How to Market to and Retain New Year’s Resolution Students

With the new year comes New Year’s resolutions. Countless people decide that this is the year they will better themselves, often focusing on physical fitness. In fact, it’s estimated that 79% of New Year’s goals involve improving health! This translates to a perfect growth opportunity for your martial arts school. While many swarm to a typical, run-of-the-mill gym, some may look for an alternate source of fitness. With some good marketing, you can catch attention and make martial arts the activity of choice for people as they pursue newfound goals to better their physical health. But while that initial sign-up is important, it’s just as crucial to make sure they keep coming back and don’t fall victim to a dreaded resolution-fail. Here are some tips for making a great first impression to snag those New Year’s Resolution students and making sure they stick around!

Marketing to New Year’s Resolution Students

Marketing is crucial during the New Year so you can break through the noise of competitors and other fitness-based businesses trying to get the attention of resolutioners. Potential students will likely be searching online to see what businesses offer them a chance to make 2025 their year to get fit. And this isn’t just an assumption – in early 2024, Google searches for ‘gym membership’ reached their highest search volume in the last 5 years! We’ve offered some basic tips below, but if you need some assistance in the world of marketing, Kicksite now offers Marketing Services where our team of experts can get Google and social media ads up and running for you! 

Offer New Year Deals

New Year deals can be great for business! Whether it’s a free trial, short-term memberships, limited time discounts for new customers, or anything else, they can grab the attention of those interested. It’s an easy way to entice those looking to improve themselves and convince them that martial arts is worth trying to improve fitness and gain self-confidence. We highly recommend creating limited-time “New Year’s Only” deals and make corresponding Landing Page for the deals within Kicksite. If you have integrated billing, you can even collect card information right at signup to make these new students stickier and more likely to commit.

Highlight your Beginner Classes

Joining a martial arts school could be intimidating, even with the 2025 resolution motivation boost. Inexperienced or brand new martial artists may feel unsure about choosing it as their path to fitness. Make sure that any promotions you run emphasize that you can start from any level and grow at your own pace in martial arts. Stress that there is no judgment, and that all are welcome on your mats. Considering sharing testimonials or stories from current students who started with little or no martial arts experience and have grown on their journey. The more confidence you instill in those who are considering your school, the more likely they are to pull the trigger on signing up!

Emphasize the Health Benefits

One of the biggest motivators with New Year’s resolutions is people wanting to cut weight and improve their physical appearance. Martial arts is a great way to achieve this goal, but may not be the first thing people think of for weight loss. This is another instance where you might have current students who can speak to or highlight the physical transformation they’ve experienced through martial arts. At the same time, you can also promote the mental health benefits that martial arts and Jiu-Jitsu provide. If they know that your training can uplift them both physically and mentally, you may see a flock of new customers entering your doors. 

Retaining New Year’s Resolution Students

So you see a boost in new students for the New Year. Woohoo! While this is a positive, it’s also human nature for a brief surge in motivation to fade away once some difficult work is put in and life comes your way. It’s believed that nearly 80% of people fail their New Year’s resolutions! It is crucial that these students quickly find a passion and sense of joy at your school so they continue their journey (and continue to give you their business).

Build a Strong Rapport Early

When a new New Year’s Resolution student walks in the doors it’s important to make a strong first impression. You want to keep this student coming back and make sure they feel welcome. A simple way to do this is with a smile, a nice conversation, and a teacher-student connection . A good relationship makes student retention that much easier. In our recent Academy Excellence webinar, we recommended that a new student’s first visit should be accompanied by a thorough tour of the facility so they feel comfortable and understand how to navigate the space. Consider having them check in on your attendance tablet so they see their name pop up upon entering. These small personal touches shows that you genuinely care and that your school is above and beyond a standard chain gym they could have signed up for instead.

Help Their Individual Needs and Goals

If a new student joins your school and feels like a face lost in the crowd, they may quickly lose interest. To ensure they are comfortable, work with them one-on-one, ask questions, and learn what they are working toward. An additional recommendation in our Academy Excellence webinar was to conduct an individual assessment during that first visit. During the assessment, you’ll pinpoint their personal goals, discover any issues to be aware of (injuries or discomfort that might inhibit training), and other key factors that will help them be set up for success on Day 1. Once they feel heard and appreciated, they are far more likely to make martial arts more than a phase.

Keep Them Motivated and Show Potential of Long-Term Training

People are impatient! After just one class, or maybe a few, some may not feel convinced or sure that they’re seeing early results and hesitate to continue. Or, as we know is often the case, they just simply lose their New Year motivation. If you can, try to encourage them to stick with their goals and remember why they were intrigued by and interested in martial arts in the first place. Secondly, show them what an extended period of training can give them. Make sure they aren’t looking at themselves in 2026 regretting that they left your school. Kicksite has tools that can help you with this – setting up attendance awards, issuing Achievements for milestones or standout performance during class, or even constructing email and text messages sent exclusively to new students to encourage and support them.