Now more than ever, social media marketing is one of the most important and effective ways to reach a new audience. While traditional methods of marketing are still valuable for many businesses—though in decline—social media is capable of breaking down barriers that traditional forms were never able to approach and can help small businesses, in particular, succeed.

As with any marketing plan, it’s vital to address a specific goal. Without identifying your ideal outcomes, it’s difficult to take advantage of social media marketing to achieve tangible results. Here’s how you can optimize social media marketing for your dojo.

Create Great Content

Never underestimate the power of honest-to-goodness great content. This may include images and blog posts that are well-crafted and relevant, videos that capture what it’s like to experience one of your classes, or a campaign around signing up and competing in a tournament. In addition to applying good SEO practices, such as optimizing your blog using keywords, great content will bring eyes to your website, as well as your business.

Need to brush up on your search engine optimization? Here’s a quick guide on how to improve SEO for your dojo.

Offer Variety

In alignment with your content, using a variety of social media platforms can benefit your dojo. Most small businesses will at least use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to remain competitive, and additional platforms (such as Pinterest and LinkedIn) if keen on having their businesses to stand out. The more platforms you are on, the more likely you’ll be able to reach a broader audience.

However, it’s important not to spread yourself too thin. When first launching your social media accounts, it may be more effective to begin with only one or two platforms done well. Once you’ve built and established your content offering and an audience, then consider adding another platform, while reflecting upon which types of posts performed well and which posts didn’t.

Post Frequently

A mistake that some dojos make is not posting content on their social media channels frequently enough. Since you already have these accounts, why not actually use them? On platforms like Instagram and Facebook, it’s recommended that you post at least once and up to three times per day. With Twitter, you should at least post three times per day.

It’s crucial to find the right balance between posting too little and posting too much, but not posting at all is actually counterproductive towards attracting attention for your dojo. Many platforms – Facebook and Instagram, specifically – will penalize you for inactivity. Find a regular posting schedule that works for you and make sure your team is able to sustain it.

Plan Ahead

Unexpected situations can arise that take you away from your regular operations. To avoid the disruption in your marketing activities, plan content ahead of time and schedule your post in advance. Even when it comes to content, apply the age-old saying and “be prepared”.

Creating a content calendar can keep you on track for your social media marketing activities each month. This is a key part of generating relevant content around important days of the year, such as National Martial Arts Day, and sharing it on a timely schedule, so that you can take part in the conversation.

Trial and Error

While it can be a nerve-racking process, trial and error is the best way to truly optimize your social media marketing. For example, by experimenting with your social media activity, you’ll discover the best times for you to post content and engage your audience. Make sure to record your actions and the results as you post at a few specific times during the day or night. Over the next several weeks, examine which posts your audience reacted most positively to. The same experiment can be done to optimize the type of content that you post to your social media channels as well.

From boosting registration to increasing brand awareness for your dojo, social media can be a highly valuable aspect in achieving your marketing objectives. Xplor Recreation understands that as a martial arts school owner, it can be challenging to find time to market your school. Mr. Marketer, our expert marketing service, can assist with all of your dojo’s marketing needs, while helping you get discovered using our white-hat SEO service. Learn more about our marketing services and how our SEO service can generate leads for your dojo.