These days, people are way more conscious about subjects like health and fitness than they ever were in the past. The realization that maintaining physical fitness is the key to good health has led to more and more people opting for gym memberships. And with this increase in demand, several gyms have come up at the local level, increasing competition.
To ensure that your gym can survive the competition, it is important to market it well. It is only when it catches the attention of potential customers that you will be able to spell out the specialties your gym has to offer.
Here are some tips for you to keep in mind when marketing your gym:
Create a Website
No matter how small your gym is, the first step towards marketing it will be creating a dedicated website for it. Make sure the website is optimized for all search engines and devices and that it is easy to navigate. If you have an existing website, make sure it’s updated with the latest gym news, membership details, etc.
For your promotional campaigns, you should have a link wherein you direct the interested people to a quick sign-in through a well-designed sign-up page. Remember, the first impression is the last impression, and an easily accessible website is a great way to give a positive first impression.
Work on Your Google My Business Page
With Google being the most popular search engine, it is important to be easily accessible there. Having an updated Google My Business (GMB) page will allow potential customers to see all relevant details on the right side of their search page.
Make sure that your contact and location details are correctly updated and the images that you upload here cover all the key aspects of your gym. If you have multiple contact numbers, mention all of that. Investing your efforts in getting the GMB page to be picture-perfect will pay off, as this is probably the first thing that will pop up when a potential customer wants to look you up.
Focus on Keywords
In the fitness industry, word-of-mouth goes a long way in marketing. However, when someone hears about your gym, chances are, they will look it up online before visiting you. To ensure they face no challenge in locating you, pay heed to keywords, and be as specific as possible in your local search.
Try to mention the name of the city in the meta description. If there are multiple branches, make sure you have a dedicated page for each of them. Mention the name of the city or neighborhood in the title, meta description, and URL. This will ensure that your gym is well advertised and has a good search ranking.
Social Media Marketing
Social media posts by fitness clubs are effective in engaging current clients and provide an excellent platform for attracting potential customers. Start by recording professional-standard videos that showcase the equipment at your gym and give a peek into life at your club.
If you offer any specific plans for a particular age group or people with specific (weight gain, weight loss, endurance, etc.) goals, make sure you highlight the same in your videos. That way, potential customers with similar goals will identify with you, and this will increase their chances of opting for your gym membership.
You may also prepare specific videos explaining a particular type of workout and its advantages. Remember, giving off your knowledge and expertise for free is a worthy investment, as this will help you gain trust and credibility on your fitness knowledge. The InVideo platform allows you to create professional-quality videos with minimal technical expertise. These come in handy when you want to post frequent videos of your gym in your social media handles.
Chalk Out a Referral Program
At the end of the day, nothing convinces a person to opt for a service as much as a referral from someone they know. You can leverage this human tendency by coming up with a referral program for your existing members. From discounts on their membership renewal to giving away free goodies, there is a lot that you can experiment with here.
These acts will incentivize your clients to refer their friends and family to your gym. As this will be beneficial for your organization, you must take special care to ensure that it easy for your gym members as well.
Start by putting up posters in the gym and sending out emails to educate your members about how they stand to benefit when they refer a friend. If your gym has a dedicated Android or iOS app, make sure that you introduce a referral module in it as well.
Appropriate Gym Promotions
The New Year is when a lot of people take up a resolution of losing weight and consider taking up gym memberships. About 6 months before the busy wedding season is another such occasion. An effective marketing plan will be to chalk out promotional discounts on such days.
To ensure that the promotion gathers the expected results, you need to direct your efforts in letting people know about it. Paid digital marketing campaigns will also pay off if you can initiate them at the correct time.
You may also try to create an updated fitness advertisement that you can put up in billboards and hoardings. This is especially useful in tier-2 cities that have a lot of fitness clubs and limited space on digital channels for each of them to stand out individually.
Lately, gym marketing has taken a digital turn opening your doors to a host of opportunities. From shooting video testimonials of satisfied clients to having an interactive online platform to answer the queries of potential customers, there is a lot of scope of exploration.
You need the understand how the expectations of people who are opting for gym memberships for the first time are different from that of the regular fitness freaks. This will enable you to brainstorm and come up with creative ways to device marketing campaigns that cater to both their interests.
