There were well over 113,300 club and gym businesses in the U.S. in 2023. Add to that the output of 266 exercise equipment manufacturers, the output of a fitness apparel industry that tops $90 billion, and tens of thousands of accessories — and one thing is crystal clear. It’s incredibly difficult to stand out as a strong, successful fitness brand in 2024.
As members work at sticking to their newly-made fitness plans for the year, maybe it’s time to ask the same question of our fitness businesses? How strong is my brand? How healthy is my company? And what can we do to get even better? There are four keyways to tell. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Member Engagement: What do Members Really Feel?
Member engagement is like a pulse check for your fitness brand. But it’s not just about the numbers through the doors every day. Don’t confuse attendance with engagement. Instead think about this important metric in a qualitative way: just how do members who show up, use our facilities, feel about classes, use services and stream content? And how valuable to them is our brand? To assess this, implement a robust, club-wide feedback system to gather insights on member experiences at this critical time of year. Nobody likes to be surveyed so give members plenty of options to take part: a survey link on all club social channels, push notifications from your app and QR codes to sign for online completion. Try offering incentives for completion like a chance to win club swag, a spa treatment or discounted membership perhaps.
Once the data is in analyze class popularity, favorite instructors, wait lists and peak sign up times. Track attendance of members week to week and month to month to understand patterns and encourage members to be open and share their views and opinions. All of this will give you a clear and data-driven picture of what’s working, what’s not and why so you can either course correct or offer more of what members like to build even stronger loyalty.
2. Technological Integration: Can Investment Boost Efficiency?
A strong business model means efficiency: from everyone understanding the business goals and mission to the technology and tools to accelerate operations and provide better member service. If you haven’t already, as part of annual budgeting, review what investment could be allocated to enhanced technology for the club. Evaluate your current technology infrastructure with a full audit and identify tools, tech or solutions that could increase efficiency. Automation software for check-ins can free up front desk time for important face to face member interactions and streamline monthly dues billing. And the rapid advancement of AI-driven technologies can provide detailed and near-real-time analysis of data trends from peak times and staff scheduling to most watched fitness content that can help your team do more of what members want and like. Make a review of your on-demand and streaming operations a key part of your efficiency audit and ask important questions: can you use on-demand to augment instructor classes, fill your studio schedule and help members try new services? Will a change in fitness library programming mean more content to engage everyone from younger members looking for emerging high-energy trend classes to older members seeking strength and flexibility training.
3. Brand Consistency: do you look the same wherever members are?
Consistency is key in building a strong fitness brand. Evaluate how consistently your brand is represented across every channel where your members are engaged: website, app, social media and instructor TikTok’s. It’s a good idea to develop brand guidelines if this doesn’t exist already, to ensure marketing messages align with your brand’s values, and maintain a cohesive visual identity from apparel to signage to social content, where consistent messaging with consumer interactions can make or break a brand. Bring your people into this too. Regularly review with the entire club staff how they should communicate about the brand, your goals, members, staff and mission to present a united face to all members.
4. Market Adaptability: is your club staying relevant?
Very few industries move faster than the fitness industry. Hot new exercise trends from the other side of the globe. Viral challenges that excite members on and offline. And new ideas in content packages like short form circuits, guided stretch and more. A strong fitness business is an adaptive fitness business that monitors trends, conducts member surveys and check-ins and most importantly stays open to trying new classes, types of on-demand content and streaming events across the club. New ideas and change come from creating a culture of innovation and openness. Encourage your staff, trainers and instructors to propose new ideas
A doctor doesn’t check one symptom to tell if a patient is healthy. So similarly, an overall view of your brand and business will give you a real read on how strong your fitness brand truly is for the year ahead. Ask tough questions about how you meet member needs, streamline operations, stay consistent and open to new ideas, and you’ll get a true picture of where strengths and weaknesses lie to build business in the months ahead.
