Hi, I am a bakery tutor, particularly bread baking and sourdough. I teach live classes, and have used Square to process payments for live classes and for ancillary products such as utensil that I sell to students. I now want to start marketing live streaming classes and recorded classes. I think I can set that up, but does anyone have any hints and suggestions as to how to do this in the best and easiest way?
To do this well, you'll definitely want to use some decent audio (Rode or Shure), video (minimum of 4K native resolution), and lighting equipment. The exact make & model of equipment I'd recommend varies based on your studio/location setup. The software I'd recommend based on my limited research & use is OBS Studio. It's highly customizable, and works great for live streaming on platforms like YouTube and Facebook Live.
There are so many ways to digitally market your classes. A great first step is to use Square's text message and email marketing features (found in "Campaigns"). That way, you can send out alerts to people who already follow you or have attended classes in the past! You can put a link to your email list on your website, social media pages, yelp page, etc.
Anytime you post about your live classes on social media, make sure to include the link in the post (you'd be surprised how many businesses don't do this, and even interested people aren't going to search around for the link to sign up).
It takes time to build an audience, but I find it's much better marketing to people that have asked to hear from you rather than running ads, paid traffic, etc.
Another thing I've done a lot is partner with local libraries/civic organizations that want to engage their members. Even large companies will offer enrichment classes to their employees. I make charcuterie boards and have done board-making/cheese classes for 4 different libraries and at least a dozen companies in my local area.
Lastly, just letting your friends and family know you have this offer can be helpful as they'll spread the word for you and you never know who in your circle has a group that would love this type of thing!
Square Community