Welcome back to another edition of the XPERT blog, where we chat about all things pole, aerial, teaching and professional development. Whether you’re an instructor, studio owner or somewhere in between, there’s always something new to think about when it comes to running classes, supporting your students and growing your business. This month, we’re looking ahead to the end of the year – because somehow, we’re already just over four months away from 2027, and if you’re anything like us, you’re probably wondering where on earth the year has gone.

It might feel a little early to start thinking about Christmas, end-of-year marketing and what you’re going to be doing over the next few months, but this is exactly the time to start planning. The final part of the year can be a really valuable period for pole and aerial studios, but it can also be incredibly busy. Between keeping your existing students engaged, promoting new classes, planning workshops, navigating Christmas parties and holidays, and trying to finish the year on a high, it can be very easy for marketing to become something you keep meaning to get around to.

The good news? You don’t need to have everything figured out right now. You just need to start thinking ahead.

Don’t Wait Until December to Talk About Christmas – It can feel strange talking about Christmas when we’re still enjoying summer, but one of the biggest mistakes studios can make is leaving their Christmas marketing until December. By then, your students are already thinking about presents, parties, travel, family commitments and everything else that comes with the festive season, so getting your offers and ideas in front of them early gives you a much better chance of being remembered.

This doesn’t mean you need to start posting Christmas trees and festive playlists tomorrow. Instead, start thinking about what you might want to offer and when you want to promote it. Could you offer gift vouchers for pole or aerial classes? Are there workshops that would make a great Christmas present? Could you create a festive taster session for beginners or put together a special end-of-year class for your regular students?

For studio owners, this is also a good opportunity to think about what you want your timetable to look like over the festive period. Some students will want to keep training right up until Christmas, while others will disappear as soon as the mince pies arrive. Having a plan means you can communicate clearly with your students rather than trying to work everything out at the last minute.

Your Existing Students Are Your Biggest Asset – When we’re thinking about marketing, it’s very easy to focus entirely on attracting new people through the door. Of course, bringing new students into your pole or aerial studio is important, but don’t forget about the people who are already there.

Your existing students already know your instructors, your teaching style and your studio environment. They’ve chosen to train with you, and they are often the people most likely to book another class, attend a workshop, buy a gift voucher or recommend you to a friend. The final few months of the year are a great opportunity to remind them just how much they are part of your studio community.

Think about how you can make your existing students feel valued. This could be as simple as celebrating their progress, highlighting student achievements, asking for feedback or creating some fun end-of-year classes and events. It doesn’t always need to be a huge campaign or a complicated offer, sometimes, making people feel seen and appreciated is one of the most effective things you can do.

And remember that your students are also your biggest word-of-mouth marketing tool. When someone has a brilliant experience at your studio, they’re much more likely to tell someone else about it. Creating an environment people genuinely want to be part of is marketing too.

Make the Most of Seasonal Buying – Christmas can be a great opportunity to introduce people to pole and aerial who may not have considered trying it before. There will always be people looking for something a little different to give as a gift, particularly when they are trying to avoid buying yet another pair of socks!

Gift vouchers, class passes, workshops and beginner experiences can all make great presents, and they also give you an opportunity to introduce new people to your studio. Someone might receive a voucher for Christmas, come along for their first pole or aerial class in January and discover a new hobby that they absolutely love.

If you are going to offer gift vouchers or Christmas packages, start thinking about them now. Work out what you’re offering, how people will buy them, what the expiry dates will be and how you’ll communicate the terms clearly. The more straightforward the process is for your customers, the more likely they are to actually make the purchase.

Don’t Forget January – While we’re talking about the end of the year, it’s also worth remembering that January is just around the corner. January can be a really important month for fitness businesses, with lots of people looking for a new hobby, wanting to get active or simply deciding that this is the year they’re finally going to try something they’ve always wanted to do. Pole and aerial can be brilliant options for people who are looking for something more interesting than a traditional gym environment, but you need to make sure they can find you when they’re ready to start looking.

This is where your end-of-year marketing can lead nicely into your January plans. Start thinking about your January timetable, beginner courses, taster sessions and any offers you might want to run. You don’t necessarily need to wait until January 1st to start promoting them either. If someone is already thinking about what they want to do differently in the new year, being the studio they discover in December could mean you’ve already got their attention before January even arrives.

Plan Your Content Before Things Get Chaotic – If you’re an instructor or studio owner who manages your own social media, you’ll probably know how quickly the weeks can disappear. One minute you’re posting about your September timetable and the next you’re wondering why everyone is suddenly talking about Christmas.

Planning some content in advance can take a huge amount of pressure off. Think about the key things you want to communicate between now and the end of the year, rather than trying to come up with something completely new every time you open Instagram or Facebook.

You could plan content around student progress, instructor introductions, class information, FAQs for beginners, behind-the-scenes moments, upcoming workshops, gift vouchers, Christmas opening hours and January classes. You don’t need every post to be a sales pitch either, some of the best content simply shows people what your studio is like and gives potential students a reason to want to be part of it.

And if you’re an instructor rather than a studio owner, don’t underestimate the value of your own personal brand. Sharing your teaching journey, celebrating your students and talking about the classes you love teaching can help people connect with you and understand what they can expect from your sessions.

Think About What You Want Next Year to Look Like – Try not to treat the end of the year as just ‘getting through Christmas’. The last few days of 2026 will be a brilliant opportunity to reflect on what has worked for you this year and what you’d like to change.

Which classes have been consistently busy? Are there sessions that struggle to fill? Have your students been asking for something you haven’t yet introduced? Is there a new style of pole or aerial class you’d like to explore? Are there workshops, instructor development opportunities or CPD courses that could support your team?

For studio owners, this is the perfect time to start thinking about your plans for 2027 rather than waiting until January when you’re already juggling a new timetable and a flood of enquiries. For instructors, it can also be a good time to think about your own development and what skills you’d like to build over the next year. You don’t need to have a complete business plan for the next twelve months. Even having a few clear ideas about where you’d like to go can make the transition into the new year feel much more manageable.

Don’t Be Afraid to Have a Quiet Period – One final thing to remember is that you don’t have to be constantly selling. The end of the year can be so busy, and it can be tempting to feel like you need to be promoting something every single day. But your students are people too, and they are likely to be feeling the pressure of Christmas and the end of the year just as much as you are.
Your marketing doesn’t have to be relentless. Keep communicating, keep your students informed, celebrate the community you’ve built and make it easy for people to understand what you offer. Then give yourself permission to enjoy the festive period too.

The next 4 months are going to disappear much faster than you think, so now is the time to start thinking about what you want them to look like. Whether you’re running a pole or aerial studio, teaching classes or working towards growing your own instructor career, a little bit of planning now can make a huge difference when the end of the year arrives.

So, What’s The Game Plan – You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with your Christmas plans, think about what your existing students need, get your January ideas down on paper and work out how you’re going to communicate all of it. Then, as the weeks go by, you can build from there.

The end of the year is about much more than Christmas. It’s a chance to celebrate what you’ve achieved, make your students feel valued, attract new people into the wonderful world of pole and aerial and set yourself up for an even stronger year ahead.

So, if you’ve been telling yourself that you’ll think about your end-of-year marketing later, consider this your gentle reminder that later, is probably (annoyingly) already here!
Come back and join us next month for another edition of the XPERT blog where we’ll be talking all things pole, aerial, teaching, training, professional development and much more. Until then, grab yourself a cuppa, get your planning notebook out and start thinking about how you want to finish the year.

Welcome back to another edition of the XPERT blog, where we chat about all things pole, aerial, teaching and professional development. Whether you're just starting your instructor
journey or you've been teaching for years, there's always something new to discover in our industry. This month, we;re talking about why some of the very best instructors never stop
learning, and why continuing to be a student yourself can make all the difference to the experience you create for those you teach.

One of the most rewarding parts of becoming a qualified pole or aerial instructor is reaching that point where you can confidently stand at the front of a class and share your knowledge with others. You;ve worked hard to develop your skills, completed your instructor training, and built the confidence to guide students through their own journeys. It is something to be incredibly proud of, and to be mega excited about. All of that being said, qualifying as an instructor isn;t the finish line – and in a lot of ways, it’s just the beginning.

Something that becomes clear after you've been teaching for a while is that the fitness industry never stands still. Teaching methods evolve, research develops, coaching
techniques improve and our understanding of movement continues to grow – and pole and aerial are no different. New ideas emerge, different ways of breaking down skills are shared and instructors are constantly finding better ways to help students learn safely and confidently.

The instructors who continue to make the biggest impact are often those who never stop being students themselves. They remain curious, they ask questions and they actively look for opportunities to develop, regardless of how long they’ve been teaching. Continuing to learn is a sign that you truly care about becoming the best instructor you can be. Learning Doesn;t Stop Once You Qualify – Receiving your instructor certification is a huge achievement, but no qualification or training can possibly teach you absolutely everything you will experience throughout your teaching career. Every class is different because every student is different. You'll teach nervous beginners, confident studio regulars, students returning after injury, people who learn visually, others who need hands-on progressions and those who simply need a little extra encouragement before they believe in themselves.

These experiences are what will shape you into being a stronger, more well-rounded instructor.

Every class you teach gives you something new to think about. Sometimes you;ll discover a cue that suddenly helps an entire group understand a movement, other times you;ll realise that a progression you have always used isn;t working for one particular student, so you adapt and find another way. Those moments are all part of your education and they continue long after your initial qualification. The more open you are to learning, the more tools you have available when those situations arise.
Take Classes Whenever You Can – It can be surprisingly easy for instructors to stop attending classes once they begin teaching regularly. Schedules become busy and our priorities change and it can feel as though all your training time is spent supporting everyone else. But – there is enormous value in making time to be the student again.

Taking pole and aerial classes with other instructors allows you to experience different coaching styles, different ways of explaining techniques and different approaches to lesson planning. You may find a warm up that inspires your own classes, hear a coaching cue that makes perfect sense or see a creative progression that helps unlock a skill you've been teaching for years. And it doesn’t have to be a ‘famous’ instructor either – you can learn these skills within your studio and local community as well as travelling outside of it.
Something else important about taking classes is also this: it reminds you exactly how your own students feel. We've all experienced moments where a new skill feels intimidating, confusing or frustrating. Sitting on the other side of the instructor-student relationship helps us remember what that feels like. It reinforces the importance of patience, encouragement and creating an environment where people feel comfortable asking questions without worrying about getting things wrong.

Learn From More Than Just Pole and Aerial – Some of the most valuable lessons don;t always come from another pole or aerial instructor. Workshops in anatomy, mobility, strength and conditioning, injury prevention, communication, coaching psychology and inclusive teaching can all influence the way you teach. Even if the subject doesn't seem directly connected to pole or aerial, there is often something you can bring back into your own classes.

The more knowledge you build around movement and coaching, the more confident you become when adapting exercises, supporting different bodies and helping students progress safely. Being a great instructor isn't just about knowing how to perform impressive skills – you need to know how to help others to achieve them, in a way that works for them and their body.
Be Comfortable Saying "I Don't Know" – There can sometimes be pressure to feel like we have all the answers. After all, students come to us for guidance and support. The reality is that no instructor knows everything.

Sometimes a student will ask a question you've never been asked before. Sometimes new research will challenge something you've always believed. Occasionally another instructor
will demonstrate a method you've never seen. Those moments shouldn't be viewed as weaknesses. They are opportunities to learn. There is nothing wrong with saying, "That's a great question. Let me look into that and come back to you." In fact, students often appreciate that honesty because it demonstrates
professionalism rather than guesswork. It also models something incredibly valuable, that learning is an ongoing process, regardless of experience. Your Students Benefit When You Keep Growing – Continuing your own development isn't just beneficial for you. Your students benefit from it every time they walk through your studio doors.

As you gain more experience, you'll become more adaptable. You'll recognise movement patterns more quickly, communicate more clearly and develop a wider range of teaching strategies. You'll also become better equipped to support students with different goals, backgrounds and learning styles.

We don’t just do CPD for the sake of having a bunch of certificates to our name. CPD is about building confidence, refining your teaching and continually improving the experience you provide for every student who trusts you with their training. One of the greatest things about the pole and aerial community is that there is always something new to discover. Whether it is attending a workshop, completing another XPERT instructor course, learning from colleagues or simply stepping into someone else's class, every opportunity to learn helps shape the instructor you become.

One of the best qualities an instructor can have is humility – no matter how experienced we become, there is always another perspective to hear, another technique to explore and another lesson to take away. After all, the best instructors don't stop being students, they simply become students who also have the privilege of helping others learn. Come back and join us next month for another edition of the XPERT blog where we talk all things pole, aerial, training, development and much more. Until then, take this as your sign to book your next CPD training. At XPERT we have an extensive library of courses, from pole and aerial, to mental health and pre and postnatal, to children’s coaching and much more.

Whatever your focus – we have a course for you.