There is a fundamental shift currently taking place in what people expect from the Internet, and if your club’s digital marketing strategy fails to align with these new paradigm shifts, you are likely underutilizing your marketing budget. We at Club One recently relaunched our website to provide a more user-driven experience. Read below for considerations to keep in mind and be sure to check out the new clubone.com.
Customers Expect Utility
The days of CPM media buys and push digital marketing strategies are over. Like it or not, users determine what they consume in the online world. If your website does not offer instant value, your prospect’s next click is likely your competitor. Increase your probability of success online by designing your website with your users’ goals in mind. Make it easy for users to find exactly what they’re looking for immediately. Our relaunched website was built on the Sitecore platform allowing us to tailor site attributes to a specific visitor. We also offer an optimized experience for those users coming in from a mobile device, as well as a downloadable mobile app, so that prospects and members can get Club One content properly displayed on the device of their choosing.
Always Be Testing
The old sales dictum from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, “Always Be Closing,” might still apply to your sales force, but the new mantra for your Marketing Department should be, “Always Be Testing.” In this new era of hassle-free multivariate testing, behavioral and audience targeting and remarketing, everyone has the opportunity to improve. Continually test and improve your winning marketing campaigns and put your poorly performing campaigns to pasture.
Reputation Management
The Zero Moment of Truth (or ZMOT for short) is a term coined by Google for the way people now shop for goods and services online. The fitness industry is a reputation driven business where positive word of mouth is paramount. Now, more than ever, buyers are referencing review sites like Yelp, Google Places and others before making a purchasing decision. In fact a recent study by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates indicated 7 out of 10 people now look to reviews before committing to a purchase. At Club One we use reputation management software to track our online reviews and star ratings as well as to create advocate marketing campaigns to encourage our loyal members to talk about us online.
Do Your Homework
As the online world gets more multifaceted, long gone are the days that you can build a static website and expect results. It is imperative that you get the right players on the bus. At Club One we went through an arduous three month process to choose the right agency to redesign our website and ultimately chose SolutionSet after confirming reputation, budget alignment and fit. Make sure you do your own due diligence before revamping your online program. Commit to the needed resources, truly understand your systems, develop an internal content strategy and create a realistic plan and timeline. You will find yourself ahead of the curve regarding your online strategy.
By Mike Rucker, the senior digital strategist at Club One.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
Hi Mike,
I applaud this article as helpful information in the sense that the fitness industry as a whole, with a few exceptions like Precor, tends to lag other industries with regard to applying serious marketing methods. For many marketing itself is an after thought.
I entered the fitness industry 3 years ago to take First Degree Fitness up several notches in branding, messaging, design and most of our effort with a really limited budget was in building dealer confidence and being market focused. Certainly we never got into all the analytics but that was forthcoming. I came from the computer industry so was able to look at the fitness industry with fresh eyes.
I would like to hear how much you spent on your new web site as that too can help others to approach the web with a better understanding of the initial development investment and in managing it over time. I contend that a lot of these look at the low cost development tools, such as Word Press and expect the world for $5K to $10K. That may be OK to get a company started but the approach you suggest, which would deliver a far higher value, is often cut at the knees by tight budgets.
When we advise companies on revitalizing their brand and web site, our core work is about building credibility, engaging their customers, creating value, differentiation well before we get into the stuff you mention. I like cult brands and see that insightful branding can create far greater value and get companies that stand for something closer to the attributes of a cult brand. I would dare to say about 70% of the fitness related companies fall way short in effectively engaging their customers, instead opting to push products at them with one way, product centered dialogs.
I hope your article starts to change some of that.
Best,
Bill