Pre-sales for Boutique Fitness Studios

Pre-sales has become a popular strategy amongst studios following the effects of the pandemic as it has helped studios test the waters in terms of market response and client acquisition. It allows studios to promote their products & services as well as introduce new studios/features before doors open, which many studios have advocated having helped with building a strong and loyal client base, Additionally, making the launching process ten times easier! It is a simple and effective process and if done correctly it can guarantee the best quality product/ service and even cut down the stress of opening a new studio in a new area! Below we will run you through how best to employ a pre-sale strategy and also show you why so many Boutique Fitness studios are looking at them now!

A Pre-sale strategy is a very broad tool that bears many advantages, here are a few examples of strategies that a studio can adapt to make the most of them.

1. Pop-ups

A proven tactic is to offer a “teaser” class with an instructor in a public location or in-studio and make this event open to the public. This can involve a guest instructor that is well known in the industry or even an instructor from your studio. Making your audience aware of the event would be the hardest part and this can be done by advertising through digital marketing, word-of-mouth, local radio, or even by distributing fliers. By giving potential customers a taste of the classes you have to offer you can gauge their interest and expectations of the classes available for them. This also allows you to go back to the drawing board, if need be, to modify elements of the classes, services, or products to better suit your audience.

2. Social media & Influencers

We are in a digital age where social media has become one of the most effective platforms to market and promote. It is cost-efficient and reaches large audiences faster than other methods, this is a very broad form of promotion so you can get creative with how you use your platforms. For this strategy, studios can create social media pages and make use of paid promotions, this can allow them to engage with their audience. A lot of studios have also employed social media influencers who have credibility in the industry amongst a large audience to promote their product/service before it has launched. This creates anticipation and creates awareness of the product/service pre-launch, believe it or not, but they play a pivotal role in influencing the purchase decision of their audience! Studios can give the influencer a discount code to distribute to their audience that they can use to secure the product/service, this comes at a small cost to the studio that in the long run will bear a lot of benefits!.

Tuck Barre Yoga made use of this strategy to promote one of their newer classes, rooftop barre bounce. Social media influencer and famous NHL Dancer, “Cass_thecity”, dedicated a post to her experience in one of the classes which received amazing feedback with her large audience engaging and expressing interest in participating in the coming classes! Click here to see the post.

3. Pre-sales of products/services

This strategy works well for Studios that already have a customer base and are introducing new products or services or opening a second location, however it is not limited to them. Here you can use a more targeted approach as studios may have an established idea of their target market and the expectations they may have. Marketing and promoting play a big role in this strategy as customers must know why it is worthwhile buying a product or service before physically obtaining its benefits of it. Studios can hold competitions amongst their clients and the prize could be a free pass to a new class or even a new product for example. This strategy builds excitement and can potentially increase revenue streams once the product has been launched. However, it is trickier as you must meet the set deadline with the expected quality promised.

These are just a few examples of strategies that Boutique Fitness studios have been using, however powerful these strategies maybe it is important to understand the basics of Pre-sale tactics before applying these strategies. When choosing and implementing a Pre-sale strategy it is important to become familiar with and understand your audience, this can help you roll out the most effective pre-sale strategy to reach your target market. As well as how big of an audience they want to reach when doing pre-sales, the bigger the group the more accurate your findings may be. It is important to get to know the community that you are set to apply these strategies on as they are your future client base. Lastly, How long before the launch should a pre-sale strategy be implemented? A good time frame should be two months maximum before the expected launch date, this gives enough time to build anticipation and for any revisions, if need be!

Pre-sales are a valuable tool that can make a huge difference for Boutique studios on launch day. Employing a strategy can be budget-friendly and can benefit your studio in the end as well as build confidence pre-launch for instructors and managers. Try it out, it could make a huge difference for your Boutique studio as it did for others!