Whether you own a big box gym or you run a specialty gym, marketing should never stop. At the end of the day, customer churn will always be there, regardless of how well equipped your gym is or how long you’ve been operational.
So, besides managing your gym, you also need to create time for marketing it, to keep your membership numbers high. The good news is, there are hundreds of effective gym marketing strategies that you can implement, to promote your business and keep attracting more clients.
In this article, we will explore 8 gym marketing strategies that you can implement to spread the word about your fitness business, reach your target audience and keep attracting more clients.
1. Host Special In-House Events
Special in-house events can also help to bring in more clients to your gym. For instance, you can host a gym anniversary, a grand opening celebration, a holiday party, a children’s camp or even a themed event, just to name a few.
Other ideas to explore include a team-building boot camp for local organizations, or a kick-boxing tournament for local youths. You can also host a master workshop, where you invite a professional in a specific niche to share their expertise.
Hosting such events will help to bring non-members through the door. And considering that you will end up with the contact information of all the attendees, you will, later on, use it to get in touch with them, nurture them and convert them into long-term members.
2. Use Video Content Marketing
If you are looking for an effective method of convincing your target audience that they should be working out in your gym, then you should simply show them. And this is where videos come in. Content marketing is a corner stone for any business.
You can use videos to show your target clients what your gym looks like, the equipment that you have, how your workout sessions are conducted, your gym community and your trainers.
With videos, you will show your target audience what it’s like to work out in your gym as well as what sets it apart from the competition. So, if you haven’t been using videos to market your gym, then you should get started right away.
When creating your videos, you should have a mix of various types, not only promotional content. You should have informative videos, entertaining videos, and client testimonials, among others.
And with the right approach, videos can help you to establish genuine relationships with your audience, build trust, boost credibility, and help you to reach more people. As a result, your membership sign-up rate will improve.
3. Offer Special Giveaways
Discounts, promotions, coupons and other special giveaways have been and continue to be one of the most effective marketing methods. And this also applies to fitness businesses like gyms.
As you may expect, potential gym clients may be hesitant to commit to your membership, since they are not sure whether they will get value for their money.
But by offering a free trial, discounted membership or other similar offers, you can manage to convince some of the hesitant ones through the door. After all, they have nothing to lose.
The goal here is to get as many prospective fitness as you can manage through the door. And if your services are outstanding and your gym environment is great, some of these prospects will be convinced to become paying members of your gym, once the trial period ends.
4. Market through Google Ads
If you are looking for a faster means of attracting clients to your gym, then you should go for paid online ads. While Google ads are more expensive than SEO strategies, they deliver results within a shorter period. Here are the steps to follow when setting up Google ads for your gym.
4.1 Create a Google Ads Account
Before you can set up your ads, you will first need to have a Google Ads account. Setting one up is easy and fast. You simply need to visit the Google Ads page and then follow the instructions.
4.2 Choose Your Campaign Goals
Once you’ve finished setting up your Google Ads account, Google will then request you to choose your campaign goals. The campaign goals to choose from include driving potential leads to visit your website and boosting brand awareness. In this case, you are trying to drive potential leads to visit your website, so website traffic will be your goal.
4.3 Choose a Campaign Type
Google Ads gives you three types of campaigns to choose from. These are display, video and search. Search ads are usually displayed at the top of the search engine results page. Display ads will feature on other websites that may be relevant to your business while video ads will show on YouTube. For this campaign, you should go for search ads.
4.4 Select Ad Location
You also need to choose a location for your ads. For the location, you can choose a large are like a city or a small area like a particular neighborhood. If you are a small gym, then you should choose a location that is close to your gym as possible.
4.5 Set Your Daily Ad Spend
It’s now time to decide how much you want to be spending on your Google Ads. If you are just getting started, you should consider starting with a low daily budget. With a low daily budget, you can easily test how your ads are performing. And from there, you can increase your daily spend gradually, once your ads start delivering the results you are looking for.
4.6 Choose Keywords
Once you’ve set your budget, then need to choose the keywords that you intend to be competing for. The keywords that you choose should be in line with what your target audience is searching for on Google.
4.7 Create Your Ads
After selecting your keywords, it’s now time to create your Ads. For the ad, you have two headlines to play around with and a description section. Ensure you maintain keyword relevance when filling out the headlines and the ad body. Also, you should make sure your ad matches your landing page.
4.8 Track and Monitor
Once your Ads go live, you should monitor them closely. You should track key metrics like click-through-rates (CTRs), cost-per-click (CPC) and impressions, among others. From this data, you will know what’s working and what’s not. And from there, you will know where to invest more of your budget.
5. Enhance Your Social Media Presence
According to Finances Online, individuals between the ages of 18 to 34 form the highest percentage of gym-goers. And considering that this age group is also the most active on social media, you will be missing out on hundreds of potential gym members, if you don’t have a strong social media presence.
Some of the most popular social media platforms that you can use include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and Pinterest, among others.
But, avoid the temptation of opening an account on each of these platforms, since you will be spreading yourself too thin. Instead, you should focus on two to three platforms. Instagram and Facebook would be a good start. You can then add more platforms later on.
Once you’ve identified the social media platforms that you will use, the next step would be to create and post informative, engaging and valuable content. Some of the types of content that you can share on your social media channels include fitness tips, easy workouts, meal plans, and inspirational quotes.
Make sure you monitor your social media platforms closely and keep engaging with your audience. Reply to comments, share your followers’ posts, like their comments, and reply to messages.
And by doing so, your following will grow and your reach will expand, leading to more exposure for your gym.
6. Partner With Local Influencers
Influencers are people with large online followings. What makes them such an effective gym marketing method is that their followers trust them. So, if an influencer mentions or endorses your gym, some of their followers may end up signing up for your memberships.
Hence, if there are popular or notable individuals within your area with a large online following, you should get in touch with them and request them to mention or promote your gym on their social media channels.
7. Leverage Brand Partnerships
Co-marketing and brand partnerships can also help you to reach more potential gym clients. The idea here is to identify a complimentary but non-competing business and then co-promote each other.
Some potential businesses that your fitness business can partner with include outdoor gear stores, coffee shops, health-conscious eateries, workout apparel retailers, and nutrition stores.
Once you’ve identified some potential business, you can then approach them with your partnership offer. For instance, you can partner with a workout apparel retailer, where you will be sending each other clients. If your gym member is looking for a place to purchase workout gear, you can be sending them to this business.
At the same time, if someone purchasing workout gear is looking for a gym to join in the area, the workout apparel retailer will recommend your gym. Through this method, you will continue growing your memberships, without spending anything.
8. Use Print Ads
With the increasing use of online marketing channels, traditional marketing methods like print ads are no longer popular. But, they still remain a great means of marketing and promoting a gym.
According to the International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Certification (IFABC), 50% of the world’s adult population read newspapers. Hence, combining online gym marketing strategies with print ads will help you to reach more people in your area, who may be looking for a gym to join.
9. Wrapping It Up
By implementing these gym marketing strategies, you will keep attracting new gym members. And while you may lose some along the way, which is normal, your gym will always maintain a healthy membership throughout the year.