In this article, we’ll discuss our favorite soccer academy marketing strategies for increasing enrollment. We’ll also provide actionable tips you can implement right away and how using the right Soccer Academy Software can help optimize your marketing.
We’ll explore the following marketing ideas for your Soccer Academy:
About the author: I’m Olivier, co-founder of Activity Messenger, a modern soccer management platform. I also run a multi-location business focused on non-competitive sports for young athletes ages 2-9. Over the past decade, I’ve invested over $200,000 in digital advertising through Facebook, Google and countless email marketing initiatives. My hands-on experience is rooted in the active research of a variety of marketing strategies that are specifically designed to increase enrollment.
You might be surprised by how simple sending a monthly newsletter can. be, yet it remains the #1 underutilized marketing strategy for soccer academies.
Many will simply use Email Marketing to connect with existing clients or athletes.
While this is a great start, it only targets past and current participants.
More importantly, many operators don’t allow for opt-ins on their website so new customers to subscribe to their newsletter.
In our experience, when we introduced a newsletter signup option, we were amazed by the number of potential customers who provided their email to receive our newsletter.
Three things happened when we started segmenting our list based on registration status:
✅ The unsubscribe rate decreased significantly
✅ The open rate increased
✅ Registrations increased
📌 Pro Tip: At our Academy, many parents come to our site through paid advertising or through a search. It is often the case that their children are too young or that the family is not available for the current season. These parents are interested but can’t register yet, so staying in touch could turn them into future customers.
One of the most effective marketing strategies in driving our sales to seven figures was amazingly simple.
As early as possible, we start taking registrations.
Well ahead of the competition.
We also offer early bird discounts as an incentive for early registration. This helps to improve conversion rates, our cash flow and simplify staffing. It also gives us better insight to help us fine-tune our advertising spend, add more class options if we need to, or even vary what we offer to maximize our revenue.
📌 Pro Tip: We’ve been using this marketing strategy for years, and we typically reach 25 to 30 percent enrollment before most of our competitors have even started. And by knowing which summer programs need more visibility, I can target my digital, social and email marketing campaigns where there are more spots left to fill out.
The use of testimonials and online reviews should always be part of any soccer academy marketing plan. By encouraging students and their parents to share their positive experiences on your website and social media platforms, you can greatly increase your swim school’s visibility.
Online platforms like Yelp, Facebook and Google are where prospective students and families research reputable Soccer Academies. It’s important to make sure your school is well represented with positive reviews.
Ask for reviews: Be proactive and ask for reviews from students and their parents online. The amount of testimonials your soccer academy collects can increase dramatically with a simple request. And more reviews is usually seen as more credible to prospective families.
To build your reputation, turn positive reviews into testimonials on your website or marketing materials.
Looking for a modern soccer management software? Here is a list of the 6 top Soccer Management Software on the market.
📌 Pro Tip: An complicated registration processs can deter potential clients. By prioritizing a smooth user experience especially on mobile, you can facilitate a quicker transition from interest to enrollment.
You can gain valuable insights into your soccer programs and identify areas for improvement with the use of an end-of-session survey. Activity Messenger allows you to set up an automated email sent 2-3 days before the last soccer session of the season so you don’t have to remember to do it.
📌 Pro Tip: As an operator, the collection of feedback was a tedious task that was often neglected. Now, with Activity Messenger, we’ve streamlined the process by sending automated messages when a session ends so you don’t have to do it manually.
Personal referrals are a highly effective marketing strategy for soccer academies because of the trust and credibility associated with them.
In the same way that a friend’s recommendation for a great restaurant carries weight, people trust the recommendations of friends and family for a soccer academy.
📌 Pro Tip: Before selecting a soccer academy for their kids, most parents do two things: They ask for recommendations. And they check online reviews. In order to increase enrollment, you need to have a local soccer community that is talking about how great your lessons are and an online presence on review sites so that people can find you without having to interact directly with your current satisfied clients.
Search engine optimization (SEO) should be an important part of your marketing plan to increase your soccer academy’s online visibility. You can improve your search engine rankings by optimizing your website and creating engaging content.
📌 Pro Tip: Focus on long-tail keywords and local search terms to quickly improve your ranking before your site builds more authority on Google.
Activity Messenger can do much more than help you market your Soccer club or Academy. It’s an all-in-one tool that can help you replace your current online registration software. Activity Messenger can also help you replace a bunch of other tools like JotForm, SurveyMonkey, SmartWaiver and Mailchimp.
If you would like to meet an Activity Messenger Expert to learn more, click here to book a demo.
3- Social Media Marketing
A great way to get the word out about your soccer academy is to advertise on Facebook and Instagram.
You can see a significant increase in traffic to your website with even a small daily budget.
I usually create one set of ads per session. This tends to produce better results and broader reach, as it’s less time-consuming than trying to manage social media and try to grow organically.
With each additional player contributing directly to your bottom line, this small investment can quickly fill empty spots in your clinics and camps and significantly increase your profit margins.
Promoting Your Soccer Academy on Social Media:
📌 Pro Tip: Over a 7 day period, I typically see $7 to $10 spent per sign-up using Facebook Ads, which is very effective. But the real value is more than that. Even after the initial 7-day window, many people sign up without directly clicking on the ad. We also see opportunities for ongoing engagement as a significant percentage of people sign up for our newsletter.