the future gives your people the experience they’ve always received from your classes and studio, but with more options and more value. But to make all this amazing value you’re creating really shine (and work for your clients, even if they’re not tech-savvy), you’ll need to find a clear and helpful way to get your content online.
Stuck with the best way to get it all organized? Check out this post I wrote sharing the best video-on-demand platforms to get you started along with some solid guidance to help you take action. Once you have your on-demand library set up, you should be able to easily add content as you go, creating a truly valuable asset for current and future clients.
Communicate your studio’s value!
Make sure your clients know about all the added value you’re offering them in the form of online content, memberships, and support groups. Small tweaks to the language on your website can make a huge difference. Focus on keeping your brand message consistent while sharing the improvements you’ve made to your studio.
Adding online experiences (classes, events) to your business makes your studio an even bigger part of your clients’ everyday lives. Your messaging should reflect this added value and incorporate your new offers. Showcasing the flexibility of online offers may even help you regain past clients.
If you already have SEO-optimized text and a strategically designed site map, there’s no need to completely revamp your website… but consider these strategic tweaks to make your offers flow together to support your larger brand message:
Update your website text to communicate the benefits of your community- both online and in person.
Evaluate your offers and update your pricing page. You may want to consider an online-only membership to access your new video content.
Create a page to specifically promote your online classes and videos and strategically redirect CTA buttons throughout your site to your new offers.
These are only a handful of ways to tell your clients about all the great things your studio has to offer them, both in-person and online. For more specific steps on aligning your site with new virtual offers, check out this guest post I wrote for Mindbody called, “5 Website Updates to Seamlessly Incorporate Your New Virtual Offers”. In the article, I offer concrete, step-by-step guidance for making the most out of your new online classes and video library.
Prospective clients are on a buying journey. It’s time to revisit it.
Building a video library is a big project. So is shifting your classes to an online format. You’ve done a lot of work getting ready for the studio of the future while also adjusting your website text and marketing messaging to clearly share all your new offers with your clients. Well done!
With all these changes, now is a good time to assess your business from your prospective client’s point of view.
Take yourself on your client’s buying journey. Now that your business model has shifted to include online classes and videos, ask yourself:
Who is my target audience now? Has this changed?
How are clients engaging with my business NOW?
When they visit my website, can current clients easily find digital content?
How easily can new clients understand new membership options and offers?
Where do clients want to engage with my studio? Social media? Their phones? My website?
In other words, put yourself in your client’s shoes. Then, visit your website as if you’ve never seen it before and think about your client’s experience. Pay close attention to any sticking points such as difficulty finding online content or broken pricing links. Once you understand how and why your clients (and potential clients) find you, you’ll be ready to invest in marketing tools and lead generation options that make sense for your fitness studio.
Need help working through the next steps to create your future studio? My Studio of the Future Workbookis a simple guide to help you identify opportunities on your client’s journey and position your business model for future success. I designed it to give you plenty of tips on how to make online marketing manageable and natural for your fitness studio. Enter your email in the form at the bottom of this article to download it for free.
Don’t let change get you or your business down.
The current challenges can be a pivot point you can use to improve your business model and create your future studio. Keep offering your clients incredible value - both in person and online - and you’ll come out of 2020 with a strong, flexible and resilient business.
Need help pulling all these ideas together? Get in touch and we’ll make a plan to bring your studio into the future!