Day 5 ‘Mindful Marketing’ – Going Digital

After learning more about the philosophies of yoga during my teacher training, I must admit that I found the notion of promoting myself somewhat jarring – especially through social media. I’m not going to deny that there are some things on social media related to yoga that I still find jarring but I’m here to tell you that there are ways that you can promote yourself (through all channels of media) that still portray the true essence of yoga. And no matter what I try to promote, I always ask myself “Am I being authentic?”

The phenomenon of social media began decades before the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or Google but it has been around 15 years since social media really hit it’s stride. For some today, it’s hard to imagine life without the ability to check your profiles on your smart phone but the essence behind social media stems from our human need to connect with other beings. Sound familiar? The word ‘yoga’ means union –  connecting two or more things together and that’s how I believe we, as yoga teachers, can reach out and help people connect to the healing powers of yoga.

The fabulous thing about social media is that signing up costs you nothing and advertisements are easy and affordable to create. The difficult thing about social media is deciding which platforms are going to suit your business the best and if you have the time and energy to maintain a consistent social media presence. A great place to start is seeing what you platforms you use already and what your audience uses build from there. Here are some general tips that can be applied to all platforms of social media:

1. Make sure you post regularly on all the platforms you choose – your audience will respond to consistency and rhythm. Try and choose a frequency and stick with it. And remember the more you tend to your audience the more interactive they will be.
2. There is a huge amount of content floating around social media so make sure the information you post is valuable, useful and relevant to your audience.
3. Try and use social media to build a community rather than just a tool for promotion. Think of social media as a way to share and serve your highest self. What does your audience actually care about?
4. Try and keep your content short, sweet and to the point – if your post requires more depth send them to your website or create a blog post.
5. If you are going to promote something make sure you build trust with your audience first. It’s trust that ultimately influences purchase decisions.
6. Use pictures as much as possible to accompany your posts and if you are using Instagram or Pinterest make sure the content you provide with your photo is meaningful and succinct.
7. When you use pictures ensure that you quote who’s photo it is and check that it’s legal to share it – remember Asteya!

Remember you can always schedule your posts so you can do as many as you like in advance. Some great tools for managing your social media are sprout social, everpost and hootsuite.

Creating your own website and/or blog can also be an affordable and hugely beneficial digital tool for you to utilise. Depending on your computer savviness and requirements of your website/blog you can even get away with spending next to nothing. There are countless amounts of options when it comes to your own website but a good place to start is by purchasing a domain name (this is not always necessary especially if you are just wanting to create a blog). Godaddy and NameCheap are a great place to look to see what domain names are available. Then looking at websites such at WordPress or SquareSpace for a website template. This process however can be extremely complex and if you need the assistance of a web developer or designer visit Upwork for affordable freelancers. Remember websites are all about usability and visuals, make sure your website is easy to use and reflects your brand.

Another great resources once you have built up a following and email database is Email Direct Marketing (EDM). Platforms such as Campaign monitor and MailChimp Email provide affordable (and even free ways) to email your database and provides another means to reach your audience. Remember, just like social media, that content needs to be relevant, useful and valuable. Think about how much SPAM you get in your inbox and be mindful of what you decide to send your database.

I wish we could have spent more time together, but that’s all for now folks!

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