Forward Motion Yoga

Summary

Social media, marketing, and website support.

Background

Forward Motion Yoga (FMY) is a hybrid model yoga and meditation studio based in Markham, Ontario. FMY was founded in 2006 by Cheryl Ward, an experienced yoga instructor and Chopra Certified meditation instructor. FMY offers a variety of weekly in-person and online yoga classes, as well as special yoga workshops, yoga and meditation courses, and 1-on-1 meditation coaching.

Challenge

Blue Elephant began working with FMY in the spring of 2020, during the initial COVID-19 closures. Creating social media content and marketing newsletters can be time consuming in the best of times, but doubly so during an unprecedented pandemic that necessitated pivoting to a completely online business model.

Cheryl needed someone to take this off her hands so that she could concentrate on adapting her studio to its new online format, developing new programs, and growing her business.

Solution and Implementation

Calendar and Plan

The first step was to create an editorial and communications calendar and a detailed social media plan based on content provided by Cheryl for the bi-weekly newsletter. This content generally consists of yoga class offerings, schedule updates, and new yoga and meditation courses.

Social Media Template

Next, new branded social media templates were created using a consistent colour palette based on the FMY logo. This new, consistent visual aesthetic was deployed across all newsletters and social media posts.

Newsletters

Newsletters moved from text-only messaging through FMY’s registration platform to branded messaging in MailChimp. We created tags for anyone signing up through a special landing page so that we could target messaging appropriately.

Diverse Content

Blue Elephant also diversified the type of content shared on social media, moving away from exclusively sales of promotional posts to include FMY student and teacher profiles; third party content; motivational/inspirational posts; testimonials; and evergreen content about yoga, meditation, and the FMY studio.

Website Maintenance

We have also been responsible for ongoing website maintenance and updates. This includes building webpages and landing pages for new courses and events, as well as updating text and images on existing pages.

Analytics

Throughout this process, we have regularly tracked analytics to help determine the optimal times to schedule social media posts and newsletters.

Working with FMY’s founder/director, Cheryl Ward, Blue Elephant provides:

Social media strategy and execution

Design, writing, and deployment of email campaigns, bi-weekly newsletters, and occasional customer surveys

Analytics tracking and reporting

Design and copywriting of social media posts across three platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Google My Business)

Website maintenance and updating

Special event support (e.g. fundraisers for Alzheimer’s research and Yellow Brick House)

The End Result

We’ve helped FMY expand its online audience, make data-informed marketing decisions, and develop a consistently branded visual identity that reflects the values embodied by Cheryl and her community of yogis.

One of the things we love about working with Cheryl and FMY is their emphasis on community – not only within the yoga studio itself, but also in relation to the wider Markham community. In addition to marketing support for FMY, we’ve been pleased to provide marketing and event support for FMY’s annual fundraisers in support of the York Region Alzheimer Society and Yellow Brick House.

The list below outlines some of the highlights of our work with FMY. We’re excited to see what comes next as FMY continues to grow as a hybrid model yoga studio!