How do you market something as magical as a Retreat? What do you use to put across everything they will learn, experience and walk away with? How do you promote it so it fills and makes you money? This month I want to talk about some of that.
Let me break it down for you!
- Marketing a Retreat – like anything can be really hard and stressful – this is why it is imperative to have a great plan. Develop a sales funnel and a launch plan. Start talking about your Retreat from the moment of conceptualization, tell people, don’t keep it locked away as this is all part of a plan. Say for example you are running a Retreat to Vietnam – start posting on social media interesting things from that country and what you are teaching, share blogs, articles and videos that support what you are offering – make your self the go to person for Retreats in your area of expertise. If you don’t have a sales funnel get one and quick otherwise you are marketing blindly – have some free offerings and maybe a low cost workshop as a way to get people in. I have just had someone sing up for a Retreat that says she has been on my list for 2 years and been watching what I have ben doing.
- Make sure your Retreat is Crème Brûlée and not just lumpy custard – make your Retreat stand out from everyone else’s. Your web page and marketing needs to be part of that – you may have a sensational program but you also need to put this across to your people what it is your are offering and why they should invest in you. Be really clear and make sure you include all the details that you need them to know – when planning your web page think about what you want them to think, feel and do! Include your Retreat promises, the accommodation, food (yep people want to know) and what the value is. And always, always use beautiful pictures that reflect your Retreat.
- I talk to a lot of Retreat facilitators and one of the keys of getting registrations is word of mouth – get your friends, family and colleagues sharing your retreat and commenting on it within social media, old fashioned (did I really write that) brochures never hurt put them in cafes, shops and studios. Many offer an affiliation program. I am doing this with my brand new Immersion Retreats and women (sorry guys) get a chance to win a place (worth $10K) if they sign up 5 or more plus monetary incentives.
- People often come on a retreat to fill a gap, learn something and to feel better – so your marketing, whether it be when speaking to someone, when they are looking at your web page or when they see a Facebook or other social media post needs to clearly tell them how that need can be met. This can be done subtly – ‘are you suffering from an empty nest syndrome, do you feel like you are always giving to others and leave nothing for yourself or you want to write that book but can’t seem to get started’. These are all thoughts that provoke feelings which they have had that will then propel them to look further as they want to know if you can ‘fix’ them.
- And finally in your marketing let your true essence shine through – you are doing this Retreat because you have something amazing to share with the world. You know who your target market is and you are super clear on your Why – so why not let that shine? Why not let people see your excitement and passion so that they can experience it too.
There is a lot to think about isn’t there? And this is just part of the design of a transformational journey that will take you to another worlds. By the time you are reading this I will be in Europe running a Retreat/Tour that is 29 days – that does freak me out a little when I write that as the organising has been huge. But I know it will be worthwhile and change lives. So stay tuned for next month’s article written for you on the road and if you want to see more updates and countless pictures please head to – Liesel Albrecht – The Retreat Specialist:
https://www.facebook.com/TheRetreatSpecialist/
