If you run a fitness club, there’s a high chance most of your gym’s marketing methods revolve around digital strategies.
And while there’s nothing wrong with this approach, it’s always advisable to combine digital marketing methods with other strategies. And hosting regular fitness events is one of such strategies.
Gym events provide one of the most effective means of bringing new fitness clients to a gym and growing its membership. In fact, recent research shows that approximately 70% of an event’s attendees may become regular clients.
And besides helping to grow a gym’s membership, fitness events can also help to raise a gym’s brand awareness. So, if you run a fitness studio, gym or any other type of fitness facility, hosting events should be part of your content marketing strategy.
The question is, which types of fitness events are most effective in building a gym’s membership? Well, this post has the answers. In this article, we will walk you through some excellent and effective gym event ideas, which you can leverage to grow your gym membership.
1. Gym Challenges
Hosting a gym challenge can be a great means of fostering a spirit of togetherness in your gym. Also, it can help to attract new gym members. And you have numerous gym challenge ideas to choose from.
The type of gym challenge or fitness competition you will hold will depend on the type of fitness studio you are running as well as your members’ level of fitness.
You can also conduct a simple survey and ask your members the type of gym challenges they would like to participate in. Some of the options to consider include:
1.1 Weight-Loss Challenges
Almost every fitness center has held a weight loss challenge at some point. The reason behind their popularity is that they always work. As you may probably know, most people join gyms to lose weight.
Therefore, hosting a challenge and giving them a weight-loss goal to work towards is more than enough motivation to take part. When properly executed, a weight loss challenge can prove to be an effective means of acquiring new members.
1.2 Training for a Local Marathon
Most cities hold marathons regularly. And such marathons attract thousands of participants.
Hence, they provide the perfect opportunity to create a training session for both members and non-members.
For instance, if there’s an upcoming marathon in your city, you can come up with a 30-day marathon preparation event, and use it to sign up for anyone planning to participate.
For such an event, you will only need one personal trainer, who will be handling a group of around 10 to 20 participants.
2. Celebrity Appearances
Celebrities will always draw crowds wherever they go. And, you don’t even have to invite the A-list celebrities, as that would cost too much. Any local celebrity with a sizeable following on social media will do the job.
For example, you can invite a local musician, for a meet-and-greet event with the public at your gym.
And since the event will take place inside your gym, you will have a chance to showcase your facility, unique equipment, membership specials and fitness classes.
3. Niche Fitness Instructor Guest
Most fitness centers around the country usually employ one or two personal trainers, who mostly teach lifting techniques and nutrition. And there’s a high chance you are also using the same approach in your gym.
Well, you can set your gym apart from the competition by inviting niche fitness instructors to your facility occasionally.
For example, you can bring a fitness instructor who specializes in yoga, Pilates or Cross-Fit, just to name a few.
So, how can such a fitness event help to boost your gym’s membership? First, inviting such niche instructors will give your gym significant exposure. And the greater the exposure, the higher the chance of landing more clients.
Second, there’s a high chance that some of their followers may attend the event. And some of the attendees may become lifelong members.
4. Gym Workshops
Hosting a health, wellness or fitness-related educational workshop that’s open to everyone is an excellent way of exposing your gym’s facilities to outsiders.
Depending on the type of workshop you will be hosting, you can opt to invite experts, who will take the participants through various topics.
For instance, you can host a healthy cooking class, where you invite a registered dietician. Also, you can have a workshop on chronic disease-self management, hosted by health experts.
The workshop participants will be mixed, comprising both your current gym members and prospective members. So, make sure you take advantage of this gym event to convert the prospective members into full gym members.
5. Gym Retreats and Getaways
Fitness retreats and gym getaways are a fantastic means of increasing your gym’s revenue.
However, it’s worth mentioning that gym getaways will be harder to pull off, compared to workshops.
With workshops, you can simply hold it in your gym, making it easier to plan. On the other hand, you will be holding the retreats outdoors. And this means that such fitness events will need more planning.
Having said that, you don’t have to take your members to the Caribbean, Santorini, Bali or other renowned travel destinations. Instead, you can simply take them on a week-long hiking trip.
As long as you plan it meticulously and announce it well in advance, it will turn out to be a successful gym event, which can boost your gym’s revenue.
6. Gym Grand Opening
If you are opening a fitness studio or you are launching a branch in another location, hosting a launch event can help to enhance your gym’s visibility.
Also, this fitness event can help to usher in the first gym members to your gym or class. During the gym grand opening, you can hire a professional DJ to play party music.
You can also demonstrate some live demos of your fitness classes or run contests. For the contest prizes, you can offer free personal training sessions or free gym membership trials.
7. Gym Charity Events
Charity fundraising events are an effective way of building stronger bonds with the local community.
You simply need to identify a local charity that aligns with your brand’s mission and vision. And then contact them about organizing a fundraiser at your gym.
It’s worth mentioning that fund-raisers are one-day events, unlike other gym event ideas. So, if you want to make an impact with such a gym event, you will need to be creative.
For instance, you can say that you will offer a free seven-day membership at your fitness center, for any person who donates a small amount to the charity.
Using such an approach will attract several people from the community to your gym. Once you’ve gathered their contact details, you can then work towards convincing them to go for full membership.
8. Throw a Gym Anniversary Party
If your fitness center reaches an anniversary, you should consider throwing a gym anniversary party.
As for the attendance, you should make it open for everyone, whether someone is a member of your fitness center or not.
Hosting a gym anniversary or party at your gym gives you a perfect opportunity of showcasing your gym’s facilities. And it’s highly likely that some of the attendees will want to sign up.
9. Member Appreciation Day
Your gym members are the reason why your gym is running. Without them, you don’t have a fitness center.
So, you need to set aside a day or even an entire week to celebrate their loyalty and support.
For such a gym event, you can offer special discounts to all your members. You can also ask them to bring a friend for free personal training.
While such an event is entirely centered on rewarding your loyal gym members, it also provides a chance to sign up new ones.
10. Start a Running Club
Starting a running club can also help to boost your gym’s revenue. It also provides an opportunity to partner with local health and fitness-related brands.
If you decide to go ahead with this idea, you can make it free for your gym club members while non-members can pay a small fee.
Your partner businesses can then offer prizes to the winners such as prizes, giveaways, and cash gifts.
Also, you can offer bigger rewards and incentives for participants who accomplish a major milestone like clocking a certain number of miles.
11. Partner With Local Businesses
If you want your gym events to reach more people and have a greater impact, then you should consider partnering with local businesses.
Partnering with local businesses will give you an opportunity to reach their audience. At the same time, the other businesses will have access to your audience. Therefore, it will be a great chance for both parties to expand their client base.
Some of the local businesses you can partner with include fitness equipment stores, local eateries, or local grocery stores.
12. Closing Remarks
All the gym events that we’ve discussed here are effective at building a community both inside and outside your gym, enhancing brand awareness and ultimately growing your gym’s membership. Whichever gym events that you decide to implement, make sure you plan adequately and promote them aggressively on various platforms, to maximize their effectiveness.