Fitness studio marketing: 10 creative marketing ideas for the growing studio
Reaching your ideal audience has never been easier. People spend more time on their smartphones than ever nowadays, giving you more chances for your promotions to land in the hands of your dream clients. Time spent behind gym digital marketing can be extremely effective to drive new members through your doors. It can also be frustrating when you're getting little to no results.If you're not getting the results you want from your marketing efforts, it may be time to explore some new and creative ideas. Here are some tips to get the best use of your time, with a combination of traditional and digital methods.
1. Sponsor charities
You can’t go wrong with an approach to help others while getting your business name out there. Look for local and national charities that strike a chord with you, and determine how you can help. You can make tax deductible donations in the name of the gym. If you’d prefer a donation that doesn’t impact your cash flow, you can donate locally with free class packs or months of membership. Local charities may raise money at events with a silent raffle, and you can donate a gift certificate to any of those in your area. Everyone visiting will have a chance to see your brand. That might be just the reminder they need to stop by for a class.
2. Live stream
Live streaming can be done on both Facebook and Instagram, and you can gain the attention of inactive followers. Interview your staff members, show a sneak peak of a class, or chat with members after class. Capturing a time of day that is exciting and eventful can showcase what makes your studio special. You can end the livestream with an offer for a free class for anyone watching.
3. Seek medical referrals
If you can build a relationship with local doctors and physical therapists, this can be an excellent source of referrals. People often visit their doctors to discover high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes symptoms, and many other illnesses that can be better managed through fitness. While doctors cannot insist their patients attend a certain fitness facility, they can identify when their patients would benefit from an increase in exercise. You can request to leave guest passes in their lobby, or donate healthy snacks with a business card attached. Physical therapists will often recommend patients continue their exercises once they have completed the rehabilitation program after an injury or illness. If your studio is open to members to use when a class is not in session, you can often provide the perfect environment for these patients to continue their rehab. A one-on-one personal trainer could be even more beneficial. Classes like Yoga and Pilates can support injury rehab after a certain point too. Regardless of what you have to offer, you can start by reaching out to physical therapists in your area. Give them a special promotion for their patients.
4. Revamp your website
Having consistent fresh content on your website boosts its chances of landing a great SEO ranking, especially if that content involves SEO keywords that are relevant to your business. Improving your website’s loading speed also provides some benefits. Google recognizes slow loading websites and can decrease your ranking placement. A slow website can negatively impact your visitor’s experience as well.
5. Create new unique landing pages
Landing pages are a great way to attract leads in a simple format that directs them to your call-to-action. You can have numerous landing pages with different calls-to-action, and constantly evaluate to see which ones work best. Some examples include an e-book about something health and fitness related, as well as nutrition plans for certain fitness goals. You could also have a landing page with an offer for a complimentary class or personal training session to drive more direct traffic to your business.
6. Host a corporate challenge, and get more involved with corporate wellness
If you are already involved in corporate wellness, you can create a challenge where groups from different corporations compete against each other. This can be a one day event or perhaps a weight loss challenge over a longer period of time. The key here is to make it fun, make the guidelines for winning clear, and have an exciting reward for the winner. If you're not involved in corporate wellness yet, consider seeking opportunities to invite local business professionals to your studio. Offer to host a complimentary onsite class or health presentation over a lunch. Set up a corporate discount for employees of that organization, and invite them to join on the discounted rate.How can Hapana help your boutique fitness studio? Request a Demo to learn more.
7. Surge business with flash sales
Outside of your typical promotions, you can choose certain dates to offer a flash sale to the first 20 people to redeem it. You can do this on your studio anniversary or certain holidays that aren’t considered major ones. Randomly picked days with a clever name (i.e. “Fit Friday Flash Sale”) will also get attention. Whatever day you decide, make sure every person that shows up feels welcomed and special for joining on this day. Flash sales can be announced through social media channels.
8. Issue a free month pass for a great Google review
Boost your Google reviews and get a free month membership in the hands of an interested prospect with this approach. By extending the offer to a happy member, you give them a chance to invite a friend, family member, or co-worker into their fitness studio to join them for an entire month. Chances are they will love the facility too, and they will become your next happy members. Soon they will be leaving a review and giving a pass to someone else.
9. Announce a free class day
To gain attention of new prospects, you can create a special free class day and promote it through your various digital marketing faucets. A landing page to sign up for the free classes can be a helpful tool to direct the interested person to a call-to-action. It also allows you to capture their data for follow-up purposes. Be sure to invite your business “neighbors” too, especially if you are in a high-traffic plaza. If you already have great working relationships with businesses nearby, you can request that they display a flyer promoting the free classes in their business as well.
10. Have an excellent support system.
When exploring creative marketing ideas, a great partnership with your studio management software company can help ensure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. Check out Hapana today for a free demo, and see for yourself the difference partnering with an excellent support system can make.