Andy Peat, the CEO of Fitness On Demand, shares how to create highly-personalized, customized member engagement.
Committing the time for business planning and embracing new growth strategies now will set your club on the road for brand building in 2024 and beyond. As you review business goals, tech offerings and in-club solutions, consider these essential steps to power more customized member engagement in 2024 and start the year right.
Personalize Member Engagement
In a competitive industry where, according to IHRSA 50% of members leave in the first six months of the year, personalization is critical to helping members feel seen, welcomed and supported. Members join clubs to be with like-minded people and staff who share their wellness goals. That starts with a personal greeting at reception, in class or with trainers, and it also extends to digital touchpoints. CRM and personalization tools can match appropriate content to member interests for email communications. The best club apps now offer integrated push notifications, and customized news and content updates directly to members to keep them engaged wherever they are.
Amplify your Brand at Every Opportunity
Your members have lots of options for clubs, but focusing on connecting them with your unique brand and offerings at every opportunity will build loyalty and preference. Instead of static displays, choose and work with a content partner that can help you activate every screen across the club with engaging packages of sports, fitness, wellness and branded club promotions content. If you don’t have your own club app, the best partners can also offer white-label apps to which you can easily add your own club colors, logo and brand so every time a member checks a schedule, their messages or books a class they engage with your brand. Ensure you’re cross promoting your brand and content, too. Use social media channels, your website and email marketing tools to share classes, new workouts, nutritional advice and member challenges across every connection point with clients.
Retain Members to Make Real Business Impact
Any club that halts turnover grows. It’s simple math that adds up to a real impact on your bottom line. But retaining members is more than a numbers game. It’s about creating exceptional experiences from working out to the way you communicate. Give members more of what they love by using monitoring software to track favorite on-demand class trends and schedule more of these to build even greater engagement. Use your app’s push notifications to keep members on track with their schedules, to promote club challenges, or to share high-engagement workout tips, nutritional advice and other content. Success in 2024 comes down to creating highly-personalized experiences for members, locking them into your brand and making sure they feel involved, empowered and motivated to keep coming back.
