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Should I Use Google and Facebook Ads for Recruiting New Martial Arts Students?

Over the years, we martial artists have had to adapt to changing times, especially in marketing. The digital age is no exception, where consumers spend their time on social media and search engines while hunting for local businesses. As new online marketing channels gain prominence, it's crucial for us martial artists to learn how to connect with potential students effectively. While we don't recommend making online ads the sole tool for recruiting new students, they can be powerful additions to your marketing toolbox, often at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. In this article, we will provide you with some tips and best practices for digital marketing for your martial arts school.

Social Media Vs. Search Ads

In the realm of online ads, martial arts schools commonly use two types to drive recruiting efforts: social media ads and search ads. Both have their pros and cons but can significantly supplement your other marketing efforts. Here, we will outline some of the differences between these two types of online ads.

Social Media Ads

Many consumers spend time on social media platforms throughout the day, making these platforms ideal for capturing someone's attention, providing information about your school, and offering them a deal they can redeem by providing contact information or visiting your website. Similar to ads on TV and radio, social media ads perform best when they feature eye-catching content that conveys who you are, what you offer, and easy-to-find contact information. Videos, photos, and compelling copy work together to capture a prospect's attention and provide as much information as possible in a short time, while guiding them to take action.

Pros:

• Guaranteed visibility

• Potentially low cost per prospect

• Easy setup from desktop or phone

Cons:

• Requires daily monitoring for some ads

• May have a high cost per lead

• May require warming up leads

Search Ads

Unlike social media ads, which aim to stand out among the sea of content on those platforms, search ads focus on providing users with relevant search results, with ads displayed at the top of these result pages. This means that users searching for something in their local area already have a goal in mind and are looking for services that can fulfill that goal. Search ads can be very effective for recruiting new members because these leads are "warm," meaning they already have a buying mindset and are now seeking the best value in the service they wish to purchase—in this case, martial arts lessons. The main challenge for school owners when using search ads is that the ad is only part of the equation. You need to have somewhere to send these leads, which should be a highly optimized website or landing page. Remember that even with paid ads, Google and other search engines rank your website based on user experience. Therefore, ensure that the keywords you target are relevant to the searches people are conducting, and that the landing page reflects their intended search.

Pros:

• Appears at the top of search results

• Can have a low cost per lead

• Warmer leads

• Requires less daily monitoring compared to social media ads

Cons:

• Relies more on text than media

• Involves more steps for lead capture

• May require website optimization before running ads

• Could be limited by search queries

Which Online Ad Platform Should I Use to Recruit More Martial Art Students?

We always recommend trying different ad platforms to see how they perform in your area. Several factors contribute to a successful ad campaign, including your location, content, website, offer, and more. Furthermore, you should delve into analytics and track the customer journey to ensure that your ad spend yields a positive return on investment. Most ad platforms offer tools for tracking conversions and return on ad spend (ROAS), which are crucial for ensuring that you target the right audience. While we can't recommend one platform over another, we can highlight some key features that each platform offers and how to use them effectively to capture leads.

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp)

Meta ads are among the most commonly used ad platforms by digital marketers to reach their intended audience. As previously mentioned, social media apps like Facebook and Instagram have large user pools that can share their data, allowing you to target the right audience for your ads. This data can be segmented to target specific demographics, age groups, locations, and more, ensuring that your ad spend is utilized effectively. Furthermore, with the ability to incorporate media into your ads, you can leverage videos and photos to provide engaging content that warms up leads willing to provide their information. The most common ad goal we see on Meta is "Lead Capture Forms." These forms are highly effective in collecting a lead's contact information without them leaving the app. The captured data can also be set up to integrate with a CRM, streamlining lead follow-up.

Google

Google's ad platform is one of the most comprehensive platforms for setting up campaigns and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). Since it relies on search volume and keyword relevance, your campaign can be tailored to target broad or specific searches in your area. As mentioned earlier, search campaigns are powerful because the leads have the intent to purchase or, at the very least, research the service they are interested in. It's important to note that having an optimized website is the other key factor for a successful Google search campaign. Ensure that your ad links to program-specific pages or a well-optimized landing page. If a user ends up on a page that is not relevant to their search, Google will penalize your ad, potentially resulting in lower impression share. Google also offers other campaign types that, while not used all the time, can be great for increasing awareness if you have the budget for it.

TikTok

TikTok is relatively new to the online advertising space. Its ad platform was introduced just a few years ago, but it has since evolved to become as robust as other platforms. While we haven't extensively tested its ad effectiveness, we've heard anecdotal stories of ads being easy to set up and able to target specific locations. TikTok ads are also great for events, so if you're hosting a seminar at your school, it might be worth investing some money in TikTok, given its large user base spanning almost all age groups.

Should I Hire a Digital Marketing Agency to Run My Martial Arts School Ads?

Setting up campaigns, creating ad copy, gathering media, and staying updated with analytics can be a daunting task if you're dividing your time between running a school and marketing it. This is where a digital marketing agency can step in to help. Their sole focus is to ensure that your ads, website, and other online marketing channels are optimized for receiving leads. We partner with Grow Pro to assist martial arts school owners in delegating their online marketing efforts to a team that will work with you to generate online leads. While other agencies can provide similar services, we always recommend finding those that specialize in local service ads or, better yet, specialize in martial arts lead generation. To learn more about what Grow Pro can do for you, visit their website at https://growproagency.com/.