When you are not meeting your monthly membership targets or your sales have slowed, it is time to drive your sales and health club marketing tactics.
Health club marketing can be challenging, with so many gyms and health clubs vying for attention, you need to make an offer that potential members cannot refuse and deploy marketing that is unique and offers something different from your competitors. To help your health club increase signups, here as six ideas that you can use as part of your health club marketing strategy.
One of the most effective and cheapest marketing strategies for gyms and health clubs is from referrals and recommendations from your existing customers. In order for your current customers to share a glowing report about the gym, you need to make sure you give your members the best service possible. If you have a machine that’s out of action, make sure to fix it. Similarly, ensure your cleanliness is as high as possible. It may be worth using fresh eyes to take a look at your gym or asking for feedback from your members on how to improve your health club.
Alongside referrals, you can also include an incentive to encourage your members to recommend your gym and to entice new members to join. Consider options such as free personal training sessions, a goody bag or a month free membership for both the new member and the referee.
Your gym will thrive by standing out compared to the other health clubs in the area. You need to give your health club a unique selling point. Furthermore, you need to stay on top of your health club keeping your strategy fresh with lots of new and exciting activities.
Be the first health club in your area to offer the new fitness trend such as HIIT (high-intensity interval training) in the pool, wellness and mindfulness classes as well as obstacle course classes (in preparation for Iron Man and Tough Mudder type challenges). Another great way to get people through the door is to offer ‘recovery’ classes for rest days.
Of course, every time you introduce a new activity to your health club, make sure to advertise it through posters, printed media as well as social media. You can also let members bring a friend along for free to help boost sign-ups and increase your marketing list.
Another fantastic way to boost memberships for a health club is by forming business partnerships. With local businesses, offer a discount for employees, in return the business will showcase your health club as an employee benefit and can advertise your health club in the staff rooms and via the company intranet.
You can also partner with other businesses within the industry to diversify your membership and offer something that your health club can’t currently provide. For example, you can partner up will a local dance school for classes such as Barre which will be ideal for your Pilates customers while Zumba would be suitable for members who enjoy your aerobics class. By partnering up, you will see an influx of customers from the other business, while they can enjoy the customer exposure from your business.
For health clubs, a free day or weekly pass is a much more effective marketing strategy than discounting your membership or using a daily deal email or website to promote your business. By offering free passes, members can try out your gym and see if it is suitable for their needs without risk. With this, they will be in the market for a new gym and having their details for a free pass means you have contact details to close the deal.
For those using a cheap deal, they will often be on the lookout for the next gym bargain they can find and will not have the brand loyalty. Remember, once people have paid a low price for your service, it will be hard to make them pay full price. So instead, offer a freebie and showcase the value that your health club provides within the monthly membership fee.
In your brand strategy, you will have likely considered who your ideal customer is. While you may want everyone in the vicinity of your gym to join, a marketing strategy will be unable to attract everyone in one quick swoop. Instead you should identify the niche of your health club and the audience that you are likely to attract. Depending on what your health club offers, this could target the senior generation, young parents or students.
Once you have identified your target audience, make sure your health club has all the facilities that will attract and retain that audience. You can then tailor your marketing materials to suit the niche.
For so many health clubs, it is the staff that make the business. From the cleaners keeping your facility spotless, to your personal trainers that give your members a fitness focus. Personal training is a hot trend for health clubs and gyms and is one that you should promote to secure more sign-ups.
Of course, your trainers must be up to the task. One of the most important aspects is having instructors that actually care about the progress of their clients. Those who may look physically fit can inspire your members but having trainer that focus on customer service and motivation are the ones that will retain members and attract new ones. Making sure all your staff breathe your brand values and act as you want them to is a sure-fire way to attract members and increase referrals.
If you are looking to boost your memberships, then it is important that your health club and gym insurance covers all of the risks. For example, if you are adding new equipment, new staff or new classes you need to make sure that every aspect is covered by insurance to protect your business financially should there be an unforeseen accident or injury.
At Compare Insurances, we can help to make sure that every aspect of your health club is covered by insurance so that you can focus on attracting new members and improving your health club marketing strategy. For free insurance comparison call the team now for free on 0333 344 3705.
