Summer can be a rough time for martial arts schools. So here are some ideas to minimize the summer dip.

Summer camps -> Obvious answer. Summer camps can turn July / August into your highest grossing months. It’s not too late to get some camps up and running, but if you don’t have them planned out time is running really short.

Even if you are not running summer camps in your school, they are getting run in other places, and those places are often looking for new things to do.  Going into other summer camps as a guest can be a great way to get exposure and introduce people to your school.  

Specialty Classes -> Summer is a fun time, and classes should turn up that dial to compete.  One way to help keep the interest high when you are competing against all of the other summer things is to run some specialty classes or work shops over the summer (and announce them before the summer)

The classes should suit your gyms culture, be fun, and be something they wouldn’t normally get to do.

This could be things like:

• “Stick it out this summer” – stick fighting classes
• Pro-wrestling style moves
• Extra competition classes
• Kids MMA classes
• Leadership training
• Classes where you cover techniques not allowed in rolling / tournaments
• etc.

June Referral & review drive -> June is a great time for a Referral & review drive.  We use a Bingo based event that the kids check off squares for bringing friends, family, parents leaving reviews, fitness based tasks, and other things outside of the school.

Summer Special -> A referral drive pairs really well with a special.  Over summer months many people are hesitant to sign up for new things due to summer activities and travel and expecting to miss time.  A summer special that turns into a membership after school restarts can help get over that bump. 

July & August Attendance raffle. -> Every class they show up for they get an entry ticket. At the end of the summer we do a draw for the prizes. This one we like to do one really big, really cool prize. We’ve done Electric scooters, Meta Quest VR system, A drone, etc. One big prize that everyone really wants and a few smaller runner up prizes. (I’ll get the assets we use into the internal marketing section soon)

Community BBQ -> Rent some inflatable bouncers, a big grill, and get a cotton candy machine. This is a free event, basically an open house that everyone wants to come too. Hot dogs and cotton candy are cheap and the event can bring in a ton of leads.

External Community events -> Any larger community events that you can pay to get a space for a canopy tent are a great way to keep things flowing in the summer. There is a section in the internal marketing area on how we operate these.

Want more help planning out a summer game plan? Book a free strategy call here: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf

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