Piano studio advertising and its challenges are something that we all face on a regular basis. How? When? To whom? It’s a tricky subject… as what works for one person can fall flat for another. But with a few simple pointers, you can give your advertising the help it needs to succeed!
Christmas in July Gone Wrong
I live in a small, rural community and we have one Perogy store in town. I’m not a fan of this food, but I know about this business because they must spend hours each day peppering the highway into town with signage… “Homemade Perogies!” “Fresh Perogies”, “Traditional Perogies!”... if you’re not thinking of sour cream and starch by the time you get to your destination you must be blind. I didn’t think too much about their advertising strategy. If anything, I gave them props because I knew exactly where they were located, what they sold and when they were having a sale.
It wasn’t until the other day that my impression of their business changed. It was the end of July and, as I drove by the Perogy store, I couldn’t help but notice a 14 foot tall inflatable Santa placed outside their store. Now I’m used to all the helium balloons and signage… but the Santa? This was something new.
Piano Teachers Can Learn from Perogies
As I drove by shaking my head, I realized just how much damage that decision to use a massive Santa Claus to draw attention to their store had done. Now they just seemed desperate. The Santa had absolutely nothing to do with their 25% off sale and the Santa certainly had nothing to do with perogies. Did it catch my attention? Absolutely. Was it a good business decision? I don’t think so.
What the store had done was changed my perception of them from being a “pound the pavement, hard-working old-fashioned business” to… well… totally desperate. Visions of close-to-expiry perogies flashed through my mind. Why were they SO anxious to catch my attention? Did they not have loyal customers or word-of mouth driving traffic to their place of business? Did they really actually need an obscure 14 foot Santa in July do that for them?
And, as always… I started thinking about piano studio advertising and what I could learn from this perogy store’s blunder:
1) No advertising is better than horrible advertising – make sure that every stitch of what you put out there directly reflects upon the kind of business you run. Bad advertising will do more damage than no advertising at all.
2) Avoid seeming desperate – choose your forms of advertising carefully and be sure they “fit” with your piano studio. Choose professional forms of advertising in order to be treated as such. Be conscious of where you place this advertising – are you choosing places that reflect favorably upon your business?
3) Get a second opinion – find someone you trust and get their take both on your advertising materials and strategies. Did they look at you like they’d just seen a camel in a snowstorm? Toss the idea. Were they ho-hum about your print advertising? Re-do it. First impressions count; they truly can make the difference between a missed opportunity or a new client.
I drove by the Perogy store the next day and the Santa was gone. I do wonder if someone had mentioned to them this probably wasn’t the best idea. Or… perhaps they’re waiting for their order of an inflatable Easter Bunny to arrive… 😉
Want more info on Piano Studio Advertising? Read on:
The 4-Part Process To Sprucing Up Your Piano Lesson Advertising Materials
Make This Small Change To Your Piano Lesson Advertising… And Change The World!
Melina Kastle says
I couldn’t agree more! Desperation is such a turn off! It’s hard when you are trying to build your studio and business and are, perhaps, a bit desperate but you are going to make it if you build with quality tools. Thanks for this refreshing reminder.
wanda says
They were probably doing a Christmas in July special. Not that unusual. Doesn’t seem desparate to me, especially as they are always findingways of putting the word out there.