Back to School Guide
It’s that time of year again! If you hold classes for younger adults or children, now is the time to prepare for the back to school rush!
How can we bring back and entice old and new students into the club? With parents looking for childcare and kids looking for fun evening activities, an afterschool class is a win-win. Here are a few things to consider for the back to school period.
Getting in Touch with Schools
The first step is to research schools in your area and start to build a relationship. You’ll probably need to get in contact with the ‘Primary Link Teacher’ who will be your main point of contact. Start with a simple phone call explaining who you are and what your club offers. Most importantly explain what you will offer the students and the school.
For example, Martial Arts encourages confidence building, fitness, social skills, discipline, anti-bullying ethos amongst many other benefits.
So what methods are there to get your message out once you have got the green light from the school?
ParentMail
Many schools use ParentMail which is a way of contacting parents using emails and an app. From here they can find information and fill out forms etc, which may prove to be handy! If you have a good business relationship with a school, they can send out your info too. Here is a link to take a look at how it works https://www.parentmail.co.uk/
Book Bag leaflets
Get designing now! Sending kids home with a leaflet is a great way for parents to find out about your class and get in contact. Try arranging the leaflets into batches of around 30 to make it easier for the teachers to hand out to their class.
Marketing
Prepare your Back to School campaign by updating your social media and website. Don’t forget to do some offline marketing too, such as posters in community centres and schools or leaving leaflets for parents to pick up.
After school clubs
Consider running an after school club. You’ll have to organise this with the school and may have to pay to use their space, but parents will like the idea of their children being proactive and receiving the benefits of your club whilst also receiving child care. Running the club for an hour or so will mean a lot more parents have time to pick up their kids which is a big selling point to your class!
Holiday Camps
Thinking about half terms too? Schools have loads of space to hold summer camps or activity days. Parents will love that their kids are busy and keeping active during the school holidays.
Demonstrations
Having a strong relationship with the schools in your area can give you access to things like fetes and assemblies where you can give demonstrations or talks on the benefits of keeping active. This is a great way to get your business name out there and get kids excited about your classes! Remember to provide a way for a member to join up.
All these methods require some time and effort to look into what message and selling point is being used to get them intrigued to attend a class. Sometimes clubs can see this as a daunting experience but the pay-offs can be massive.
This is just one aspect that we help clubs with each summer to help them grow we provide marketing ideas and plans that help clubs reach their potential.
SimplyCollect can help you both gain new members and manage your current members with a comprehensive and easy to use software package that can allow new members to sign up online and current members to track their progress – all whilst managing the membership administration, direct debit payments and arrears. To find out more about how we can help grow your business and manage your current workload, contact us on 0330 223 3152 or at enquiries@simplycollect.co.uk.co.uk