Ok, I’m not going to sit here and waste your time by telling you how competitive the fitness industry is – I’m sure you’re fully aware. I’m also sure you’re aware how essential digital marketing is for your business (especially if you have visited this blog before – it’s all I bang on about!)
But something you may need help on is ideas on how to actually promote your business through digital marketing – what promotions you should run and what to offer new and existing clients to keep them coming back for more.
I’m going to give you 6 examples of marketing ideas you can use to generate new clients and help push your business further. Feel free to use these ideas as you wish…
Free Training Day
Everybody loves a freebie, right? Free stuff is a great way of grabbing peoples attention and offering a free taster session will help to bring newbies to your business.
You could use this as your website call-to-action, for example, (Book Your Free Session). This will then allow them to enter their details to book. It will also help build your mailing list as they enter their email address.
Again, as with the other flash specials, these people are testing out the waters need to be wooed. They have to feel like they fit in; they will achieve the results they are looking for and feel comfortable.
I recommend speaking with them after the session and listening to their thoughts and hopefully turning them into a new regular client!
But don’t worry if they don’t sign-up right there and then you can always provide them with on-going valuable content via Facebook, Twitter and Email.
Feature a Gym member every week or month
Testimonials play a huge factor when it comes to people buying with businesses. Naturally, we are sceptical – “does it even work?” “will it work for me?” – just some of the common questions that run through our mind. You need to show people that your services do create success.
A great way of doing this is running a weekly/monthly blog feature, showcasing one of your clients and their transformation. Not only will this build trust, it’s also a great way for you to further promote your business. Provide your featured client with the link and I’m more than sure they will pass it around their friends as well as on social media.
Win-win situation.
Referral Campaign
Create a referral rewards program within your business. Your current clients can earn free training with you for every person they send your way. A good way to get this started is to have them invite a friend to join them for one of their training sessions.
Here’s an example:
Just for bringing in a friend you give them 10 points in your Rewards. If their friend buys a training package, the current client receives another 50 points and a gift bag filled supplements etc. These points will then be exchanged for gifts. 50 points receive a supplement pack, 100 points receive a fitness bundle pack – you see where I’m going with this?
In the long run, a rewards system could be extremely beneficial for you and your business.
Weekly Food Blog Posts
One of the most difficult aspects of fitness and having a healthy lifestyle is nutrition! You know food is a constant battle with members so give them a helping hand and provide them with some healthy recipes each week.
A big problem with eating healthy is that most people don’t know what to eat or how to make “healthy” food taste good. In addition to being an example provide your members and even non-members meal plans to make their life easier.
This will also help boost your website traffic. You can also build your mailing list further by asking for people to provide their email address to download the recipes on as a PDF.
Special Anniversary Promotion
I’ve noticed some businesses (not just fitness) seem to forget about their anniversary, whether it is the anniversary of their store opening or just their business opening overall.
Start celebrating your anniversary – make a big deal out of it! Promote the upcoming date two weeks before the event. Basically, get every man and his dog talking about the fact that your business has reached yet another milestone!
I recommend promoting this with a special offer – maybe give your clients a free session to say thank you for their loyalty or offer new signups 10% off.
Get people talking and get more clients.
Weight loss challenge
You can test a lot of different fitness marketing campaigns but one thing that will bring members together is weight loss. Whether this is a group or individual effort a weight loss campaign with a start date, end state, weight goals and coaches to help the individuals along the way will get members and even non-members on board.
When it comes to a weight loss challenge you don’t just have to limit it to your members. Make the challenge open to everyone for a fee. You can give current gym members a discount since they will be paying extra to be part of the challenge.
A weight loss challenge accomplishes two great things. It helps members reach their goals and it gets non-members in your gym.
Besides the gratification of losing weight, you can give the winner something awesome. For a yoga business, it might be a yoga mat with cool yoga clothing. You get the idea; make the prize something that is related to your gym and your clients.
Final Thought
Marketing your fitness business is a lot more than just ads with pictures of ripped people with badass abs. It’s about communicating the right message to the right person using the right method. Get that trio correct and you’ll get more members than you’ve ever had before.
