How to Market Salsa to Men?

[marques]

I am in the process of starting back up my group lessons (early jan 2007). I was going to limit the number of women who could register for the class to keep the lead/follow ratio balance. The studio where I am renting space is a ballet and the owner wants me to open the class to their dancers.

If this happens my lead/follow ratio is going to be really bad. What type of marketing could I do to bring in more men? This is like the million dollar question in my salsa community we have a lot more female dancers then male dancers already!

Some of my ideas:
Ads of attractive women dancing (can't go wrong with sex appeal?)
Directed marketing to men organizations (can't think of any).

[waltzgirl]

Put up flyers in gyms and martial arts studios.

[Indiana_Jay]

What type of marketing could I do to bring in more men?
Some thoughts to consider:

Make sure your marketing makes clear that salsa dancing is for everyone, not just hispanics (lest some guys assume otherwise).

Communicate the ease with which the men can learn (so as to assuage concerns about looking foolish).

If you depict any men in your materials, make sure you present them in as masculine a way as possible.

If there are local venues where salsa is danced and men can be found staying off the floor, try to get your information into their hands... they've already seen salsa and would probably like to feel confident enough to participate.

Give discounts to follows who bring leads along with them (and if anyone brings more than one lead, she gets an additional discount).

There are a lot of swing and ballroom dance groups in Indy. Make sure you get your information to them. They might mention your class in their newsletters without charge.

[marques]

Thanks Indiana_Jay, I really like your advice and will try to apply it. I am happy that you came across my thread.

[SuzieQ]

Let the men in for free, for a limited time? Maybe they could "commit" to a number of classes, then you can start charging them after they're hooked!

[Indiana_Jay]

Thanks Indiana_Jay, I really like your advice and will try to apply it. I am happy that you came across my thread.
Always happy to be helpful, especially to a fellow Hoosier!

[englezul]

Get a couple (man and woman) of professional dancers who can blow them a way in a couple of minutes. Nothing blasts their imagination more than a visual demonstration. The more attractive the dancers are the more they will project that 'attractiveness' onto salsa and will want it for themselves.

Also you want to show them that it's cool.

[kayak]

Don't forget to put the word out with the women in the class to invite a guy. There is nothing like a personal invitation to convince a guy to give it a try.

[squirrel]

Get a couple (man and woman) of professional dancers who can blow them a way in a couple of minutes. Nothing blasts their imagination more than a visual demonstration. The more attractive the dancers are the more they will project that 'attractiveness' onto salsa and will want it for themselves.

Also you want to show them that it's cool.

The more advanced the dancers, the less likely are people to want to dance. They will feel intimidated - "I could never dance like that. Not in a life time! So why bother?"

I'd say better show them someone they can relate to than a pair of pros.

[waltzgirl]

My studio used to have "invite a friend" nights when people could bring their non-dancing friends for a demonstration and free lesson. For the demo, they would have couples at various levels from newcomer (my first performance!) to pros doing the same dance. So people could see where you could start and how far you could go at the same time.

[Sabor]

or just call the class 'Salsa Grinding' .. jaja

[englezul]

The more advanced the dancers, the less likely are people to want to dance. They will feel intimidated - "I could never dance like that. Not in a life time! So why bother?"

I'd say better show them someone they can relate to than a pair of pros.


I guess it depends on the personality type. That's how I got into salsa, I saw this couple doing some crazy moves with a lot of spins in a club where I got by pure chance and it blew me to pieces. The guy was cool the girl was beautiful. I immediately thought 'I want to know how to do that'. Weeks later I joined class.

But then again my core belief is that I can learn anything. So it depends on your personality type.

Another suggestion:

Beach attire compulsory!

[DesertSalsa]

I knew almost nothing about salsa, except that it was a sexy latin dance. (I didn't even know what it looked like). When it was time to crawl out of my hermitage and put aside meditation for a social life (how intimidating!), I chose salsa because it was sexy and it's a perfect way to meet people, especially women. I read an article in the paper while I was in Miami a month ago featuring different ways to meet singles. One of the top methods (which was also geared towards men) was to take dancing lessons. After I had been taking lessons for a month and beginning to realize how much work this required, a demonstration by some competitive dancers wowed me enough to get my butt in gear too.

[marques]

I chose salsa because it was sexy and it's a perfect way to meet people, especially women.That is the key motivation for 'most' men. I just need to find ways to deliver that message, hummmmm. Thanks Desert!

One friend suggested promoting at gay clubs. This could be another option.

[BugBear]

One friend suggested promoting at gay clubs. This could be another option.

That could backfire with all the straight guys...

[englezul]

That could backfire with all the straight guys...

Well it's not like they'll be required to get "I'm gay" tatooed on their forehead. But I can see your point.

[BugBear]

Or maybe some qute lesbians could get hooked up on salsa. Then you're gonna get all the guys you want :)

[englezul]

Man, I just love brainstorming...:cool:

[kayak]

That could backfire with all the straight guys...

Interestingly, it backfires with the women as well. Most of the women in my area are looking to dance with a straight guy.

[englezul]

Interestingly, it backfires with the women as well. Most of the women in my area are looking to dance with a straight guy.

How and why do you know this? It doesn't seem that common of a conversation topic.

[quixotedlm]

Well it's not like they'll be required to get "I'm gay" tatooed on their forehead. But I can see your point.

It ends up not really mattering much from the dance point of view. I learn from an openly gay instructor who promotes salsa equally among all sexual orientations (and has the best and the most popular salsa club my city, or even the entire pacific northwest).

But it can make life confusing to some poor souls.. :) (like this one - http://www.dance-forums.com/showpost.php?p=343161&postcount=792).

-Vatsan

[englezul]

But it can make life confusing to some poor souls.. :) (like this one - http://www.dance-forums.com/showpost.php?p=343161&postcount=792). -Vatsan

Haha, didn't you just feel like smacking yourself when you found out??

Funny something like that happened to me this summer, I was playing it so cool hanging out with this girl and another friend. At some point I was reading so much into the situation that it looked to me that she liked him more than me and that further action would be a suicide mission. But one night on the beach while dancing on Adios lepido (juanes) I just shook it off and went for it and it became a happy ending story. Turns out the girl was insanely crazy about me. Funny how sometimes we think we're so clever but we're missing or misinterpreting all the obvious signs. One's mind is one's worst enemy, sometimes is better to think with your heart, or gut.