Storytelling is a great skill to have when marketing your martial arts school. Even if you got a marketing degree, chances are there was no storytelling lecture at the time. Afterall, you opened a martial arts school because of your love for the martial arts… Nobody ever mentioned having to become a marketing ninja was going to be part of your journey! The learning curve can sometimes feel like going for a root canal, but have no fear, you can do this!
You can tell your story and you can tell it in a powerful way. If you understand what your story is missing, then you can create the message that has new students clicking on your offers and wanting more.
Think about what you love about a story, the pieces that have you glued to the Audible, or the movie screen. Alternately, have you ever lost interest and stopped listening? Can you remember why? What was it that had you bored, disinterested, or just feeling “meh” about it?
The good news is that there is a proven marketing framework called The Hero’s Journey that can help you craft a message that will resonate with your prospects and help you deliver a concise marketing message (Hint: YOU are NOT the Hero!!!)
The hero’s journey is a framework that countless books, songs, movies and beyond have used for centuries to tell a story. It states there are 7 phases to each story:
1) A Main Character
2) Who Has a Problem
3) Finds A Guide
4) The Guide gives the Main Character a Plan
5) The Guide Calls Main Character (The Hero) to action
This results in:
6) Success
or
7) Failure
Most businesses place themselves as the hero of their story, (“We are the best martial arts school in our city!” or how many times have you read “City’s Premiere Martial Arts Facility”), but savvy marketers know that if you want to have a marketing message that speaks to your customers, you must realize this fundamental concept: You, the business, are NOT the Hero of your story… You are the GUIDE! Your CUSTOMER is the hero! You simply have a plan to help them overcome their obstacle. If you can approach every video, every ad copy, every angle of your marketing with this concept front and center (like we have at www.websitedojo.com) then you will be able to speak to your customers in a way that will make them want to Join you by taking you up on your challenge following your plan… rather than have a battle of the heroes! When two heroes meet, one of them will say “who is this guy! I’m the hero!” and walk away. That would be your customer, when you fail to explain how you can help them, but rather boast about being the best thing they have ever seen!
What’s missing from your message that your prospects absolutely need before they will click?
Here are 5 important things you need to add to your story:
The more you practice the more comfortable you’ll get and the more comfortable you get the better your story will be. Think about a few of your best stories right now. What got you into what you’re doing? How did that story begin? What lessons did you learn along the way? What’s your best tip for someone based on what you’ve learned. When you deliver the answers in the form of a good story, we’ll be ready to hear more.
At Website Dojo, we have gone through great lengths to write all the content on our websites with a customer centric message, very similar to what is described in this blog. Is your website written with a Customer Centric message that makes your prospects say “YES. This school has the solution to my problems!”? Is there an easy to follow FLOW that walks them through the next step you want them to take and has them handing you over their most private info like Phone Numbers and Emails? Click the LEARN MORE button on the top right of this page to see how Website Dojo can help YOU overcome your lead generation obstacles by providing you a website that is averaging 10% conversion rates for over 500 martial arts schools all over the world!
And if you want to learn how to craft the perfect marketing message in your ads and copy, first you must know WHO you are speaking to! I highly recommend you download our Martial Arts Customer Avatar Worksheet! I will show you exactly how I identify the recipient of our ads, and craft a marketing message made to make them feel like you are reading their mind!!! It’s free, you can download it below: