Club owners and executives expect their marketing budgets to drive new member revenues with a positive ROI. But is it possible that your marketing budget is not really driving revenue at all? Do you realize that your efforts may be sending highly motivated prospects to your local competitors?
Your own marketing budget is causing you to lose market share.
How is that possible?
As traditional marketing methods (such as direct mail) shift to digital, club owners often question the best approach to marketing.
- How much budget — if any — should be allocated to traditional marketing?
- How much should be allocated to digital marketing?
- Is it too early for a full scale digital effort?
- Can our club staff manage interaction across social media?
- How do we drive new members from search engines like Google?
- Is direct mail still an effective way to drive members?
If you are confused, there is a good chance that the scenario of spending marketing dollars to enrich the competition is describing you.
How does this work?
When a prospect goes to the mailbox and sees a postcard with your club’s creative, there is a good chance the consumer will remember that they wanted to start exercising. However, the same device (a cellular phone) that a consumer once used to call your tracked phone number on a direct mail piece is now a supercomputer (smart phone).
Nowadays a prospect will think, “Oh yea, I did want to start working out. Now let me search for all gyms in the area on my smart phone so I can see reviews, specials and amenities of every club close to me.”
So interest was piqued — but if your online presence is not setup to grab that hot lead, there is a very good chance that you just positioned another club to grab that lead (in the peak of the buying cycle).
Search engine, social media, directory and review marketing not only are the most cost effective way to drive new member revenues; with most consumers connected to the internet 24/7, they also protect leads that are driven from traditional sources.
Bill Konstand is the president of TAG. For more information email bk@tbsworks.com.
