This is where it all started. We’ve been creating websites for a long time and I wanted to branch out a bit to unleash a bit of my creativity. While training at Vilanova BJJ the Professor, Beto Vilanova, and I worked together to create videos, photos, and a few other fun advertisements to help grow his academy. We learned a lot, and we still apply those principles we learned years ago.

BJJ Marketing

We see many dojos and academies posting everyday, but it’s just a picture with some text that says something like, “Our academy is the top academy in the country! Join Today!” Some will say, they’re putting content out! That’s what people want! Yes, people want content, but wouldn’t it be better to have content that drives results? Marketing is so much more than just photos and some text.

Marketing Concepts

The whole marketing concept is complete when the copywriting, the visual medium, and the call-to-action all work together to get the results the advertisement is after. Think of it this way, does a double-leg takedown work if you don’t shoot in? It might work sometimes depending on a few variables, but wouldn’t you agree it’d be much more effective if you shoot in for the doulbe-leg? It’s that way with marketing, the seperate pieces work together to increase effectiveness.

For instance, if you want to have people go to a specific page on your website you can create an ad. So, you create specific wording that’s relevant (copywriting), it makes sense with the photo or video you want to use (visual medium), and finally, you write out what action that you want the viewer to take next (call-to-action).

Let’s take a closer look at each of these pieces.

The “CVC” Marketing Method

The CVC formula works great to get the most out of your ads and posts without being salesy. The CVC method is comprised of copywriting, selecting a visual medium, and a clear call-to-action. We’ll break these down a bit, but first let’s set the stage by looking back at the ad we mentioned so many academies post. “Our academy is the top academy in the country! Join Today!”

1. Copywriting

First things, first. Copywriting is nothing more than is the process of writing words intended to prompt a specific action by the reader.

With that in mind, as a person looking at the ad text above. What reader would believe the acadmy’s claim that they’re best in the country? Probably not many. In fact, the academy is already making the reader very skeptical. So, to improve on the text in the ad let’s try this instead. “Are you looking for a top BJJ academy to train at? There’s so many choices nowadays and isn’t it difficult to know if they really are a top academy? Especially when so many academy’s claim to be the best. At SomeGR8 BJJ Academy we’ve earned the highest rated reviews from our students that prove we’re the top academy in our area. When you’re ready to start training, start training with us and we gaurantee you’ll be be rating SomeGR8 BJJ Academy the highest in the area.”

That is a great start, and really proves the point that SomeGR8 BJJ Academy is, in fact, one of the top rated. It paints a much clearer picture in the reader’s mind than just “Our academy is the top academy in the country!“, doesn’t it?

2. Visual Medium

Once the copywriting is complete, next comes the visual element of the ad. It’s so important that it makes sense to the reader. If we used the copywriting example above for SomeGR8 BJJ Academy, it would be good to show either several student’s reviews or a photo of a smiling student that trains there pointing at the reviews. You could also use an image of a parent watching their child who is on the mat training and smiling. This is the creative piece that gets really fun!

What visual medium wouldn’t work well in this example? It’d defintely send the reader a disconnected message if the ad had a photo of the main professor doing office work. Would a photo of an MMA fighter the day after a long fight be good for this ad? I don’t think so either.

3. Call-To-Action (CTA)

Finally, we get to the end of the ad where you want to place the CTA. The CTA is clear instructions on what you want the reader to do once they see the ad. Going back to our earlier ad example, the ad goes on to say, “Join Today!” Seems like a legit CTA, right? Sort of.

How are viewers supposed to know how to join? Do they call? Do they sign-up online? Do the go in person to fill out paperwork? You see, you need to tell the veiwer exactly what to do to join today. A more concise CTA could be, “Join Today by calling 555-5555 for more information” or “Join today by visiting our website at www.somedojo.com/signup”.

That’s much clearer, isn’t it?

In these photos we did for Vilanova BJJ, you’re only seeing the visual part of the marketing. The copywriting portion and the specific call-to-action were left out because we wanted you to see our visual examples.

The graphics below were a lot of fun to create. It’s great to be catchy as long as a clear message is sent to the reader.

More BJJ Marketing Like This?

Would it be helpful to you if in the future we broke down some different ads into their parts; copywriting, visual medium, and call-to-action. Even if you operate a traditional dojo or dojang, send us a few ads that inspired you or that you’d like to have broken down.

If that would be helpful, leave us a comment below. Thank you so much!