Boost Your Yoga Studio with a Referral Program

By Dennis Bluthardt, Namaste Studios®

Once a small yoga studio in a busy neighborhood, Zen Haven is now a home for what feels like a community of dedicated practitioners. When I reflect upon this, I think of the light that hangs in the front room of Zen Haven. And I think of what it is to be in community, to pay for the laughable privilege of a few moments in the front room of Zen Haven, to breathe fully in a space where people dare to make and hold weird shapes.

“Inform your companions of this; when they arrive, you and they shall receive a discount on next month’s billing,” said Zen Haven.

It was simple, but it worked. The current students didn’t view me as someone trying to take their money each month. They looked forward to seeing new friends come through the door. Attendance grew higher and higher each month.

Zen Haven would then host events, such as “Students Bring a New Friend Month” (offering a free class), and I’m sure you can imagine the results they saw from this…

No, no gimmicks, no spam emails, sales funnels or anything of the sort. A strategic, honest relationship that one might think drove new members away can be seen as a beautiful solution to a problem most studios (unknowingly) face.

Creating Your Yoga Studio Referral Program

Referral incentives foster a friendly, healthy competition among members, rewarding those who bring in more people they’ll enjoy practicing with and working out with. This could be a discount for future classes, free classes for bringing in a certain number of people, or yoga mats or water bottles with the studio branding. It’s good for the community and good for building up a stable of regulars.

Many platforms, such as Wellness Living, Mindbody or Zen Planner, will allow this to be easily integrated into membership management, with sections of the dashboard for easily keeping an eye on who’s referring whom. About 20% of members could utilize this and bring in even one person. This would still bring a significant boost to a studio’s member count.

After reaching specific goals, celebrate member milestones for the number of people referred. After they bring in their first new member, point it out with a slight acknowledgment to the rest of the class. Shout-outs could be given more frequently with each new referral, especially for members who have been coming to classes consistently.

The Power of Trust and Community

Trust and community lead to referrals in the yoga industry. The practice of yoga is aimed at personal growth and well-being, so the best way to find a yoga studio is by asking a trusted source (friends, family, etc.) who may already be practicing yoga. This community is very tight-knit. The likelihood that a person will have a close friend already practicing yoga is high.

Referral marketing is a strategy that all yoga studios should use because word-of-mouth takes place at a high frequency among people who have also spent tons of time deep diving into self-discovery.

As a small business owner, you want to connect with more than just your current customers; you want to grow your business and reach new customers. Yoga studios that have a strong community and positive class experience will see a higher rate of referrals.

Studios with a strong brand image and nail their class experience will often find themselves in a “chicken or the egg” scenario. The yoga is good enough to keep people coming back week after week. It is the sense of starting the week (or ending the day) with familiar faces that draws people to practice more regularly. A strong community where people feel comfortable sharing their brand experiences is going to generate a lot of positive word of mouth. Many studios create, as their primary purpose, a goal to transfer brand loyalty to future generations.

Maximizing Your Referral Program’s Effectiveness

A well-run referral program can increase retention and bring new students to a yoga studio. When Johnny tells Susie, “Hey, you should check out my yoga studio”, and she does, they both get a gold star. Or a discount on classes. Or a yoga mat. Something cool. The beauty of a referral program is that both the new and the returning student get something good, not just the new person. This makes current students excited to bring in new students and create an atmosphere of friendly “You’ve got to try this with me!”

Here’s what an effective yoga studio referral program looks like:

• Good incentive: Discounts, a free towel or T-shirt, “Be the first in your class,” etc.
• Advertised: On social, posters in the studio, flyers, and mentioned in class. Who wouldn’t want to bring in a bud for 20 bucks off the next class pass?
• Advertised online! Display banners and links on your studio schedule, and utilize a digital referral program like Referral Hero, which enables students to share links with friends easily. This also prevents students from “she said that he said that I referred someone, but I didn’t get my reward.”

What a referral program shouldn’t do:

• It is too complicated. One or two steps to get to the “sale” at the end.
• Advertise at the front desk that this referral program exists and has tools. Advertise a little bit more.
• One or two items to incentivize with. Don’t pick 11 things to incentivize students. Keep the “CD” catalog small and make each product meaningful. Emphasize value!
• Time-bound incentives: “Hey, you’ve got 10 days to sign someone up before they’re lost forever! “Kim Kardashian is still selling that lipstick, and that game isn’t relevant. Don’t start the timer!

Real-World Success Stories

Referral programs have allowed many yoga studios to improve their community and increase membership. One San Francisco studio started a simple “bring a friend” referral campaign. Current members received a free class for each new referral. This campaign motivated current members to make referrals and provide the referred members with a familiar face. This “at-home feeling increased the likelihood that the new member would return to the studio. The campaign resulted in new member growth of 30% in three months.

Another studio in Texas chose to offer a tiered referral plan. Texans love “winning” and they love free stuff. Using the two together to grow the studio made sense. Members earned perks like discounts on swag and free workshops. Progression up the “leaderboard” was a challenge that reaped its rewards with each referral made. By doing this, the sense of community was increased. In many of the referral courses, the referrals were substantial increases in the leaderboard. They experienced a 50% increase in referrals over six months.

With the programs mentioned above, the owners made their mark on the studio as “a nice place to come” and “it’s communal … a lot of referrals for this type of situation.” Yoga studios have become a stand-alone franchise in the exercise industry where a “more than one” strategy pertains to friends, family, and colleagues of the individual. This will occur during the early days of studio flushing, throughout the”

Community engagement and client retention can be exponentially increased via the referral system at your yoga studio. Consider the network of possible new clients you’re missing out on!

People who take a class together often know each other in person in different areas of life (work, school, family). If there are ways to bring more people from a particular member’s life to their yoga classes, this will only create more of a sense of belonging. Some studios incentivize these kinds of referrals by offering discounts, products, or courses to both the referrer and the member. 

Many studios have specific “refer a friend” tabs on their site menu, making it easy for current members.

Studio culture is niche and very specific to the general atmosphere. Often, customers or clients will regularly practice yoga for long durations, either sticking to one studio or “studio hopping.” There is a big part of the joy of yoga that comes from being a part of a community. 

Everyone’s there to grow their physical and mental health and push each other forward. Someone may be looking for that same nurturing atmosphere in a yoga class. So, you should offer it by building a referral program for your yoga studio.

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