How to Market a Gym to Get More Members?

You might own a world-class gym with the best instructors and advanced equipment, but if no one knows about what you are offering, all your efforts will be wasted. The only way to succeed as a gym owner is to develop a solid marketing plan.

But the main question is, “how to market a gym successfully?” We all know that marketing can be a challenging responsibility, especially when you have to manage your gym at the same time. Having a professional and dedicated team can make it easier, but still, you need a couple of tried-and-true strategies to help you get started.

In this article, we will explore some of the market-proven practices and ideas to market a gym. Applying these practices will help you spread the word and get more memberships in no time. So, let’s get the ball rolling!

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#1 Start a Video Marketing Campaign

Video marketing is a popular practice for gym marketing for many reasons. First, it offers incredible flexibility. You don’t need special tools or professional cameramen to create an impressive video. Just grab your phone and give your audiences a real-time experience of the gym’s vibe while everyone is working out.

Video marketing is not only an excellent way to enhance audience engagement, it’s also a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal to build trust and credibility. When people see what you offer without tips and tricks, you can build real relationships with existing and potential clients.

Moreover, you can offer some educational content in video formats, explaining different exercises, diet tips, and any other trendy topic that might interest sport-fans. But when you want to market a gym, make sure you keep a balance between entertaining and instructional content.

And one last note on video marketing. While producing videos can be a fun way to market a gym, you should always do so as part of an overall marketing plan. So, understand your main goals, know your target audience, and try to create your content based on that information.

#2 Use Digital Advertising Methods

Most marketers will prefer organic traffic over paid traffic. However, this is not to say that digital advertising campaigns and paid ads are not effective. Paid ads are incredibly powerful tools to generate revenue, expand your customer base, and increase your return on investment. But first, you should know where to start and how to run a paid advertising campaign.

Many popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or Google offer highly advanced targeting capabilities that allow you to reach high-value target audiences and provide them with an offer they cannot refuse.

Keep in mind that paid ads are not just about increasing gym memberships. When you market a gym, your priority must be building brand awareness. And digital advertising is an excellent way to build brand awareness and create a supportive and active community of followers around yourself.

Like any other marketing practice, paid ads should be goal-oriented. Depending on what objectives you pursue, try to collect as much information as you can, and analyze them to understand the weaknesses and shortfalls in your campaign. This will help you optimize your future marketing efforts.

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#3 Offer Discounts and Gift Memberships

Looking for a quick and effective way to draw people’s attention? There is nothing more effective than discounts! Once you start your customer acquisition process by building brand recognition, you need to incentivize interaction.

Your target audience will be attracted by discounts and will share them with friends and family via word-of-mouth, creating even more brand awareness. So, you might give up on some revenue in the short term, but it will be a well-spent long-term investment that will keep customer acquisition costs in check.

There are various ways to market a gym through discounts, including

• Early payments discounts
• Season discounts
• Annual payment discounts
• Referral discounts
• Loyalty program discounts
• Email subscription discounts
• Time-sensitive discounts

#4 Solidify Your Social Media Presence

Social media platforms are probably the main game changer in today’s marketing. They offer exceptional access to a wide range of audiences that can potentially become your gym members. The only important variable here is finding the right social media marketing strategies and enhancing your online exposure with targeted content.

Remember that the largest age group (18-34 years) of gym goers are fairly active on social media channels. The only thing you need is a way to reach them and let them know about your brand.

While it might be tempting to create an account on every single platform, with a limited budget and brand recognition, you may end up losing your investment. We suggest starting a strong presence on a well-established channel such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, or TikTok and gradually expanding your reach to other platforms.

Social media marketing should be based on research-backed strategies. You should identify your audience segments and the type of content they prefer to read and watch. Start with market research, identify the most valuable marketing channels, and align your social media marketing strategy with your findings.

And make sure you provide a broad array of content such as memes, videos, or text-based content to increase your chances of being seen by people of different tastes and interests.

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#5 Rank High on SERPs

What’s the first thing you do when you want to know more about a brand, or its services and products? There is a good chance you turn to Google and other search engines to find more information. You want to make sure they are trustworthy and offer services and products that address your problems and needs.

That’s why all brands aspire to enhance their online presence and ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). Moreover, many simply search for the nearest gym in their neighborhood. You have a higher chance of attracting gym members if you have an active Google business page.

Starting a page on Google Business is a simple, yet incredibly effective way to market a gym. All you need is to add your business on Google Maps and provide additional information about your organization like opening/ closing time, contact info, and direct links to your website and social media accounts.

You can also encourage current members to fill out the review section and share their experiences in your gym. Social proof and testimonials not only help you secure a higher ranking on SERPs but also make it easier for new members to trust your brand.

#6 Try Influencer Marketing

Another excellent way to market a gym is by using influencers to promote your gym. Influencers are a big part of today’s marketing since they enjoy a wide reach and can help you boost your engagement rate on social media channels. Moreover, influencers already have a follower base that trusts their word and can become your members.

Influencer marketing can be an expensive method to market a gym if you decide to start with big names. But that’s not your only option. You can start with local micro-influencers who have a smaller follower base -between 1,000 and 100,000 followers.

For successful influencer marketing, do your share of research and make sure you find the right people whose follower base is interested in your services. Plan your marketing strategy ahead and provide the influencers with clear guidelines and content that aligns with your brand image.

You can collaborate with micro-influencers in various ways. For instance, you can invite them to your gym, offer them a free membership, and ask them to post a video testimonial about their experience. You can also conduct an interview with them in which they share their professional opinion and publish the content on your website or social media.

#7 Create a User-Friendly Website

A well-designed website can be a great asset for any brand or business. Gyms and fitness centers are no exception. Your website is a powerful communication channel for potential clients and members to contact you and learn about your services. Plus, an SEO-optimized website increases credibility and strengthens your online presence.

There are many ideas on how you can create an attractive website. Most importantly, provide comprehensive information about your gym, instructors, classes offered, etc. You can set up a FAQ page and address all the problems and concerns of the customers there.

Moreover, you can create a paid section and offer customized diet and exercise plans for the members. If you don’t already have a website, we recommend hiring a professional, sharing your business objectives, and getting your website up and running as soon as possible.

You can also offer a virtual tour, and give your gym a proper introduction. All you need is an experienced, professional team to understand your business needs and showcase your expertise, equipment, and resources. You can consult our team and arrange a plan to equip your website with a custom 3D virtual tour.

Photo by Gursimrat Ganda on Unsplash

#8 Create challenges

One of the best methods to market a gym and grow your customer base is creating challenges. When it comes to workouts and physical activities, many people lack the motivation to put themselves through hardship. But challenges help to motivate them, overcome their procrastination, and sign up in your gym.

There are many inspiring ideas you can use to create challenges, including

• Summer slimdown challenge
• Running contests
• Most calories burned challenge
• Healthy diet challenge
• Weightlifting contest

You can promote these challenges on your website and social media accounts and offer gifts or free memberships to increase your share of impressions. But keep in mind that all the challenges should be perfectly planned and follow safety protocols to avoid possible injuries.

#9 Run Giveaways for Brand Awareness

Did you know 55.82% of brands run giveaways on various social networks, mostly on Facebook and Instagram? You wonder why? Because they are effective. Hosting a giveaway is the perfect solution to build brand awareness and drive more quality traffic to your website.

Moreover, running giveaways will help motivate prospective customers to participate, engage, and follow your activities on social media. Once you have the audience’s attention, it’s much easier to convince them to sign up at your gym.

Bottom Line

When you start to market a gym, you will face many challenges. Firstly, you probably have no time to spend on marketing if you want to focus your attention on running your fitness center. On the other hand, you cannot just give up on marketing if you wish to succeed in your niche market.

The good news is that there are tens of market-proven initiatives and tactics you can use to differentiate yourself. All you need is to find the best combination of strategies and practices that work for you.

One of the most effective ways to market a gym is by offering a tailored 3D virtual tour along with a broad array of multi-media solutions to optimize your online exposure. Momentum 360 provides exceptional quality services, delivered by a team of dedicated professionals. Contact us today and let’s get your brand where it deserves to be.