Are you marketing during the summer, or are you like most clubs that get passive in the summer and have the approach that it’s summer and it’s just going to be slower? This is the worst approach you can take as operators. You still need to be spending money on marketing. This does not mean you have to send 10,000 pieces of direct mail, although with the right message — direct mail does do well in the summer months.
I have the mentality that the months are only as good as we make them. Sales are harder in the summer time, but there are still people looking to join facilities, we just have to go to them rather thinking they will come to us. This is where lower-cost marketing strategies can be effective. You can try putting a “sign shaker” out in front of your club during prime hours. One business owner told me their traffic went up 10 percent after they started using a “sign shaker.” Get out and promote at the local farmers markets and small little fairs around the area. Get your local swimming pool to hand out gift cards with every summer memberships to the parents.
Summer time is the time be creative and work harder, so when the fall comes, our fall is even better, because unlike our competitors who stopped marketing, we continued and our message has been out there, where they basically starting from scratch again.
Eric Vyborny
Fitness Marketing Contributor
