Two people running a studio, doing their own marketing from whatever they could find on Google.
From 17 to 100 students per month
How Dance Movement Inc., a Salsa and Bachata studio run by its two directors, filled three to four trial classes a month instead of one, on video ads funded by the PSG grant.
- Trial class attendance about doubled, from 13 to 17 people to 20 to 25.
- The video package was funded by the PSG grant.
- They had never hired an agency before, and did not understand most of the terminology.
PRIORITY 1
Trial class in progress, full studio floor
SQUARE crop, min 1400×1400
a still from the video shoot is ideal
Dance Movement teaches street Latin dances, mainly Salsa and Bachata.
In their own words
See the studio, and the work it paid for
The video that ran as the campaign, and the two directors on what changed. Everything below this is corroboration.
[CONFIRM] VIDEO REQUIRED
Dance Movement testimonial or campaign cut
16:9 · YouTube ID into data-video
poster at assets/dance-movement-video-poster.jpg
Ice Cube Marketing review · Dance Movement Inc.
The client
Dance Movement Inc.
A dance studio specialising in street Latin-based dances, specifically Salsa and Bachata.
The business has been operating for around eight years. It is a small business run solely by two studio directors, Ronnie and Ee Llian, who manage everything between them: teaching, scheduling, marketing and finances.
That last sentence is the case study. Every problem below follows from it, and so does every result.
PRIORITY 2
The two studio directors, in the studio
LANDSCAPE 4:3, min 1200×900
[CONFIRM] the spelling of the second director’s name: our own copy has it two ways.
Before
Marketing done blindly, by two people with a studio to run.
The main issue was a lack of expertise in digital marketing. Handling every part of the business themselves left little time, and no skill, to market the classes effectively.
They had done marketing on their own: Facebook posts, printed brochures and EDMs. All of it without professional guidance, or, as they put it, “just doing what we can find on Google”. The campaigns produced low-quality leads and minimal conversions. Results were poor and inconsistent.
“Self-medication instead of going to the doctor.”
Trial class attendance was the visible symptom. Sign-ups sat at 13 to 17 per session, with some dropouts, and that was with the class offered free. Trial classes ran only once or twice a month. They wanted to maximise limited resources and get results that could actually grow the student base, and they had never hired an agency to help.
How it started
A grant made it accessible. The onboarding made it credible.
They were looking for a digital marketing partner who could maximise a small budget and limited resources effectively.
Ice Cube Marketing offered a video marketing package funded by the PSG grant, which made it both accessible and appealing to a business of two people.
What settled it was not the package. It was the professionalism and clarity during the onboarding process and the discussions around it, which gave them the confidence that the work would deliver the right results.
Worth being plain about what this means for a reader in the same position: the thing that won the engagement was a conversation, before any money moved. That conversation is what the form at the bottom of this page books.
During the work
What it was actually like to be the client
Two people who described themselves as newbies to digital marketing, walked through it by name, then filmed in the middle of a live class without the class noticing.
Onboarding, at the pace of a beginner
Both Ronnie and Ee Llian praised Joyce and Wenqi for guiding them through onboarding patiently, which mattered because they were, in their own words, newbies to digital marketing.
Wenqi was described as an organised, concise and confident project manager. That is the specific thing that makes meetings survivable for an owner who has a class to teach afterwards: they left them assured and informed.
A shoot bigger than they expected, in a class that carried on
They expected a simple shoot. What arrived was high-quality equipment, proper lighting and a full filming process, and the scale of it impressed them.
The videographer, Alistair, was non-intrusive and efficient, so the class proceeded smoothly around him. Their own students later complimented the videos for capturing the energy and community vibe of the studio.
Editing that sounded like the studio, then run as ads
The editing and storytelling reflected the brand as it actually is: fun, friendly and community-driven, rather than a generic fitness cut.
The finished videos then ran as ads across Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram, where they performed strongly on all four.
The aha moment: video content is far more powerful than text ads in today’s digital landscape.
PRIORITY 3
Still from the video shoot, wide
LANDSCAPE 4:3, min 1200×900
Two stills sit here on the source case study page. Drop them in from the media library.
PRIORITY 3
Second still, closer on the dancers
LANDSCAPE 4:3, min 1200×900
Caption should describe only what is in the frame. Do not name students.
After
What the first campaign returned
Figures as published, kept as ranges where the source gives ranges. Nothing here is annualised or projected.
Attendance per trial class 20–25 Up from 13 to 17 people, which the source records as about a 100% increase
Trial classes per month 3–4 Up from one or two a month, so the same improvement happened more often
Platforms the ads ran on 4 Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram, performing strongly across all of them
Agencies hired before this one 0 Eight years of running the marketing themselves, with no agency and no training
Volume was not the point on its own. Leads from the campaigns were high-quality and genuinely interested in learning, not casual browsers, which is the difference between a longer list and a fuller room. The videos captured the fun, the community spirit and the energy of the classes, and that is what attracted the more authentic engagement.
The increased lead flow and improved attendance helped the studio retain more new students, even with the natural dropouts a trial class always has. The directors also came out of it more aware of how much digital marketing matters to the growth of the business.
What did not happen, stated plainly. There is no new outlet and no expanded team. The source is explicit about it. What the campaign did was stabilise and strengthen the operation they already had, which for a two-person business is the outcome that keeps it going.
Point by point
Same studio, same two people, different month.
Every line on the left is something the studio stated about itself before the engagement. Every line on the right is what the source records it becoming.
Before
After
Low trial class attendance: 13 to 17 sign-ups, even when the class was free
20 to 25 people per trial class, about double, and the class no longer needs to be the thing that fills itself.
Why this one matters most: a trial class is where a dance studio converts. Everything else is upstream of it.
Trial classes running only once or twice a month
Three to four trial classes a month, because there were enough enquiries to justify putting them on.
Why this one matters: frequency, not just attendance, is what turns a good month into a routine.
Low-quality leads and minimal conversions from self-run campaigns
Leads that were high-quality and genuinely interested in learning, rather than casual browsers, and video ads that performed strongly across Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram.
Why this one matters: a lead figure with no relevance figure beside it tells you nothing.
Marketing done blindly, without strategy or any understanding of what worked
Facebook posts, brochures and EDMs replaced by a video marketing package with a plan behind it, funded through the PSG grant, and run by a project manager rather than by whoever had an hour spare.
Why this one matters: the previous effort was not lazy. It was unguided, which is a different problem with a different fix.
No expertise, no time, and no idea whether any of it was working
An onboarding process run at the pace of a beginner, an organised project manager through the meetings, and a set of numbers at the end of it that the directors could read: attendance, frequency and lead quality.
Why this one matters: ask any prospective agency who your project manager is, by name. The vague answers are the informative ones.
How their view changed
From not understanding the words to recommending the work
Reported by the studio, in three stages, and the first stage is where most readers of this page are sitting right now.
At the start
Unsure and inexperienced
They admitted they did not understand most of the terminology. Not a lack of interest, a lack of vocabulary.
Through the work
Confident and trusting
Consistent communication, support and results, in that order. The confidence came from all three, not from a presentation.
Now
Strong appreciation and endorsement
They describe Ice Cube Marketing as organised, reliable and capable of delivering tangible results, and they say so to other small business owners.
After the first campaign
The part that is not a number
What a client does after the first campaign ends is the only real verdict on it.
Satisfied with campaign one
They were very satisfied with the results from the first campaign, which is the campaign every figure on this page comes from.
Trust, then confidence
They developed trust and confidence in the ability to deliver measurable results, having started from no experience of agencies at all.
Extending the relationship
They value the partnership and expressed their intent to extend it into future campaigns.
Recommending it on
They recommend the work to other SMEs looking to use the PSG grant for marketing support, which is the specific reader this page is written for.
A long-term partner
They now describe Ice Cube Marketing as a long-term partner in the growth of the business rather than a vendor they bought a campaign from.
That framing is theirs, reported, not our claim about ourselves. It is also the only endorsement on this page, and it is worth more than a wall of logos, because it comes from a business you can go and take a class at.
The verdict
PRIORITY 4
A full trial class, 20 to 25 people
SQUARE crop, min 1200×1200
the payoff image of this page
A trial class now runs at 20 to 25 people, three to four times a month.
How the studio directors describe the work, as reported in the case study
They came in unsure of the terminology and unconvinced that any of it applied to a two-person dance studio. They came out recommending it to other small business owners, and asking what the next campaign should be.
- Attendance per trial class, from 13 to 17 people 20–25
- Trial classes per month, from one or two 3–4
- Retention of new students, despite natural dropouts Improved
- Intent to extend the relationship into future campaigns Stated
- New outlet or expanded team Not claimed
The next step
Want to find out the 5 critical elements in creating trust and overcoming skepticism over the internet?
And see how you can apply the same idea to your business? Fill in the form to speak to our digital marketing specialist.
The Ice Cube Marketing team, Singapore.
- PSG grant support. The Dance Movement video package was funded through the grant. We will tell you whether yours qualifies before you spend anything.
- A named project manager. The Dance Movement engagement ran through one, and the directors named her when asked what worked.
- Singapore and Malaysia. Offices in Singapore and Johor Bahru.
Error: Contact form not found.
Where are we
Ice Cube Marketing works with Singapore and Malaysia service businesses on lead generation and performance marketing.
Singapore
- 15 Jalan Kilang Barat#07-03 Frontech CentreSingapore 159357
- +65 6653 2633
Malaysia
- No. 11, Jalan Kacung SatuSEDC Tampoi81200 Johor Bahru
- +60 16 796 9260
Copyright 2026 Ice Cube Marketing. Figures on this page relate to the Dance Movement Inc. engagement as published in the case study. [CONFIRM: UEN and copyright year]
