Industry experts share strategies for collecting and utilizing member data.
The 2022 IHRSA Global Report found more than one in five Americans belonged to a health club or studio in 2021, representing 3.8% growth for the fitness industry since 2020.
With this continued surge in usage, it’s more important than ever before to create a personalized and effective experience. Clubs can achieve this goal by applying various types of data from members.
Mike Rucker, the chief digital officer at Active Wellness, a fitness design and management company, said understanding who your members are through demographic data such as age, gender, location, occupation and other personal details allows you to better tailor efforts and design programs that cater to specific needs and preferences.
“Membership data is also crucial, as collecting information about membership types, joining dates, renewal dates and payment history helps operators understand member behavior and preferences,” said Rucker. “Monitoring attendance and how often members visit the club, which areas they frequent, and peak hours helps optimize staffing, class schedules and facility maintenance.”
Specifically, collecting information within the first 10 weeks of a member’s life cycle is very important according to Mark Harrington, the president of Healthworks Group. Harrington said that data helps showcase how long an individual will stay with a club.
“We take note of how often they are visiting and what staff members they are interacting with,” said Harrington. “We use all that data to determine accurate follow-ups to either correct or congratulate their trajectory. If someone is hitting their target, that’s great. If they are below their target, our outreach to them will be more aggressive to get them engaged with our staff members.”
While this approach sounds promising in theory, large clubs with hundreds of members could find aggregating all that information to be difficult. That’s why Harrington said his company gathers only the minimum amount of data needed from members.
In fact, Harrington said HealthWorks Group collects even less data than in previous years. They want to make the joining process as frictionless as possible for the public.
“We don’t want to slow down the process because of too much data being collected,” said Harrington. “We want members engaging with staff to get them engrained into our organization better. That’s critical to us. Once they’ve gotten through the new member phase, we go into more of a maintenance phase where we are looking to congratulate people. We do shoutouts depending on their usage and activity data.”
Harrington said his company mostly uses the ABC Fitness stack of technology for data purposes. The club employs the ABC IGNITE Engagement mobile app to check information, billing, class signups and attendance trends.
At Active Wellness, Rucker said vendors like Mindbody, Snowflake and WaiverKing are used to assist with member services.
However, programs like Emma, Perkville, GymSales, Google Ads, HubSpot, Sprout Social, Bitly, MonsterInsights, Gravity Forms and Quriobot can use member data to benefit sales and marketing approaches.
“Analyzing demographic and membership data also facilitates better targeted marketing campaigns, promoting relevant offers and events to specific member segments,” said Rucker. “This can result in higher engagement and conversion rates, as well as enhanced member loyalty.”
Tracking large amounts of information related to sales is also recommended by Harrington. He said they use such data to forecast same-day, same-week and same-month sales projections.
“It keeps us on track and lets us know if we are on pace,” said Harrington. “That helps us create reasonable but aggressive goals for the following years. The big keys we are looking for is how did members hear about us and were they referred to us? Those two elements help us optimize our marketing potential and it also corrects our services. That is a never-ending feedback loop.”
Accumulating information can also create several security and moral concerns for organizations. Greg Cibura, the chief technology officer at Fitness Formula Clubs, said it’s essential to ensure data collection is done in a transparent and ethical manner. This means getting the consent of the members and protecting their privacy. “We take a security-first viewpoint on all data projects,” said Cibura. “Security is also constantly evolving. Making time each week for security news and analysis is important.”
Cibura said he finds success with member data by using Amazon Web Services for a variety of data streams. For clubs without an IT department or data scientist, Cibura said he recently had a beneficial meeting with DXFactor, an outcome-obsessed digital transformation team, and liked the opportunities they have for learning more about using data.
Regardless of what software systems are used, one of the first steps to take is ensuring all member data is stored securely. Use encrypted databases or trusted third-party storage providers.
Rucker said it’s also important to have regular backups and a disaster recovery plan in place to minimize loss in the event of a breach. He said plans should outline how to identify, contain and remediate a breach, as well as how to notify affected members and relevant authorities in a timely manner.
“Network security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems and secure Wi-Fi connections, should be implemented and regularly monitored and updated to protect against evolving threats,” said Rucker. “Additionally, access to member data should be limited by implementing strong user authentication measures and establishing role-based access controls.”
When forming these security measures, Rucker said to stay compliant with regulations such as the GDPR Compliance or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This may include conducting regular compliance audits or working with legal counsel to stay informed of regulatory updates.
Keeping all software like operating systems, applications and security tools up to date with the latest patches is another strategy Rucker sees as vital to protecting clubs against known vulnerabilities.
“Equally important is educating employees about the importance of data security and providing regular training on best practices,” said Rucker. “Conducting regular security audits and vulnerability assessments can help identify potential risks and address them proactively. This may include penetration testing, risk assessments and compliance audits to ensure the club’s security measures are robust and effective.”
Communicating policies to members and ensuring all staff members understand and adhere to them is key to maintaining trust and transparency. Rucker said one way to earn good faith is to develop a clear and comprehensive privacy policy that outlines how member data is collected, stored, used and shared.
While Harrington also sees security as a major point of emphasis for the industry, he said the biggest issue he hears from other clubs is so much data gets collected that people don’t know what to do with it.
“I always advise to start small and keep it simple,” said Harrington. “Start with a single element in a single part of your member life cycle. Experiment and develop a strategy around that. Once you master that, then you can add to it. If you try and do everything at once, you will never get to where you want to go.”
Starting small could mean focusing on the specific fitness goals and interests of clients. For example, Rucker said data on members’ medical conditions, injuries and health achievements helps provide safer, more personalized guidance.
“This information can also be used to identify members who may benefit from specialized programs or services,” said Rucker. “Keeping track of workout data such as performance, frequency and duration means we can monitor member progress, identify patterns and offer recommendations.”
Rucker advised to regularly analyze your member data to identify trends, patterns and opportunities for improvement. Keeping a consistent, steady routine of analysis will adjust your club’s offerings and operations accordingly in an ever-changing climate.
Overall, the constant in utilizing patron information is maintaining a steady line of open communication. Keep them informed about how their data is being used, regularly solicit feedback, and encourage them to provide updates on their goals and progress so your assistance can remain relevant and useful.
Interest in the fitness industry is only rising after the world finally reopened from the pandemic. As demand increases, ensure your club is in the best possible position to succeed by being on the same page as your most valuable resource — your members.
