It’s “Back to School” season, which means many stay-at-home parents will be blessedly free from the pitter patter of little feet, for at least a portion of the day. During that window of freedom, hopefully they’ll choose to stop by your club to get in some exercise.
Linda Mitchell, the director of marketing, public relations and charitable giving for Newtown Athletic Club (NAC), thought up some great marketing ideas you can use throughout the next few weeks and school year.
CS: What are some fun, creative marketing ideas clubs can do during the “Back to School” season?
LM: Back to school prompts everyone to think about organizing their activities for the entire school year. This is the prime time to get families thinking about how they are going to fit everything into their schedule and to make sure that programs you have to offer are included. If you offer children’s programs, fall is the time to use them to boost your membership sales. This can be started as early as mid-August, especially if your programs start the first week of September.
CS: Is NAC doing any marketing specific to this time?
LM: Since the NAC offers a comprehensive youth program schedule, which includes gymnastics, dance, martial arts, Kidfit and swim lessons, promotion begins in early August for registration in mid-August. In order to participate in these programs a family membership is required. Promoting in early August gives us a head start on membership upgrades and new memberships. A Youth Program open house is offered the week prior to mid-August registration to promote registration and membership joins. During the open house the parents are encouraged to bring their kids and have them participate in the programs that interest them. This way they can try before they buy and registration goes much more smoothly.
If you market in late August and early September for an adult population, then offer a strong referral incentive to your members to get them to bring friends. Make sure you communicate well. This is worth a separate mailing with some referral cards that hits them directly in their “real life” mailbox at home. You can back it up with e-mails, Facebook and guerilla marketing by handing our referral passes in your club. I call this “hand-to-hand combat” and it really works.
CS: Does NAC’s programming change at all once kids are back to school?
LM: Once school begins there is some shift in the group exercise schedule to accommodate a slight increase in class offerings. Generally, the summer schedule is reduced a bit. However, this past summer we opened our Outdoor Aquatic Resort which includes an adult pool, zero entry pool, lazy river and two 25-foot slides, as well as a bar and restaurant. As a result, we found that our membership usage did not drop off at all — in fact it increased during the summer.
Naturally the kids’ programs become more robust in the fall. Our Parisi Speed School sports training program picks up in the late summer and early fall. With different sports being played all year long, Parisi is becoming more steady with fewer down times.
Personal training and small group training specials work well in the fall. We position these programs as the best way to get back into the swing of things after a long, lazy summer. You may offer a personal training Jump Start Promotion for new members, but September is a good time to offer to people who have never trained, or who haven’t trained in three months or more.
CS: How does NAC appeal to moms and dads during the school year?
LM: During the school year, we offer School’s Out Camps on major holidays, voting days or school breaks. Kids Night Out programs twice a month on Saturday night are very popular, allowing the parents to leave the kids with us for a few hours of recreation and entertainment, for both parents and kids. We also offer specialty events featuring gymnastics and dance activities, such as sleepovers.
One of our most popular events is our Mother/Son Challenge night. This event is usually provided to a local PTO group for fundraising. We arrange all the activities for the mothers to come along with their sons to play games, contests and generally interact utilizing physical activity. Each participant pays a registration fee and the proceeds go to the PTO.
All of these programs are revenue producing and much appreciated by the parents. They also provide a way for us to generate leads for membership sales.
As told to Rachel Zabonick
