Creating interest in gyms and fitness studios isn’t as easy in summer as it is right after the New Year. But you can still succeed when the temperature rises. The key to drawing interest — and new members — to your gym is to focus on people.
Show off your members. Use their networks of family and friends to find prospects, and fire up their competitive spirits to make your studio a fun and inviting place to hang out. With the tools available to you on social media and in your gym, you’ll increase your visibility and drive more sales.
Start a summer competition.
Competition motivates people to reach their goals.
- Create a summer competition to see how many days your members can make it in, with weekly check-ins. Track your members’ progress and post an updated leaderboard on social media after every check-in. Encourage members to share their progress.
- Offer a free month of membership, cash prizes or even a trophy (people love trophies) to the winner.
Spotlight your member of the week.
If you’re doing this gym thing right, you should have regular members who are working hard toward goals. Encourage that!
- Create a “member of the week” feature on your social media pages. Take a picture of someone slaying and say a bit about them.
- People love pictures of themselves, and flattery will take you everywhere in life, as grandma said. This is extremely shareable content and will help to create awareness of your studio in a fun way.
Create a YouTube teaser of your workouts.
Your instructors are probably great looking (they work out for a living) and great at what they do — or they wouldn’t work for you. Showcase them.
Create a two-minute teaser trailer for a workout at your studio. Have an instructor walk viewers through a movement or exercise like they would in a class.
The video serves two purposes — showing off your studio space and instructors, as well as providing content to blast out on social media or your website. It’s a good way to create an online audience who may want to stop into your gym for the “in real life” thing.
Co-market with another brand.
Like your counselor said at summer camp, buddy up! Find a business that shares part of your customer base or aligns with your customers’ passions. It could be that coffee shop your members hit after a workout, a favorite local nonprofit, or the burrito place they all head to on a cheat day.
Approach the owner of that business about creating a rewards program or co-hosting an event. It’ll give you access to their customers and provide a fun overlap your members will love.
Start a referral challenge.
Chances are your customers know other people who have similar goals as them. Encourage them to reach out to their friends, family and coworkers about joining or even just trying out your gym.
Create a referral bonus — for every few people a member refers, knock a certain dollar amount off their membership fee or even give them a free month.
Whatever you do this summer, remember: put your people first. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Kyle Magin is a senior copywriter for MINDBODY. You can reach him at kyle.magin@mindbodyonline.com.
