It’s a savvy — and growing — marketing tactic: Hold short classes or workshops to draw customers to your business.

By providing customers the tools they need to make smart decisions, you can build loyalty and your reputation, and attract new and steady customers to your goods or services.

Example: When owners of The Ladybug Knitting Shop in Cape Cod, Mass., started sharing their expertise with customers through on-site classes held four times a month using their products and techniques, sales spiked in the week following the sessions, and featured products sold at a faster clip.

Here are five strategies to begin structuring your own customer-education plan:

1. Know your audience. Before choosing workshop topics, make sure you know your clientele. How old are they? What are their interests? What do they buy most often? Match topics to your customers, and you’ll have a winning formula.

2. Find good speakers. If you want to expand your expertise beyond what you or your staff can offer up, build a file of experts you can draw on. Tap into local professionals in your industry or a related one, regional university faculty, book authors or manufacturers’ reps.

Example: Arlington, Va., specialty children’s shop Kinder Haus Toys hosts a noted silhouette-portrait artist at its store during November, which draws holiday shoppers.

3. Spread the word. Promote the workshops or events with signs in your store, send a notice to your local newspaper, post the info in your local Chamber of Commerce newsletter and send fliers or e-mails to current customers.

4. Pick a partner. To broaden your potential student base, consider cross-marketing with another local or related business or event.

Example: Bellevue, Wash.-based specialty shoe store Shoes-n-Feet helped sponsor a three-day walk to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The store offered a foot-care workshop to walkers participating in the 60-mile fundraising event. The class, which discussed how walkers should care for their feet before, during and after the race, drew 24 attendees who spent more than $3,000 in the local store.

5. Be persistent. Don’t give up if your first event draws only a few people. Schedule another one. Continuity is the key: It builds awareness, word of mouth and your reputation as a resource.