Marketing Your Training Centre

Inland Waterways Instructor Conference 2013

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Topics for this workshop

1. What is marketing?

2. How to market your Training Centre

3. Who are you marketing to?

4. Writing a Marketing Plan

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

What is marketing?

• Marketing is the process of performing market research, selling a product/service to customers and promoting them via advertising

• It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships, creating value for customers

• Being able to promote your Training Centre to the right people in the right way is crucial to its future

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Marketing Mix

• Product• Price• Place• Promotion

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Product

• What is your Unique Selling Point?– New boats?

• How do you add value to your product?– Free lunch?

• What accreditation to you have?• Who has recommended you?• When can I take my course with you?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Price

• What does it cost?• Special deals?• How does this compare to other TC’s?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Place

• What is your location?• Where can people find and buy your

product?– Face to face– Post– Phone– Online

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Place - First impressions

• Shop front

• Website

– Examples

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Promotion

• Recommendation• PR• Branding• Social media• E-newsletters/Newsletters• Texts• Advertising – radio, local press• Website

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Public Relations (PR) – what is it?

Raising public awareness using print, broadcast and online media and other relevant bodies to publicise good news stories and events

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Public Relations opportunities

• Event at your Training Centre – open day• Staff or volunteers• Sponsorship or fundraising• Customer stories• Visits

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Branding

• Branding is the term to describe the design and logo that identifies your organisation

• Branding assists the public in identifying you

• A strong brand can build recognition for your Training Centre, while improving your profile within the community.

• What is your Training Centres brand identity?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Social media – do we need it?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQzsQkMFgHE

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Facebook

• Setup a facebook page• Invite your “friends” to like your page• Their friends will see that they like your

page• Setup a facebook event – open day• Invite your friends• Ask your friends to invite their friends• Link to your website

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Twitter

• Make a list of useful people to follow and who you want to follow you

• Follow them• Ask them to follow you• Regular tweets – what are you doing –

what is coming up• Ask for re-tweets• Link to your website

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

YouTube

• Second most popular search engine in the world

• What comes up when you type in your Training Centre??

• Create a simple introduction to your Training Centre and upload it

• Videos on a webpage = 10 x more hits

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

E-newsletters/newsletters

• Existing customers• Tell them about –

– What is happening – Why they should come back– Why they should recommend a friend –

incentivise?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Who are we marketing to? What do your customers look like?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Markets segments

• Sport England and Experian has developed 19 sporting segments

• Helps you identify who your potential customer is

• What they want - motivations and barriers

• Best methods of communicating with them

• Web tool to analyse segment population at different geographic levels

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

More info here -

• http://segments.sportengland.org/querySegments.aspx

• http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/resources/Pages/Knowingyourcustomer.aspx

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Marketing plan

• 4 P’s• Where do you want to be?• How are you going to get there?

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Your Marketing Plan – write it down!What How Who/

CostTiming

RYA courses Website – list dates + setup online paymentFacebook page

GB £0

GB £0

Begin Jan

Begin Feb

Open day11th June

Facebook pageWebsitePress release local mediaInvite ex customers + their friends + family

GB £0GB £?GB £0

On-going updatesBegin MayOn-going updates

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

You are not on your own!

• RYA Guide to social media

• RYA marketing your club webpages

• RYA PR Toolkit

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Summary

• Price• Product• Place• Promotion• Who are you marketing to?• Resources

Protecting your Rights, Promoting your Interests

Questions?

gareth.brookes@rya.org.uk07876 330136