Gym membership has increased by 25 million in the years 2000 till 2016 and if trends continue those numbers will continue to grow. The fitness industry is booming in all areas from coaching to fitness memberships. That means that more fitness studios and facilities are popping up all over the place, from CrossFit to boxing to spin, there is a lot of stiff competition. Creating a Calgary Marketing plan will allow your business to thrive and grow.
Correctly marketing your facility will make your business stand out from the hundreds of other health centers in your city. Before you start marketing your fitness facility, however, it is essential to mind your people, your process and your product.
- Your People: You need to understand the goals of the people who come into your facility. Your offering for people who want to lose weight will be different from what you will offer those who want to build strength. Don’t lump your clients into one category, they all want different things and the way you will market to them may be different too.
- Your Process: You don’t need to get too technical about this but it important that you know how you get your job done. This will also greatly influence your marketing. In the most basic and simple form, what are the steps by which you provide the services you do?
- Product: There is an emotional need you are meeting, what is it? People go to fitness centers for different reasons. Some want to increase the quality of their lives. Some want to feel sexy or powerful or healthy. Once you understand this product, you can combine that knowledge with the knowledge of your people and process, and you can now market.
There are several methods by which you can get more people in the door.
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Create challenges with Calgary Marketing.
Weight loss or exercise challenges are a fantastic way to get your members involved. Not only will they feel motivated they will likely share their experience and your challenge with friends and family. You can also create challenges between different workplaces, especially if you offer workplace packages. This will get them more engaged.
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Build a community with Calgary Marketing.
You have to offer your patrons more than just a workout to build momentum and word of mouth referrals. Like we stated before, there are a lot of fitness studios springing up all over and there is always a new trend to test out. Keep people coming back by building a community and culture that makes your members feel at home! Sometimes people will come back, not because of they care about their fitness but because they have made friends whom they would like to keep seeing.
Host events, seminars and other fitness related events that add value and allow you to connect on a deeper level. Don’t just connect people to each other, make your fitness center a place they can come without an urge to leave immediately.
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Online presence with Calgary Marketing.
It is essential that you take your business into the digital realm. The fitness community is thriving both digitally and physically. People love to check out your brand online before they commit to you. It is also a great way to get current and future customers interested. If you are serious about organic lead generation, we suggest you get serious about your social media game. Social media platforms like Facebook offer targeted promotions through which you can reach people who may be looking for fitness centers in their area.
- Free trials- gym memberships are not a cheap investment. People want to try out a service before they commit. That is why we recommend offering free trials, whether it is a workout or a free week. You may think “giving away a free week is losing”, but it is not. People are more likely to try to pay for something they know is good than for something they are told is good. Not everybody who tries will subscribe immediately but they on the day when they need a fitness center, they know where to go. And they can recommend you to others.
- Host team building- We love the idea of a workout session as a team building activity especially if you run a spin studio, yoga or kickboxing. This can go hand in hand with the free trial. Contact business and offer their team a free trial. You will get a ton of new people through the door, and you’re likely already running a class that they can seamlessly slide into.
- Feature clients and employees- This is a terrific way for your members to get to know other members and employees. Doing a short questionnaire with your members. Mark milestones such as birthdays or gym anniversaries. Get your members involved in these celebrations and makes them feel special. It will show you value their continued patronage. Not everybody would want private information such as their birthday shared so be sure to get their permission.
- Create a blog – The usefulness of blogs cannot be overstated. You can use this to share fitness information that can benefit even people who aren’t members of your fitness center. You can also answer frequently asked questions on the blog. Your blog may be what will inspire some people to take care of their fitness.
Learn more about our Calgary Marketing Services.
