As a health club operator, it’s important to understand the role marketing plays in the acquisition and retention of customers.
Tammy Beil, the director of marketing for Club OS, discussed this fact during a recent webinar highlighting the current state of marketing — including what club operators need to know to be successful. “It’s really important to take a look at the shift that has occurred in marketing and sales,” she said. “The internet has changed many things with the consumer.”
The biggest change has occurred within the customer journey. Thanks to the internet, customers no longer need to wait for an ad to show up in the mail or on TV to become aware of your product. Today, customers are often doing research on your product, before you even know they’re interested in the first place.
And today’s customer journey now involves a variety of steps, including awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation and purchase.
“There are so many [customer] touch points, and you need to be top of mind,” said Beil. “You need to be out there and getting information in customers’ hands to turn them into members.”
Following are five stats shared by Beil highlighting the current state of marketing.
- 89 percent of people go online and look things up before you even know they’re interested in your offering.
- On average, people have at least 13 touches before they actually make a purchase.
- 93 percent of purchases start with an online search. What does that mean? If someone is Googling gyms or barre, the point is, you want your company to come up in that search engine.
- 72 percent of people use social media to find out information about you.
- Research reveals that 70 percent of consumers say they look at product reviews before making a purchase, and product reviews are 12x more trusted than product descriptions from manufacturers.
For additional insights from Beil on the current state of marketing, watch the full webinar here.
Rachel Zabonick is editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
