The Studio CEO: Business Coaching For Yoga & Pilates Teachers & Studio Owners

The Messaging Mistake That’s Costing You Clients in 2025

• Jackie Murphy

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Is your messaging actually connecting—or are you unintentionally getting scrolled past?

In this episode of The Studio CEO, Jackie Murphy breaks down the biggest shift in marketing from 2020 to 2025—and why relying on generic phrases like “reduce stress” or “get strong” no longer works.

You’ll learn:

  • The difference between descriptive and belief-based messaging
  • How consumer behavior has changed (with real 2025 data to back it up)
  • What buyers want now when they look at your offer
  • How to update your message so it fits your client’s life, time, and needs
  • Why belief—not just benefits—is what sells now
  • The #1 shift that makes your offer feel like the only real option

Jackie also shares a real client example that turned a tired headline into one that doubled conversions—and she invites you to a free workshop where she’ll walk you through a live messaging upgrade for your own business.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re getting clicks but not conversions
  • Your sign-ups have slowed even though your offer is solid
  • You’re still using the same messaging you wrote in 2020
  • You want to stand out in a crowded wellness market

🎧 Tune in and walk away with the tools to finally sound as powerful as the transformation you provide.

Work with Jackie Murphy
Sign up for our free Workshop on June 18th
Say Hi on Instagram @studioceoofficial
Learn about The Studio CEO Program

Speaker 1:

If you're still using the same messaging from 2020, you're not behind, but you're likely invisible to the students that you actually want to reach. People are smarter now and they're paying attention differently. In this episode, I'm going to help you move your messaging from vague to clear, from passive to powerful and from 2020 into 2025. Enjoy Welcome to the Studio CEO, the only podcast that empowers yoga and Pilates teachers and studio owners to step confidently into their role as CEO. If you are ready to show up with passion, take your business seriously and scale to new heights without burning out, you are in the right place. I'm your host, jackie Murphy, an award-winning certified business coach with over 12 years of experience inside the yoga industry. I have seen firsthand what it takes to build a profitable and scalable business. Join me as we dive into strategies, insights and real-world advice that will help you grow your revenue, build a thriving team and create a business that serves you as much as you serve your students. It's time to embrace your inner CEO and make more money without working more. This is just the beginning. Without working more, this is just the beginning. Hello and welcome back to the Studio CEO podcast. I am Jackie Murphy, your business coach, and today we're going to be talking about messaging shifts that have happened from 2020 to 2025. This is going to be a must listen to episode so that your marketing isn't white noise and doesn't get ignored. So go ahead and pop in your earbuds or turn me up on the car speaker. I hope we're driving two Pilates together. This is one that you're going to want to save and even come back to. Originally, I just shared this information with my mastermind clients that are in person retreat, but it is so important that I cannot gatekeep this from all of you, so we are diving into that today. Before we get into the content of the podcast, I do want to tell you we got something new coming over here at Jackie Murphy Coaching. We are hosting a free live workshop, which we haven't done in so, so so long. This workshop is going to be from hustling teacher to studio CEO. It's five shifts that are going to help you create full classes, consistent income and business freedom. Again, this is a free, no fluff workshop for yoga and Pilates teachers and studio owners.

Speaker 1:

Because you didn't open your studio to stay stuck in the weeds or you didn't start your business. So stay stuck in the weeds or you didn't start your business so that you could constantly be working in it, teaching every class, managing every detail, wondering if the business would ever truly support you. I know what it's like to carry the weight of a studio or multiple studios, on your shoulders. You care so much, but you're probably getting tired. Tired of unpredictable revenue, your burnout level with your schedule and maybe not knowing how to grow the next right step without doing it all yourself. So if you are a yoga or Pilates teacher or studio owner who's ready to stop surviving and start leading, then this workshop is for you. Three months from now, you could be in a place where you have a team that supports you, systems that are working and revenue that feels steady. You won't have to be teaching every class, but you'll be making CEO level decisions that move your business forward, and I get it. You want consistent income and you deserve it. You want to stop doing it all yourself and you deserve that support. Resource yourself with that support you want to lead, like the business owner that you already are. So join me live Wednesday, june 18th at 2 pm Eastern for the From Hustling Teacher to Studio CEO Workshop. We are not doing a replay with this one, so this is your window to get the clarity and tools that you've been looking for. You can go ahead and click the link in the show notes to sign up for the workshop. You definitely can't miss this one, you guys. All right, I will see you at the workshop.

Speaker 1:

Let's get into the shift in messaging from 2020 to 2025. We're going to start with what has changed, because if your messaging still sounds like it did five years ago, you aren't connecting. You are actually probably being tuned out, and this is not calling you out. This is calling you in and up to what is working right now, so that you can have a business that is working for you right now. And this isn't just about being more descriptive. This is about making your message so clear, so specific and so grounded in your students' actual life that they immediately think oh, this is exactly what I need.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you a real life example, from my experience as a buyer and consumer in 2020 to my experience as a buyer and consumer now. Obviously, I'm in the industry, so my experience might be slightly different than like the quote unquote normal buyer. But there was a point in time in 2020, where I was living in Brooklyn, new York, new York City was shut down. All the studios were closed. We barely went out of our apartment. We had ample time, ample income and really not much to do. And so it was one Saturday in New York, I saw Kino McGregor post that she was leading an Ashtanga workshop. It was like 45 bucks a 90 minute workshop on Zoom, and I was like, oh amazing, I have literally nothing else to do. I have 45 bucks that I can spend, because I'm not spending it on going out or traveling. And so I signed up and I did the workshop traveling. And so I signed up and I did the workshop. Now, fast forward to 2025.

Speaker 1:

I look at my buying within the yoga and Pilates and Pilates industry right now and what I can tell you is that what I'm buying now is literally something that fits so intentionally into my life and helps me create a specific result. So, as a mom of two, if I'm going to go take a class at a studio, I genuinely need it to be when my kids are asleep, which means 5.30 AM. Classes are like my dream. Yes, it's early, but honestly, the drive, the cup of coffee, is a little slice of heaven. So I looked for a place where they had 530 AM classes that were 45 minutes, and I specifically wanted to take a class that would help me build muscle after losing so much muscle in my two pregnancies and the kind of the year that we've been through as a family, and so you can see already that what I was looking for wasn't just going to be any studio, any class on zoom. I was really specific and intentional about where I wanted to go, and I wanted to be a part of an in-person community. I've met other moms taking class. I see the same people Monday, wednesday, friday that I'm starting to get to know, and so just seeing the difference between how I purchased in 2020 and how I purchased in 2025, that reflects some of the shifts that have already happened.

Speaker 1:

So if you have been leading with words like get strong and feel amazing and you've been using that since 2020, that was clean, it was safe. It was safe, it was broad, but most likely, if that's what you're using in your messaging, your signups are going to start to slow, and so when you dig in to the problem, you're going to find that it's most likely not your offer. Obviously, I can't say that for every single person. I would love to do a pricing audit for you. It's something I do for my clients, my higher level clients, and it can make all the difference in how much and how quickly you scale.

Speaker 1:

But if your problem isn't the offer, most likely your problem is a messaging gap. Your students aren't waking up in the morning thinking I need to feel amazing. Today, they're probably waking up thinking, oh my gosh, I would love to work out for 45 minutes, but how do I get it in? And I'd love to see people that I'm like-minded with, but where are they? It's so hard to make friends and is this workout really going to help me do X, y, z in my life? And so shifting a single headline to be more specific can be all that matters for you getting people's attention, stopping the scroll and turning that into registrations and signups, because your words at this point can't just sound nice. They have to feel true for your students. So let's give you some more examples.

Speaker 1:

2020 messaging was along the lines of like reduce stress with yoga, get strong and feel amazing, join our community. Our instructors are highly qualified or our instructors are the best. And in 2025, your messaging has to be belief based, more along the lines of like hey, you are carrying the mental load, and 45 minutes of yoga is going to give you the break where no one needs you and you don't have to think about anything. Or, for example, join our community might turn into, hey, like we can't promise that you're going to meet your BFF here, but what we can promise is that you're going to be around like-minded women who want to be healthy, prioritize themselves so that they can excel in their careers and in their lives. It's going to be so much more specific and so much more clear. So let's look at what's really happening to cause this shift.

Speaker 1:

Consumer behavior has changed radically in the past five years, and if you took the Thrive in 2025 workshop we did you might have heard some of this, but it is so important to revisit because it's always shifting. According to Google's 2024 Consumer Insights Report, buyers now consult an average of seven to 10 pieces of content before making a decision, and that is up from just three pieces of content in 2020. So what that means is they're not jumping at the first option anymore. They're not buying the first time they see your ad, or they're not buying the first time that you pop up on their feed. They're scanning, they're discerning, they're clicking into your profile. They're scrolling down. They're really seeing what are you about? Is this for me? They're doing mental math before they ever click start here or book now. Meta's internal studies show that attention spans for ads this is wild have dropped below two seconds. Two seconds, oh my gosh. It used to be eight seconds back in 2020.

Speaker 1:

And HubSpot's 2023 state of the marketing report found that messaging that uses emotionally resonant, belief-based language performs two to three times better in engagement and click-through than traditional benefit-led copy. If you didn't hear that, let me say it to you in a different way. If you are using ChatGPT to write your copy right now, it is literally an AI that is trained to filter out emotional pieces of content. Because it's an AI Same thing with Claude you have to make sure that you are bringing the human, the emotion, into your content. Yes, use AI to edit, to refine, to make it even better, but I don't recommend using AI to create you can tell instantly when it's an AI written piece of copy.

Speaker 1:

People, essentially, they're not passively browsing anymore. They are not open to many solutions. They don't have ample time, they don't have ample money. They are seeking solutions that they really deeply trust and they want to know that they trust you quickly, and it's important for you to know that we are in somewhat of a trust recession when it comes to buyers. There are so many people out there that they can choose from now, especially with the online offers that are there, and so they need to know clearly and specifically that your offer, your business, your studio, your membership, your retreat, whatever it is is specifically built for them.

Speaker 1:

Back in 2020, people were open to trying new things. They had time, they were curious, so general marketing worked, but now they're busy, they have less patience and they don't want to test drive three different intro offers to see what might help. They want the one thing that's going to work in their schedule for them to get the result that they want. So if you are a business that's still using more vague general benefit based messaging and copy and seeing slower booking rates, that might be why, if you are learning how to write messaging that specifically speaks to what your students are thinking, feeling and doing, you are going to start to see conversions rate, double signups, double. You're going to see people buy a lot faster.

Speaker 1:

Right now, people care that your offer will fit into their schedule. They're not looking to massively overhaul their life, like maybe they were in 2020. They want to know that it fits their current life. They want it to speak to their specific lived experience. So what is their pain point? What is your specific solution for these people? And you want to position yourself as the only option worth showing up for. I just learned this today. I thought it was so interesting that if you're running ads and you have a target audience and that target audience sees your ad for the first time and engages with it in some way, meta then knows exactly who your competition is and will send them those ads as well.

Speaker 1:

So between the time that they see your ad and they like sign up to buy, they're probably going to see your competitors, meaning you have to have a follow-up process. You have to make it super easy for them to buy. You have to have a way to connect with them before they start to get bombarded with these other options. You want to position yourself as the only option that's worth showing up for, and this is not like a competition thing within the industry. The way I want you to think about this is for your specific students. You are the only option we're showing up for. You are the only option we're showing up for. Maybe you are amazing at one of my clients. Her studio is really great at trauma informed yoga and empowering women and doing a lot of internal healing, and so for her people like her studio really is the only option worth their time, their energy, their money. If they see her studio and then the hot vinyasa sculpt power beats studio right down the road and they think, oh my God, is that for me? They are not going to get what they need and there is a student out there that wants hot vinyasa power beats. There is room for all of us, but in your mind, I want you to think listen, I'm the only option for my specific students. This is all about trust.

Speaker 1:

In 2025, people aren't looking for more information, they are looking for certainty. So if your marketing still sounds like it did five years ago, you're not connecting, you're being tuned out. And this isn't just about being more descriptive about the benefits. This is about making your messaging match your students' thoughts, feelings and actions so that it is really grounded in their actual life and they think, oh my God, this is exactly what I have been looking for. Now I really want you to think about the way that you have been writing messaging or saying it to your camera. If you have maybe been thinking, oh my gosh, if I just explain what I do, people will get it, you are probably creating that generic messaging. You are probably giving details instead of clarity and you're probably putting out an offer that blends in with five others.

Speaker 1:

What I want you to think, moving forward, is your job isn't to explain. That also includes teaching in your messaging. Your job isn't to educate, explain or teach. It is to create belief that this was made for them. This is going to create messaging that mirrors their life. It's going to give them copy that gives them permission to find relief that they can stop looking around. They found what they've been looking for and it's going to help you create a business. That isn't nice to try, but it's the thing that they have been looking for, the business that's not just another option, but the thing that really fits and the thing that they'll want to make room for. So let's get a little practical, because hearing this is one thing and applying it is another.

Speaker 1:

If you have been wondering how to rewrite your copy, this is where you start. You are going to think can I go from general to specific. Can I go from the old way, which is like, feel better, you're going to feel better, feel more empowered, feel more confident, to the new way, which is, hey, you're going to be able to come home grounded after a full day of meetings, walk into your house, not be overwhelmed by your kids, and show up like the mom that you want to be. You're going to go from features to outcomes. So maybe in the past you're like, oh my gosh, we have four reformers, uh, in our studio and it's going to give you a lot of personalized attention. Now you're going to say, hey, you crave a workout that is specifically tailored to your body so that you avoid injury and actually see results. Because we have four reformers, you are going to get that individualized attention that ensures you feel amazing after your workout. You're going to shift from passive to decisive. So if you were saying, you know, yoga is amazing for stress, now you might say, hey, listen, your 6 30 AM yoga class is going to be the one place where no one needs you, which will automatically help you feel less stressed, and you can carry that into your day.

Speaker 1:

People don't want another pitch at this point. They want a sure thing. They want something that fits. They want something that's built for them. So marketing in 2025, it's not necessarily about saying more, but it's about saying what matters. It's really, really about connection. If you're willing to ditch vague promises, if you're willing to get really honest about the results that you offer into who you won't just be seen, you'll start to feel that you're really being chosen. Remember, your audience isn't going around testing anymore. They don't have ample money, they don't have ample time and their attention spans are all of two seconds. So let's make sure that when you're talking to them, they choose you because you are saying what matters from a emotional, human place.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you one more example before we wrap this up.

Speaker 1:

If you are still doing like here's five tips to on your social media pages, that is marketing, that is educational, it could be empowering, but it's probably pretty vague and if you take the five tips to have less back pain and turn it into messaging that sounds like here are the five things I do after work every day to relieve my lower back pain that shift alone will help you start to really connect with your people.

Speaker 1:

It's personal, it's specific, it creates credibility. Because you're doing it, you're showing them what works, and it's essentially the same post, it's just written in a slightly different way. So I really want you to listen to this podcast, maybe more than once, take it in, sign up for the hustling teacher to studio CEO workshop, because, my friends, if you are in business, I can tell you this with certainty this is not the only messaging pivot that you're going to have to be on top of. They have found that messaging almost shifts every year and a half or so, and if you aren't really aware of how to get people's attention, create curiosity, bring them into an offer, sell them into an offer, well then, no matter what messaging is going on at that time, you'll probably always feel a little bit lost, and so make sure that you have the support that you need to sustain every shift and every pivot that happens in your business.

Speaker 1:

And listen, this is not a podcast for you to beat yourself up with, because, hey, I'm also learning this and I'm also shifting, and that is the game of business. There will never be a place where we're like check done, got it all right, because it's always going to be evolving, and that is what makes this game and practice of business so, so, so fun. So I will see you at the Hustling Teacher to Studio CEO free workshop. Click the link in the show notes to sign up and I'll talk to you in the next podcast.