Marketing Madness

This is the greatest time of year. Not only is it March Madness for college basketball, but also throughout the month of March, all marketing turns to “Something Madness Baby!” Think about it — how many auto commercials do you see during this time of the year talking about hoops?

Why aren’t you doing the same thing? Create March Madness in your club by positioning your marketing, programming and retention tools around the month of great college basketball.

Here are a few basic ideas to help you get started:

1)Discount: Tell people that if they come in wearing the local team’s colors, you’ll give them a discount on a membership when they sign up for three years.

2)Programming: Do you know why March Madness is so insane? Not only is college basketball a great sport, but it also gives us hope that a Cinderella can come through and go all the way, beating some of the best teams possible. Create a tournament in your club. Have members sign up and fill them out in brackets. Each round the member must complete a certain exercise. The member that has the most reps moves on to the next round. You may need a few brackets, but that’s OK. Award the winner of each bracket with a prize, such as a month of free shakes, a year’s supply of guest passes, etc.

3)Promotion: The car ads stating that it’s March Madness that I mentioned earlier — they are everywhere this time of year. And, although they may be annoying, they catch people’s attention. Try using this to your advantage. “It’s March Madness Baby! Time to get in shape!”

4)One-on-One: During the month of March hold a one-on-one basketball tournament. Give your trainers a little extra incentive to be referees and hold a single elimination. The winner gets some gear and a gift card to Footlocker.

5)Raffle: Hold a raffle. The winner will receive tickets to the Final Four in 2013. Team up with a local sponsor to help pay for the tickets. Advertise the sponsor in your clubs and have them front the money for the tickets. It will be a win-win for everyone involved.

There are so many cool ways to use March Madness. Not only can it be a great time to hangout at the club and watch some hoops, but it can be a great time for you to put smiles on your members’ faces and bring in some new members at the same time. What types of ideas have you used in March to either make your members happy or bring in a bunch of new members?