About the customer
Name: Universal Martial Arts
Industry: Independent martial arts studio
Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Goal: Increase leads (calls, online bookings)
background
The challenge
Universal Martial Arts is the largest martial arts studio in the North East, with over 25 years of experience. They had been advertising with Yell for many years but wanted to grow their business further.
In May 2024, their account manager, David Chambers, conducted a full marketing audit and recommended a tailored Accelerate digital marketing solution to help them reach more customers and drive more leads.
“We’ve been really happy with Yell and the support we’ve received. Our business continues to grow, and I love that our campaign evolves with our needs. David has worked with us for years, always with our best interests at heart. I’d have no hesitation in recommending Yell to other businesses.”
their solution
How we helped
To boost their visibility and lead generation, we:
Designed & optimised a new SEO-friendly website, making it easier for customers to find them and book classes.
Showcased their key services – karate, MMA, kickboxing, and women-only classes – across their website and business profiles.
Highlighted their key selling points, including being a trusted, family-run business with over 30 years of experience.
Launched highly targeted ads across Yell, Google, and Bing to attract local customers actively searching for martial arts classes.
Provided the free Yell Business app to help them easily request new customer reviews and quickly post across social media with one tap.
results & improvements
In just nine months, Universal Martial Arts has achieved incredible results.
✅ Ranking on the first page of Google for every class they teach in Newcastle
🚀 139,600+ potential customers reached
📈 18,000 clicks & engagements with their marketing
📞 300+ leads in nine months – an average of 33 per month (or at least one per day!)
📊 A huge leap from just 79 leads in the same period last year
💰 £11.60 cost per lead in December 2024 – a great return on investment, given their £250 average job value
💰 £36,150+ estimated profit so far – and with an increased advertising investment, this will only keep growing!
With this success, Stephen has been able to expand his gym and bring in more coaches to meet the growing demand – an incredible milestone that we’re so proud to have helped him achieve! Seeing Universal Martial Arts thrive and grow is exactly why we do what we do. 🚀
“I’ve worked with Stephen for years and watched his business go from strength to strength. Initially, he was only advertising on Yell.com, but since moving to an Accelerate solution, his growth has been incredible. His new website, combined with Google advertising, has helped him expand into MMA coaching, bringing in more traffic, clicks, and enquiries than ever before. Seeing him rank on the first page of Google, grow his team, and scale his business has been amazing. It’s onwards and upwards from here!”
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