Just opening a gym and waiting for new members to join is not enough anymore. If you want to grow the business, your focus should always be on promoting & upselling. Gym promo is an ongoing process, and we’re here to share with you some of the best fitness and gym marketing ideas to get you started.
Whether you’re a well-established company or you’re just starting a new gym, this guide will surely give you the marketing boost you’re looking for. Be bold, experiment with every idea, and keep what works best for you.
Why gym marketing is important
People are preoccupied with their well-being now more than ever. UpSwell’s recent research shows that in 2021, 80.4% of consumers were open to going back to the gym. The reality? You’re seeing it yourself at your and other gym’s reception desks.
Just as you’re focusing on staying relevant by having professional equipment and well-trained staff, you should also put some effort into the gym marketing strategy and the way you talk about your business (especially online). Because if you don’t, the other gym around the corner will.
Your gym members want connection, they crave relationships – and you can easily nurture them through some of the marketing ideas for fitness clubs and personal trainer marketing you’ll find below.
Truth is you should continuously sell your business whenever you get the chance. When you do it based on a gym marketing plan, that’s even better. You’ll see great results in no time.
How to get gym members
When customers tend to choose based on proximity, what can you do to make a potential commute worthy? How do you attract gym members who are beyond your walking distance area, for example?
Here are 5 strategies to help you improve your gym’s performance.
1. Word of mouth – let your customers talk about what they like
Nowadays, nothing is more trustworthy than regular people talking about what products and services they like best to other people. This is why reviews are so important for example.
What’s particularly cool about your type of business is that your customers – whether they’re adding muscles or shedding pounds – are going to see visible transformations.
They don’t even have to talk about it. Friends and family will surely ask about the process they’re going through. Your job is to engage with your customers. Be friendly, try to form genuine connections, show that you care about their health and looks, and they’ll surely recommend your gym further.
The best part of this tactic? It’s totally free and you don’t need marketing knowledge to make it work.
2. Go online – not everybody is ready to return to the gym
As most people are more inclined to do everything from the comfort of their homes, you should consider mirroring your offline classes with virtual ones, too.
Hyperhuman’s Studio for Teams is one of the best tools that will help you go online. The app is created to create an online on-demand video fitness business in just hours without any upfront fixed cost. Yes, you read that right.
It allows you to create unlimited workouts and host them at no additional cost. Plus, you can have unlimited end-users taking classes without any extra charges.
Sounds like something you want to try? Download the mobile app and start creating. No video editing skills needed.
3. Offer extra services – and become their one-stop-shop
Increase your revenues by going hybrid. There are several other products and services you can introduce to your customers to make them stick to your gym. Maybe it’s something they can do on a regular after their class, maybe it’s a bootcamp once a year, survey your customers and see what they like and what would make them stay loyal.
Diversifying your revenue streams is mandatory. From going online to offering health workshops, nutrition coaching, or massages, any extra service will grow your gym attendance. In the end, most of your clients have a certain lifestyle. Why not help them beyond simply adding muscles or shedding weight?
4. Always have personal trainers on-site
A lot of people avoid gyms because they feel insecure. About their looks, but more often about the fact that they don’t know anything about gyms. Here’s where a trainer comes in handy.
We’re not saying you should push 1to1s to every customer you have, but rather support them at the beginning. Allow them to talk to a professional coach who can teach them how to operate the equipment, what posture to use, how many reps to do, when to take a break, and so on.
Having personal trainers always present in your fitness club comes with endless benefits for both your business and your clientele.
5. Organize unique classes to stay competitive
Want to make sure everybody’s flocking at your door? Make sure you include some exclusive classes that no other gym in your area can pull. Customers are always happy to try different classes and approaches.
If you’re the only gym that hired a well-known trainer, people will want to come to you. And they will definitely stay for other services and classes, too. Offering exclusivity and making your customers feel empowered and above everybody else is an old but effective marketing tactic.
How to use gym advertising the right way
Whether you’re an independent gym, a studio, or a fitness center, having a great schedule, performant equipment, and friendly staff members is only half of the job.
Real fitness promotion starts with real gym advertising. We’re sorry to burst the bubble: like any other business, your gym needs propper marketing too. Good thing it’s not that hard and we assembled a list with the best gym marketing ideas to get you started.
Let’s see some below.
1. Expand online with Hyperhuman
Launching an online program is an excellent way to attract new gym members and upsell the current ones. Using an app like Hyperhuman, you enable everybody to have access to your workouts without being physically present. Think about the possibilities: 1to1 sessions will be more accessible, proximity won’t be a criterion anymore, and fixed schedules will be a thing of the past.
With Hyperhuman Studio for Teams, you will be able to:
Create an online on-demand video fitness business in hours
It lets you create an online on-demand video fitness business in just hours without any upfront fixed cost thanks to our AI automation process.
Boost client engagement
It boosts your client engagement by enabling you to offer your end clients and members more diversified and personalized on-demand video content.
Increase revenue
It increases your gym revenue with the option to sell or upsell additional services and subscription tiers to your existing clients.
Future-proof your business
It future-proofs your business by avoiding possible restrictions that might damage your traditional business.
Charge the way you want
It lets you charge end users the way you want, no cut or percentage for us.
| 💡Ready to try it for free? Check all the features you can benefit from here. |
2. Offer free 1to1 training
Make your potential new customers feel at home from day one by offering them a first personal training session for free. A study of 259,355 ex-members at 267 Dutch health and fitness venues concluded that only 10% of members attended regularly (defined as at least four times a month).
One of the main reasons attendance is not consistent (especially at the beginning) is that customers find it hard to understand what to do, they feel judged, and fear embarrassment. Your employees are your most forceful brand ambassadors, so they have a great responsibility in retaining newcomers.
3. Share reviews and customer testimonials
A customer’s happy word is worth $1,000 spent on ads. What others say about your gym can make or break your business. People vouching for your services is also a great gym marketing idea – one of the most effective actually. Do you have a strategy for it? If people start talking about you, how do you make sure you make a profit out of it?
Ask your customers to rate their experience wherever they can. Then share their opinion on your website, on social media, display them at your health center, spread the word in your newsletter. It’s important to have a constant flux of new customer testimonials that you can share whenever you get the chance. And when time and technology allow you, start recording these testimonials. Actually seeing real people versus just reading a quote is a double down.
4. Create a user-friendly website
Your gym should be one Google away from your customers. This is why having a powerful website is one of the most important marketing tactics for your business. This means you need a personalized domain that differentiates you from competition.
In 2022, just creating it isn’t enough. You have to update it constantly, write blog posts to educate your community, have an always-updated schedule, and a member management portal that allows your members to pay, schedule, and have control over their subscription.
Oh, and did we mention your website must be mobile-friendly? It’s an important step, but once you create the website, maintaining it up to date shouldn’t be a hassle.
Hyperhuman works with Wix, a simple, but fast platform to create, design, manage and develop your web presence exactly the way you want. Start with customizable templates, including many dedicated to the health and fitness businesses and activities. Our Hyperhuman Studio widget for Wix allows you to publish your full-length workout videos with dynamic timers, text overlays, and audio guidance on your Wix website.
Need some inspiration? Check this HubSpot article with the 16 best fitness websites.
5. Offer limited free passes
A pretty common tactic that works for gyms is to offer limited trials. People are hesitant when joining a new gym and sometimes they feel uncomfortable buying before they try it. The most important step for you is to convince them to come and see – after, you can convert them into paying customers. This is where free trials come in handy.
They offer a risk-free timeframe where newcomers can – as the name says – try everything they want and make an informed purchase afterward. This is also a great opportunity for you to sell your services in a personalized manner and more easily convince them to stay and become regulars.
6. Have a solid social media presence
Need we say more? Social media, especially gym & fitness Instagram promotion, is a great channel for personal trainers, gyms, fitness clubs, and literally everybody to promote their business. Starting with a solid Google My Business presence and continuing with more snackable content like Facebook & Instagram posts, and even videos on TikTok, social media is a great marketing tool that will help you attract new audiences and interact with your customers. From educating them with tips&tricks to sharing testimonials, new classes, testimonials, and contests, social media became the best platform for gyms to spread their information.
7. Make use of influencers
Want to easily tap into new audiences to attract gym members? Wellness influencers are already engaging with them. So why not partner up with a couple of well-established influencers that align with your business?
It’s pretty easy to find fitness influencers, but it’s not that easy to partner up with the right ones. When deciding which brand advocates to choose, keep in mind they need to:
- Align with your brand – do you have similar objectives, does their style match your gym’s style?
- Speak to the right audience – are they talking to an audience that will resonate with your business?
- Create quality content – because, besides their audience, you’re also paying your influencer to produce quality content.
8. Run a referral program
Offer sweat equity. Literally. If your gym clientele shows interest and loyalty, you can ask them to recommend it further to their friends and family. Most powerful businesses (fitness or not) have powerful referral programs and exponentially grow their business through this marketing strategy.
For referral programs, timing is everything. Ask your gym members to recommend you after they complimented you, or after they reached an objective with your help. And don’t forget: always follow up with your customers to make sure they’re happy. Their satisfaction is mandatory for your business’s success.
9. Send newsletters
Each person that has and will ever step into your gym should become a lead that will eventually bring revenue. The easiest way to keep in touch with big databases is through emails. Our advice is to regularly send out newsletters for various purposes. You can either try and convert people who didn’t sign up for a membership yet, educate your current customers to improve gym retention, or convince ex-customers to come back.
Constant communication is a great reminder that you’re still there for your people and you want to help them reach their targets. Newsletters are a great conversation starter and they prove you have a social team that is eager to provide their support to everybody.
10. Organize challenges and contests
Last but not least, everybody’s favorite marketing tactic. People that come to the gym like to be challenged. And thank goodness, your business can organize thousand of challenges and contests. A good challenge (like coming to the gym 3 months in a row, every week) will help members create a habit, find the accountability they need, and create a community around your gym.
Having trouble filling in early classes? Start a contest and award the person who attends most morning classes in a time period. As we said: it’s fun and very rewarding.
Over to you now
Promoting your gym may seem a hassle. We feel it, too. Breaking the big gym marketing plan into smaller steps will help you achieve more and feel more confident. These 10 gym marketing ideas are a great checklist to get you started. Don’t forget that digitalization is everything and you can start for free with Hyperhuman. Sign up anytime and start creating!
