Remember that a tribe is "a group of people connected to each other, an idea, and a leader."
So, if you want your tribe to stick, you need to help them communicate. But first, you need to connect them to you and a central idea.
How do you do that? I mean, many of the people who are your actual customers are going to be parents and family members who you won't often see at your dojo.
That's where top-down communication comes in. You have to have ways of disseminating infofmation and communicating with your tribe directly in a top-down manner.
- Via your social media channels -
- Through announcements and handouts in class -
- And through your email newsletter -
Social Media
Let's start with social media. Social media channels are great tools to use for broadcast communication... with one caveat.
The mistake I see many school owners making with social media is they use it too often for announcing and selling to their members, and not often enough for PR and marketing.
The difference is this - if the majority of your posts are to tell your students about an event or sale or seminar at your school, you're doing it wrong.
Instead, the majority of your posts should be ABOUT your students. And, those messages should be designed to reinforce the central theme or idea that your tribe is built around (go back in this series a few emails for more on this).
I'll talk about another way to use social media for communicating with your tribe tomorrow, but for now know that social media is for talking about your students, and not about your school.
Announcements and Handouts
Announcements and handouts are still a viable means of getting the word out for your events. They're also great for reinforcing the theme and idea that your tribe is all about.
You should be using end-of-class announcements and handouts at least twice monthly to tell parents and students about your upcoming events. You can also provide weekly handouts that reinforce your mat chats or other lessons that are integral to your dojo's unique mission.
Your Email Newsletter
Building a newsletter subscriber list that consists of your current, former, and prospective students is a vital tool for communicating with your tribe. The best way to do this is with an
email autoresponder.
