1. TECHNOLOGY

Description

•  2-way streaming yoga is increasing, Yoogaia a Finland fast-growing company has over 50 instructors giving live streaming yoga classes and over 50,000 users in 50 countries. Teachers can see every pose so they can correct and address each user directly to ensure everyone is doing everything right.
•  North America is expected to be the biggest market for this tech.
• Modern devices, such as Apple's 4th edition watch come equipped with advanced yoga features enabling them to track a yoga workout within its native fitness app.
• Using artificial intelligence and motion sensors, Pivot Yoga is bringing yoga to everyone's homes. They have created yoga pants that come equipped with 16 sensors to track the user's motion and compares the movements with the correct yoga positions.

Companies At The Forefront Of The Trend

•  Yoogaia 
•  Ompractice 
•  Pivot Yoga 

Factors Driving The Trend

•  Flexibility — Users no longer worry about losing time in traffic to get to the yoga class. With an internet connection, they can practice almost whenever.
• Users can practice at their homes, aligning with the home office trend around millennials.
• People's stress levels are high like never before, and yoga has become a way to feel better and coming together with technology has been inevitable.

2. DIVERSIFICATIONS OF YOGA: AERIAL YOGA AND PADDLE YOGA

Description

• Aerial yoga is a type of yoga that uses a hammock that allows people to do yoga poses easily. It is also called AntiGravity. It originated in New York, created by Christopher Harrison.
•  Aerial Yoga has particular benefits in decompressing the spine, improving circulation, boosting digestion, and most of all, strengthening the core.
•  SUP Yoga or Stand up Paddle Board is yoga on a stand-up paddleboard in the middle of the water. Many experienced yogis accept that they are improving their yoga skills tremendously.
• Great for core strength and alignment, this trend started in 2018 and kept growing.

Companies At The Forefront Of The Trend

•  Crunch Gyms 
•  Unnata Aerial Yoga 
•  Christopher Harrison’s Antigravity Fitness 

Factors Driving The Trend

•  Medical benefits: heals back problems, easing tension in the spinal cord and hip joint.
•  Improves mood: gets the adrenaline going releasing “happy” hormones which boost the mood and makes people feel more energetic.
•  Amazing core workout.
• Different famous people use aerial yoga such as Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, and Pink in their concerts.
• Practicing variations of yoga allows experienced yogis to improve their abilities further.

3. YOGA FESTIVALS

Description

• Yoga festivals are happening almost every weekend in North America.
• Some activities and benefits of Yoga Festivals include music, dance, meditations, workshops, lectures, yoga sessions, tasting, create communities.
• Yoga festivals give people a sense of more freedom and spontaneity. The festivals also allow them to enjoy yoga as a party, introducing people with creative conscious energy like never before.

Companies At The Forefront Of The Trend

•  Fearne Cotton 
•  Glastonbury 
•  Love Trails 
•  Wunderlust 

Factors Driving The Trend

• Creating a deep sense of connection and community; that is why some festivals offer different platforms to continue to connect and educate their visitors.
• New generations are swapping drinks and drugs for mindfulness and yoga.
• It is becoming socially unacceptable to drink according to a study by the journal BMC Public Health. The no drinking policy allows them not to feel the pressure and look for other kinds of festivals. 
• These festivals are aimed to create a deep relationship between people.
• Festivals mix yoga with other activities such as music, workshops, and art.

Email Marketing

• Yoga studios often gather email addresses and create mailing lists of people who might be interested to take lessons in their studios.
• Repetition is essential to the achievement of direct mail, so create a policy that includes various direct mailers over a six-month period instead of a one-postcard campaign.
• This trend adds to the branding attempts of your yoga studio and enables you to create long-term customer relationships.
• By creating an email list of your learners attending your courses, and actively asking internet visitors and people to join your email list or newsletter list in your social media communication, you will have a very strong and cost-effective marketing tool before too long.
• By creating such an email list for your studio, email marketing is the highest-impact, low-cost marketing technique that can deliver your brand narrative and marketing message to present students/customers as well as prospects.
• For a low-cost marketing strategy, this is the most efficient single marketing technique. Nothing else matches this.
• To get your message to a highly targeted audience to join your studio, the most successful method is to send a direct mail.
•  Verge Body Mind Studio, Philadelphia is one of the companies on the forefront employing this strategy as Cara Bradley says, "Mass emails are working best, but we are very intentional about what we send."

Word-of-Mouth

• Word-of-mouth in yoga marketing is a powerful and very effective marketing approach. This is where cross-promotion can offer so much value.
• This trend is the most popular at Yoga Anita Studio which is evident as Anita Perry, CEO is quoted saying, "The best form of marketing is word of mouth. I like to cultivate and retain as many of my students as I can, and my efforts extend to reaching out personally through newsletters and emails, I solicit suggestions from the students and always remind them that the class is for them, and anything I can do to help I am there for them."
• Another leading company, Sanctuary Wellness Center and Yoga Studio based in Tustin California has incorporated this trend in their marketing strategies as Ajita Patel, the owner reveals that word-of-mouth is one of their most effective customer acquisition tools.
• As per a recent survey carried out by OnePoll and Eventbrite, 45% of yogis uncover a yoga event through a word of mouth.
• For instance, this could be achieved by providing faithful clients with an experience, such as a free 15-minute posture clinic then cultivate online reviews which gives newcomers a peer-sourced idea of your experience.
• Word-of-mouth from current clients helps in attracting new clients, hence, it can be game-changer.
• Many yoga studio owners agree that they attribute roughly 85% of their company to word of mouth.
• It's one of the most precious marketing concepts for yoga studios that can really assist you to develop your company and boost customer loyalty.

Social Media Platforms

•  Social media is majorly used by a lot of yoga event designers to market their yoga courses and studio.
• Facebook is where 44% of yogis say they find out about yoga activities.
• Gretchen Lightfoot from Goorus Yoga Studio in Pacific Palisades, California says, “Facebook and Instagram are convenient in reaching out to new clients from the neighboring communities and beyond.”
•  Social media marketing is the conclusive creativity to be shown in the yoga studio marketing field.
• Some top Instagram yoga hashtags include; #yogi, #meditation, #namaste , #mudra , #health, and #yogachallenge.
•  Posting online advertising is the fastest way to spread yoga event and market the studio in this contemporary world.
• Anita Perry of Yoga Anita Studio confirms that "The second best form of marketing I use is social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram."

Branding

• Developing a specific brand image is central to channeling what your yoga studio is, who your clients are, and what advantages you can give.
• A distinguished brand generates a well-defined niche and an easy-to-target audience.
• It is essential to let your potential customers understand what makes you special and what you can give to improve their physical health as well as their feeling of satisfaction.
• With this brand image, you can then encourage your business to win over your particular market segment.
• Branding enables a company to stand out and attract fresh clients from your rivals.
• It is essential for a studio brand to be built around statement of mission where you can state your inspiration to create a studio room for yoga enthusiasts and values.

RESEARCH STRATEGY