Many club owners struggle in their marketing efforts. There are many reasons for this: inconsistency in marketing efforts, utilizing a shotgun approach or only using one or two marketing strategies at a time.
Many of these factors are important, but club owners focus solely on branding. They tend to throw away too many marketing dollars towards branding their company’s image.
The main goal is to generate a never-ending supply of qualified prospects. In that, club owners need to understand that branding efforts are better left to the likes of Coke, Pepsi, Mercedes, Nike and Disney. Branding simply means, the development of a distinguishable name and/or symbol, intended to identify a product or service. In other words, if someone in your city thinks of fitness, and you have branded your business well, they will think of you first.
In theory, this sounds like it is a fantastic idea; however, in practice, it typically doesn’t make a lot of sense. An independently owned club or chain of clubs typically has a finite marketing budget to work with. Many times these same clubs are in urgent need for new members and new money. In this common scenario, a typical health club business cannot afford to take on the challenge of branding themselves.
Branding forces a club owner to canvas the entire market with a generic message in hopes that someone will respond. This type of marketing is not only expensive, but it has been shown to be ineffective. So, unless you have an unlimited marketing budget from which to work, you’ll want to avoid branding activities.
Instead, you need to focus on identifying and attracting highly qualified prospects by using “Direct-Response” marketing strategies. Direct-response marketing is meant to illicit a direct response from your prospects. This type of marketing can be done on the smallest of budgets and still generate the greatest response and a large return on your investment.
The easiest way to distinguish branding from direct response marketing is through the offer. Branding rarely has an offer. Rather, it focuses on preaching the features and benefits of the service and developing an image. Direct response can also promote these things, but on all direct-response marketing pieces you will find something being offered.
What action do you want your prospect to take? If you want them to call, tell them to call. If you want them to visit your facility, tell them to visit your facility. Not only must you tell them what you want them to do, you also have to provide a compelling reason for them to do so. A limited time offer, a trial membership or some other type of incentive is always found on direct-response marketing.
Branding is much too expensive and ineffective as compared to direct-response marketing. Once you have a solid foundation of members and revenues, you can focus a bit more on branding efforts. But, if you are a start up club, or a club that walks the fine line between red and black each month, or simply want the best return on your investment possible, then direct response marketing is the way to go.
Curtis Mock is an author, speaker and consultant to health clubs worldwide. He is the Executive Director of GymSuccess.com.
Curtis– right-on! We were part of a ladies fitness franchise for 7 years; but recently went independent. The former owners of the franchise were preaching branding and led many clubs down the primrose path to bankruptcy. These were big name marketing people who suppsedly knew what they were doing. By now, you may know who I am speaking of. We fought it tooth and nail from teh beginning — knowing even then that what you say in your article is absolutely true.
A small club like ours cannot afford to brand. We need marketing that drives bodies through the door. Virtually every marketing dollar spent has to generate at least five dollars of revenue (or more) or it is not worth spending. Direct response marketing is the only way to do it.
What kind of direct response marketing are you suggesting? Letters, Post Cards, Brochures, etc..?
John,
Any type of marketing needs to be direct response style. Even your business card should have a message on the back that tells someone to take action and gives them incentive. Door hangers, postcards, letters, take ones, b2b flyers,newspapers, everything. Even when you put on a seminar or have an event, etc you should be giving people a special opportunity to take advantage of an offer.
And that doesn’t mean you need to sell something. You can give things away for free also, but it’s the fact that they took action. I.e. “Free bottle of water the next time you work out”. Getting people to respond is going to cause them to be more committed to you and introduces them to more of what you have to offer. Hope that helps!
Curtis Mock