How Do You Know What’s Working In Your Dance Studio?

Today I want to talk about three things that will make a genuine difference to your school, both right now and looking ahead.

1. Ask For The Sale

Don’t be shy about saying, come and buy my stuff. And don’t be shy about reminding people you’ve already said it.

As Brits, we tend to hold back here. We think, well, I’ve asked once, I don’t want to ask again. But people are busy. They forget. Reminders aren’t pushy, they’re necessary.

If you’re marketing on social media, the reality is that only a small percentage of your audience will actually see any given post. So the people who would love to be told “come and join,” genuinely aren’t seeing that message. The fix isn’t to ask less, it’s to ask the same thing in different ways.

This is easier than it sounds. If your core message is “come and join my dance class,” you don’t have to repeat that line word for word every time. You could share a testimonial instead. “This child loves this class. Want to know more? Come and try our jazz class.” That’s still an ask, wrapped in a different format. Or keep it simple with a plain graphic and text: “Want to know more about our jazz class? Just ask me.” It doesn’t read as a hard sell, but it’s still doing the job of an ask.

Get creative with the different ways you can ask for the same thing, and mix them into your marketing regularly. Because if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

2. Hold Your End Of Term Focus

It’s easy to let the last few weeks of term coast. Everyone’s tired, the year’s been a long one, and there’s a natural pull to ease off and let things drift gently into the holidays.

Here’s why that matters more than it seems. The end of term is exactly when families are quietly deciding whether they’re coming back. Not consciously, in most cases, but that final stretch shapes the impression they carry with them over the break. If your last few weeks feel flat, unfocused, and clearly winding down, that’s the feeling families are left holding onto for six weeks with nothing to counter it. If the last few weeks feel purposeful, energised and like something is actually building towards, that’s what sticks instead.

This doesn’t mean you need a show. A show is one way to give the end of term a focus, but it’s far from the only one. It could be a mini in-class showcase where parents pop in to watch the last ten minutes. A small award or certificate moment to mark what the term’s group has achieved. A themed final lesson that feels like an event rather than just another class. Even something as simple as each class working towards one shared goal for their last few sessions gives the end of term a sense of direction.

The point isn’t the format, it’s having one. Give the end of term a clear focus, something to work towards and something families can see building, and you’re far more likely to hold onto them through the summer than if the term simply fizzles out. That focus is what feeds directly into retention, which brings us to the third point.

3. Dangle The Carrot For September

Point two gives families a strong final impression. Point three gives them something to actively look forward to, and the two work together. One closes the door well, the other opens the next one before they’ve even left.

The psychology here is simple. Families are far more likely to re-enrol for something specific than for the vague idea of “more dance classes.” A gap of several weeks over the summer is a natural moment for a family to quietly drift, not because they’ve decided to leave, just because nothing was actively pulling them back. Give them a concrete reason to return, and that pull does the work for you.

That carrot doesn’t have to be a performance. It could be a new class being introduced, a progression for a group who’ve outgrown their current level, a new syllabus or grade exam coming up, a themed half term, or simply telling parents what their child will be working towards next, so they can already picture their child a term further along. The specifics matter less than the fact that there’s something named and real for them to hold onto.

How you deliver this matters too. Don’t leave it to one social post buried in a busy feed. Mention it in class to the children directly, they’ll go home and tell their parents, which carries more weight than any post you could write. Put it in your end of term newsletter or email. Say it again at your final class or showcase, when parents are already present and engaged. The same message, delivered in several different places, is far more likely to land than one perfectly worded post hoping to be seen.

Just make sure you finish this term running on all cylinders too, not just September. The carrot only works if the term it’s attached to actually felt worth coming back for.

If this has sparked your interest in retention  (after all it’s the easiest way to grow) then look into The Den Business School