5 Ways to Market Belly Dance Classes and Lessons Using Online Marketing
Last Updated on February 4, 2024
1. Using Gumtree and Meetup.com
If you have just set up a belly dancing class, then the key to success is high attendance. In today’s technical age, one of the best ways to market a club or class is to do it online.
There are websites and forums all over the internet, that are an ideal place to market your class such as Gumtree, and provide you to reach a potentially large audience.
Likewise, meetup.com can be a great way to build interest in local events that you are organizing and many belly dancers use meetup.com for this very purpose.
2. Joining Forces with a Local Sports Center or Club
Fitness and sports clubs have also found that a good way of attracting new attendees is to collaborate with local universities.
Students are also willing to try something new, so it is worth considering advertising your class on their site, or within the union.
Many student unions rent out their rooms for hire to sports classes, and by doing so and advertising online, you can get information on your class to a large, youthful audience.
The big benefit of getting your classes into a local sports center is that they will in effect market the classes for you because they will target their members by promoting any classes and facilities they provide.
3. Social Media
On top of that, social media is a fantastic way to market your class. Facebook and Twitter are ideal ways to advertise local belly dancing classes for zero cost and reach large numbers of people.
Not just that, but if people join your class’ Facebook group, their friends might become curious and do the same thing.
Nowadays social media is something that more and more dance teachers use.
In particular, many people create Facebook groups for their classes, where students can post comments, interact with each other and the teacher can post teaching materials such as videos.
Keeping in contact via a Facebook group that is updated regularly, is a great way to keep your students engaged, making them want to keep attending your classes, as they will feel a part of a community and value the social aspect of it.
4. Creating Your Own Website
There are so many ways to market yourself online, that you no longer need to just have a website (of course this helps) with basic contact details.
Just make sure your site is optimized to rank for terms such as ‘(name of city) belly dancing class’ and other popular terms.
Even though having a website is no longer a must it is very useful to have something online that represents you, a sort of virtual business card or shop window.
Also, the site belongs to you, while a Facebook page is still part of Facebook and you do not have complete ownership of it.
So, social media and a website complement each other. As the website represents you, make sure that it looks nice and tidy and the contact details are easy to find, after all you want people to contact you to get business.
5. Further Thoughts On Organizing a Hafla
If you are looking to start your own belly dancing event, then there are things to take into consideration.
Firstly, a hafla, or a Middle East dance party, can take many forms from an educational seminar to a ‘disco’, so make sure you know what kind of event you wish to organize.
Once you know that, you can start sourcing a venue and everything else you need for the party, including food, drink, and entertainment.
Many haflas are held during the festive period as people are already in the mood for a party and as such a belly dancing party is incredibly popular.
Many belly dancing clubs use them as a way to raise funds for equipment or for a local charity.
This is usually a good idea as people are more inclined to attend if they know it is for a good cause.
Also, it can be very rewarding to be able to do something good and raise money for charity through your own hobby and passion.
Like any party or event, you need to make sure you have the numbers to make it worth your while, so as well as pupils attending, encourage them to bring friends and loved ones.
After all, you may find many of them enjoy it so much, that they might become frequent attendees at the classes.
The venue is always the hardest thing to choose, as you need it large enough for the attendees, but such hired areas often have a cost.
Doing it at your home or a friend’s will result in problems, so it is worth biting the bullet and hiring somewhere for minimal fuss.
On the other hand, you do not want a venue that is too big either for the number of people you expect, as an empty-looking hall is not good.
So, it is better to choose a venue that is not too small but still cozy.
Either way, once all that is organized, you can sort decorations, food, invitations, and entertainment. It is guaranteed to be a fantastic evening, so make sure you take care of organizing it.
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Dr Valeria Lo Iacono is a belly dancer and a dance researcher with a PhD in dance and heritage. Valeria also teaches and performs as a belly dance but also enjoys learning ballet, jazz dance and other dance genres.
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