Posts Tagged ‘new member’

The building blocks of a good Fitness Marketing Plan

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

091019_r18925_p233Fitness Centers are tightening their budgets and many of them are cutting their marketing budget. I understand that these times are tough and I know that many Health Clubs are even laying off employees, but it is important to understand that cutting your marketing budget can often cause more harm to the growth of your Health Club than you realize.
Studies have shown that Fitness Centers that continue to market during tough economic times often see growth during those times, where businesses that cut their marketing budget will often see a decrease in sales.
It’s not time to cut the marketing budget, it’s time to re-evaluate your marketing and analyze what is working and what’s not. Take time to explore new options of marketing that cost less, but can still deliver the results you are looking for.
We cannot ignore these financial difficulties that our country is facing, but today I want to help you understand the importance of marketing during the recession. Learn how to set a marketing budget that you can work with, and explore popular no cost to low-cost marketing tips that you can begin implementing today.
Every health club owner should develop a written guideline that sets forth the club’s marketing strategy. This document is used to judge the appropriateness of each action that the business takes. If a fitness center has to take an action that is off-strategy, it may indicate a temporary emergency action prompted by competition or other factors beyond normal management control. Or it may indicate the need to change or revise the club’s marketing strategy.

A good marketing strategy provides specific goals and can include:
• a description of the key target buyer/end user
• competitive market segments the fitness center will compete in
• distribution channels
• the unique positioning of the club and its products versus the competition
• the reasons why it is unique or compelling to buyers
• price strategy versus competition
• marketing spending strategy with advertising and promotion
• possible research and development
• market research expenditure strategies.

An overall fitness marketing strategy should also:
• define the fitness center
• position the club as a leader, challenger, follower, or niche player in the category
• define the brand or club personality or image that is desired in the minds of buyers and end users
• define life cycle influences, if applicable

Strategy statement tests. If the statements in your strategy are measurable and actionable and work to differentiate your company and products apart from the competition, congratulations! If they are not measurable and actionable and do not differentiate your company from the competition, revise them until they are.

A good working marketing strategy should not be changed every year. It should not be revised until company objectives (financial, marketing, and overall company goals) have been achieved or the competitive situation has changed significantly, e.g., a new competitor comes into the category or significantly different or new products emerge from existing competitors.
While a comprehensive marketing plan can be a vital component to any business plan, it’s often neglected by small business owners, online business owners and webmasters, and independent or creative professionals, for a few reasons:

• They simply don’t want to put the effort into writing a full marketing plan.
• They’re too short on time to write a comprehensive marketing plan.
• They don’t know how to write a marketing plan, and are flustered by the process.

A one page marketing plan can, in these cases, be a viable alternative to a full marketing plan, while still touching on important marketing strategy areas. This sample includes a variety of marketing areas that should be addressed.

A one page marketing plan can, in these cases, be a viable alternative to a full marketing plan, while still touching on important marketing strategy areas. This sample includes a variety of marketing areas that should be addressed. Use the following guide to help you fill out your one page marketing plan:

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Posted in Health Club Managment, Profit Centers For Health Clubs, Sales Sniper - Fitness Sales, The Fitness360 System | No Comments »

Health Club Management – Coaching your Team towards a Goal

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Health Club Management

Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of consulting with club owners in regards to club management. This is one in particular that I’m very passionate about, mainly because that’s where I got my start in the fitness industry. It really drives me bananas when I walk into a health club and there are no systems in place. I can only imagine how aggravating it must be for the members and employees to be part of a chaotic environment. So that being said let me stop venting and give you a couple of tips that will help you on the road to developing in house marketing, sales and management systems.

First things first, let’s look at marketing.

A few rules to remember when marketing for new gym members.

1. Sale Solutions – When a member joins a fitness center they could care less about how fancy your equipment is. Planet Fitness has proved this. If you walk into any Planet Fitness you will find the same boring cookie cutter equipment. So why are they so successful? The answer is because they are selling a solution. The solution is an environment that anybody can feel comfortable in. That’s there brand and that’s the secret to their success. A good marketing piece we’ll sale a solution. Here are a few examples of the solutions people are looking for when they buy a gym membership: low price, weight loss, risk free money back guarantee, great social scene, no pressure environment, etc.

2. Go Big or Go Home – A fitness center’s marketing budget should be a minimum of 10% of your current draft per month. You may be asking yourself, “How can I afford to spend that much on marketing every month?” A better question would be, “How can you not afford to spend that much money on marketing?” I know some great and inexpensive ways to market your health club that I will go into in a different post. The main thing I want to get in your head is that you have to spend money to make money. And your marketing should be both proactive and reactive.

3. Budget, Budget, Budget – Setting up a marketing budget is the key to successful marketing campaigns. So you ask, how should I go about setting up a marketing budget? Well, I already gave you one key: spend at least 10% of your monthly draft on marketing. There’s a lot more to creating a marketing budget for your gym, so feel free to shoot me an e-mail or give us a call and I can give you a few more free tips.

Next we’ll look at sales.

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Fitness Center Marketing

Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Fitness Center Marketing

Fitness Center Marketing

Finding New Customers For Gyms

A solid and highly focused fitness center marketing plan is one of the keys to long term success in the health club business. You need to keep the members you have as well as encourage new membership. Marketing to these disparate groups can prove confusing and frustrating if you do not have a very clear fitness center marketing plan to outline the overall marketing strategy. By taking the time to establish a clear and effective fitness center marketing plan that helps you achieve your membership goals you will be laying the groundwork for future success.

There are two basic components to fitness center marketing – new members and existing members. Let’s examine new member marketing first. If your club holds to the national averages, the members who actually come into your club to join comprise only 1% of the potential market in your area. A fitness center marketing plan that targets the 99% of the people who don’t come in on their own can return amazing results. There are many people who are intimidated by health clubs or assume they are places only for the ‘fit’. When you use a fitness center marketing campaign that targets their concerns you will get them in the door and have an opportunity to sell memberships.

Fitness center marketing to existing members is actually about member retention. It is more costly and time consuming to recruit a new member than to keep an existing one. Membership reward and retention programs should be a regular part of your fitness center marketing strategy. Give-aways are one great way to increase loyalty and advertise your club as well. Gym bags, sports bottles, t-shirts and workout towels bearing your logo are all great ways to say thank you to members who renew their membership. Building membership loyalty should be an integral part of your fitness center marketing plan.

You can increase your membership roles with a focused fitness center marketing plan. Direct mail, corporate incentive plans, print, radio and television advertising and telemarketing can all be part of your fitness center marketing strategy. The key is to reach out to that 99% of people who don’t come into the club on their own. You can reach out to the shy, the couch potatoes, and the busy executives to convince them of the benefits to be gained by regular exercise. By creating a positive fitness center marketing campaign that encompasses both existing members and potential new members your business will thrive.

Take a look at our Fitness Center Marketing program to see if we could help your heath club gain the edge on the computation.

We book up fast and are now booked until the first on the year.

Fill out a Club Profile or Call to reserve a promotion date RIGHT NOW!

To you Success….

Joshua

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Posted in Health Club Managment, Profit Centers For Health Clubs, Sales Sniper - Fitness Sales, The Fitness360 System | No Comments »

How to Sell a Gym Membership - How to Increase Gym Membership Sales Using Common Sense.

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Do you spend a lot of time wondering how to sell a gym membership to more people? Are you a gym owner that would like to increase the number of gym members you have? Do you wonder how to sell a gym membership to people who never come to the gym? There are several key factors which help gyms like yours get new members. The best new member is a long term member, not just a short term ‘trial’ member. Residual business is the only way to ensure your business has longevity. With that in mind let’s look at the ways how to sell a gym membership that lasts.

Statistics show the average person needs to see a business name seven times before changing from consumer to patron. The key to how to sell a gym membership is to get your gym’s name in the news, both in print and on the local radio. When you are working out how to sell a gym membership, consider holding events at your gym and having these events published as community announcements. Other methods of how to sell a gym membership include putting ads on billboards or the sides of buses. Small “giveaway” items such as key-chains and bumper stickers get a surprisingly large amount of eye contact – and it’s even better in the hands of an existing gym member where it adds endorsement to the name. Get your gym’s name into public spaces and the question of how to sell a gym membership will become moot.

One of your best assets is existing membership when it comes to how to sell a gym membership. These members are already sold. So, offer a free month to any existing member who brings in a new member. Give your personal trainers a bonus if they sign up new members. Personal Trainers are second best asset. Another great way how to sell a gym membership is to offer the choice of yearly contracts or a onetime annual fee (which is lower than the combined monthly payment).You achieve the same thing, immediate cash, but get a long term member. The key to how to sell a gym membership is to think outside the box.

How to sell a gym membership comes down to getting you name into the minds of new customers and removing the barriers that keep them from joining. Remember, the focus should be not just on selling, but on how to sell a gym membership that lasts.

I hope this was helpful in some way. Remember to stay positive and trust in the fact that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Joshua Fleming

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Posted in Health Club Managment, Sales Sniper - Fitness Sales, The Fitness360 System | 17 Comments »