After putting the work into building your gym membership, you should put as much effort into retaining your members. An engaged community of members who are loyal to your brand is the key to a thriving gym business. Offering unique services that prioritize convenience, accessibility, and personalization will help your members stay motivated and see the value in your club.
In this article, learn more about why gym membership retention matters and the 11 gym retention strategies that will help your business maintain an active and loyal customer base.
The Importance of Gym Membership Retention
Enticing potential gym goers to sign up with your health club can be both costly and time-consuming. On top of that, fierce competition in the fitness industry provides an array of options for your current members to easily switch to if there is no incentive to stay with your gym.
Dwindling gym membership numbers means substantially less revenue for your fitness business with the added pressure and expense of attracting new ones. According to the Global Health & Fitness Association, it can take years to replace lost revenue when a gym member leaves. Likewise, the cost to secure a new member may be hundreds of dollars in sales and marketing per person.
Retaining your fitness club members ensures a steady revenue stream, more operating stability, and an established community with an ongoing commitment to your brand.
Top 11 Expert Gym Retention Strategies You Should Know
Maintaining an active membership base for your gym will reduce acquisition costs and maximize your business revenue and profit. You can improve your retention rate and customer loyalty with the help of the following expert gym member retention ideas and tips.
1. Leverage the Power of Incentives and Referral Programs
An incentive or referral program is an excellent way to engage current members and attract new ones who are more likely to stick around. The idea is to encourage existing members to refer others to your club by offering an enticing reward. Examples of effective referral program rewards may include:
- Progressive membership rate discounts
- A free month of membership
- Free personal training sessions
- Free gym merchandise or gear
- Upgrades to higher membership plans or tiers
- Gift cards to partner businesses
These programs are a powerful way to boost gym member retention because your members invite their friends, family, and coworkers to join. As a result, they can build their gym community within your club and motivate each other to stay active. They’ll also be more likely to renew their membership if they have a tight-knit group already participating in your fitness club.
2. Personalize and Diversify Your Service Offering
To set yourself apart from the competition, consider branching out with your services while also focusing on personalizing your offerings. Customers want to reach their fitness goals with diverse programs, equipment, training, and progress tracking. By offering diverse services, you can create customized fitness programs that appeal to your members and meet them wherever they are.
One way to do this is to offer an interactive fitness app that empowers members to get moving at any time. Rather than only offering perks for members when they are on-site, you’re helping them stay motivated, active, and connected to your brand from anywhere they are through the app. Using the member’s preferences, you can send push notifications that suggest workouts, encourage them through custom content, and personalize their fitness journey with your gym.
3. Use Gamification To Motivate Gym Members
A lack of motivation is a significant factor in failed gym membership retention. Numbers show that as many as 50% of new gym members quit within the first six months. With such an alarming trend, it’s vital to keep gym members motivated and working towards their goals.
Gamification is a new and exciting opportunity that may entice current members to stick with their fitness objectives. Studies have shown that adding fun, competitive, and social elements into a person’s workout will help them stay on track and maintain their fitness routines and active lifestyles. Similarly, adding gamification to workouts gives members a milestone to work towards and a sense of achievement after accomplishing it.
Competitive fitness challenges and gamification ideas you can incorporate into your gym member retention programs include:
- Integrating leaderboards in streaming fitness classes
- Allowing members to achieve different levels after meeting their goals
- Earning points or rewards for completing challenges
- Providing interactive digital technology to track movement
- Allowing members to compete with friends
- Providing personalized challenges based on fitness goals
4. Create Engaged Communities
Building a strong community is a vital element of customer retention. Your gym members are more likely to stay with your club if they feel connected with the community and regularly participate in what you offer.
Creating an engaged customer base for your fitness business means prioritizing communication and making it easy for current members to connect with you and each other. Engage your members through social media, your gym’s fitness app, email promotions, and special events.
5. Get Your Gym Membership Pricing Right
Pricing is another reason people choose to leave a gym. They often feel they are paying too much for what the gym offers or think they could get better services at a different club for a slight rate increase.
As a gym owner, it’s crucial to offer competitive rates for the level of service you provide. While you don’t want to price yourself out of the market, you shouldn’t underestimate your gym’s value. Finding the perfect balance will help you keep the members you already have.
Offering several membership options is an excellent way to continue making your gym accessible to members with different budgets. This way, a member can choose a more affordable membership level rather than leaving your gym altogether.
6. Ensure Your Gym Has the Latest Equipment and Technology
Updated fitness equipment and cutting-edge technology that meets the latest industry trends can keep members motivated and their workout routines fresh. However, having the latest equipment does more than give members a new approach to their fitness goals. It also helps keep the gym clean and professional, boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Although new equipment is a significant upfront investment, retaining current members will save you costs in marketing, sales, and recruiting new members.
7. Engage Your Members Through Email Newsletters
Sending an email newsletter is something every gym owner should do. It’s a simple way to create a regular connection with members to share gym updates, fitness class schedules, upcoming events, and valuable insight. A newsletter is also the perfect place to introduce managers, team members, and instructors, which can further build a strong sense of community.
8. Provide On-Demand Fitness Classes Online
Schedules change, life gets busy, and members may have bad weeks. When these things happen, it’s too easy for people to skip the gym and give up on their fitness goals. However, you can counteract this commitment curveball by providing on-demand fitness classes or workout routines online.
When your members can pull up your fitness app and do a quick workout from anywhere at any time, you’re making it easier for them to get back on track. There’s value in this type of convenience, making it more likely for them to stay with your club and become loyal customers.
9. Include Add-on Services for Your Members
Some gymgoers may leave their current fitness club because their routines become stale, they don’t see the progress they want, or their goals have changed. Rather than losing these members, it’s a good idea to offer and actively promote add-on services that will help them reset, such as:
- Nutritional counseling
- Private classes with a personal trainer
- Mindset coaching
- Sauna, steam room, and other wellness amenities
10. Motivate Inactive Members to Come Back to Your Gym
If a gym member becomes inactive, it’s typically only a matter of time before they cancel their membership completely. Get ahead of the cancellation by motivating inactive members to return to the gym and start fresh.
You can use your membership data to create a personalized message. Did this member attend group classes or use the gym app? Did they prefer online high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts or yoga sessions? Based on their history, you can re-engage members with an email that talks about upcoming sessions and new on-demand workouts that appeal to their preferences.
Another idea is to offer incentives to come back. For example, you can give the member access to a free class or complimentary guest passes to bring a friend.
11. Gather Feedback to Improve Your Services
Gathering customer feedback is an essential part of all gym member retention strategies. Getting first-hand insight is a powerful tool that can keep your gym one step ahead of the competition and your members satisfied with your services.
First, make it easy for gym members to provide feedback and suggestions that could improve your club and the overall experience. This could be as simple as providing a number they can text, posting a QR code around the club that takes them to an online form, or directing them to your gym app for direct communication. Then, use the feedback you receive to make meaningful changes.
Retain Your Members While Improving Their Fitness Journey
Empowering your members and helping them reach their fitness goals through diversified services will positively impact your bottom line. At Fitness On Demand, we provide virtual fitness and wellness solutions to support your gym’s operations and keep members engaged.
If you want to improve gym membership retention while enhancing your club’s services, schedule a demo with Fitness On Demand to see first-hand how we can help you put your gym retention strategies into practice.
Author
Luke Miska
Luke Miska is a results-driven business management visionary with a stellar record developing operationalizing strategies, experiences and measurable results that engage teams and customers to lead healthier lives. He leverages his passion for customer-centric strategies and aligns goals between customer needs and organizational priorities, catalyzing business success.
