The Client: One of the leading yoga and Pilates studios in the Indianapolis area, Invoke Yoga and Pilates focuses on the wellness, strength, and alignment of its students. Invoke Yoga and Pilates offers more than 40 classes each week in various disciplines. With more than 4,000 square feet of space and 12 teachers, the studio satisfies the needs of its students in a friendly and physically intense atmosphere.
The Challenge: Invoke owner Amy Peddycord was constantly reaching out to potential customers with a healthy amount of email marketing, and had developed a strong social networking presence. Even with her past marketing and advertising success, Amy constantly searched for ways to stay the industry leader in her area. After being contacted by a Groupon account representative and hearing of another business owner’s success with the deal-a-day site, Amy decided she had nothing to lose and only new customers to gain by working with Groupon.
The Deal: On May 13, 2010 Invoke Yoga and Pilates ran its Groupon feature: for $49, buyers got to choose between 10 yoga and Pilates mat classes or one month of unlimited classes. Because of the size of her studio and the number of teachers she employed, Amy knew she could handle a large influx of customers. To that end, Amy and her dedicated account rep structured the deal with a six-month expiration date to bring a large number of customers through the door in a short period of time.
The Results: Amy was pleased with the 404 Groupons her feature sold. The new clientele were the kind of people Amy looks for in faithful students. They skewed heavily female—just like Amy’s current students—and were slightly younger than her average student. Amy tracked her success and discovered that 70% of Groupon customers were first-time students at Invoke—and that more than 50% of Groupon customers purchased additional classes and/or merchandise. Around 40% of Groupon customers came back to Invoke after using their Groupon and are now regular students. In light of her successful overall results, Amy plans to have Invoke Yoga and Pilates featured in the Indianapolis market once again in 2011.
The Proof:
$49
$135
“I definitely think you get that younger more tech savvy client. You reach a greater number of people (compared to traditional advertising). It was worth it to just get our brand in front of them, whether they came in to take a class or not. Groupon gives more of a call to action than a traditional print ad. I recommend that owners think carefully about how they pay their instructors for Groupon clients. You may consider not paying your teachers or limiting pay for these sessions with the confidence that you will convert them into full priced/return clients.”
- Amy Peddycord, Owner
