8 Gym Marketing Strategies You Should Be Using Right Now

It's a great time to own a gym. As wellness has become a key priority for many Americans, gym memberships have steadily increased in recent years. However, as a gym owner or fitness manager, you probably know how tough it can be to attract new members, retain existing ones, and grow your gym membership. That's where gym marketing comes in.

With the right gym marketing strategies, you can attract new gymgoers, boost retention rates, and take your fitness business to new heights. However, there's no one-size-fits-all gym marketing strategy.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore eight proven marketing strategies that yield results and how to implement them effectively.

What Is Gym Marketing?

Gym marketing refers to the various strategies marketers use to promote fitness businesses and services. It consists of both traditional and digital marketing strategies, such as email marketing, content marketing, and digital signage, to name but a few strategies. These strategies aim to build brand awareness, attract potential customers, and retain current ones.

The 7 P's of Gym Marketing

The 4 P's of marketing consists of four elements — product, place, price, and promotion. Also known as the marketing mix, these four elements guide businesses on how to effectively promote their products and services to potential clients.

The 7 P's of gym marketing expand on the original 4 P's by adding people, processes, and physical evidence. This expanded marketing mix accounts for customer experiences and the people providing products or services, making it better suited for businesses in the service industry like gyms, health clubs, or fitness centers.

Let's explore each of the 7 P's of marketing for gyms in detail:

Product

Product refers to your gym offerings. Besides the physical space you provide, your product also includes the gym services you might offer, such as on-demand fitness classes, personal training, or nutrition consultations.

Ideally, you must identify your product's unique features to differentiate your fitness business from competitors.

Place

Place refers to your gym's location and where you advertise its offerings. Ideally, you should set up your gym and promote it where your target audience will likely find and purchase your services.

In the digital age, it's important to have an online presence — particularly on Google. Make sure your fitness business has a Google Business Profile with all your essential business information.

But don't just stop at creating a comprehensive profile. Ensure you continuously monitor it and respond to both positive and negative reviews to build trust with customers.

Price

Price refers to the cost of your gym offerings. When determining pricing, you should consider competitor pricing, overhead costs, and your product's perceived value to price your offerings appropriately.

As a gym owner, you could offer various pricing tiers to cater to different clients. For example, you could provide a pocket-friendly basic membership option for gymgoers who want a no-frills fitness experience and a pricier premium package offering extra perks such as personal training, on-demand fitness content, and spa services.

Promotion

Promotion refers to the strategies you use to communicate with your target audience and persuade them to choose your offerings over others. It includes advertising, public relations, and sales techniques.

People

People is an element that refers to anyone involved in providing or distributing your gym services. This may include personnel such as fitness instructors, nutrition consultants, membership directors, front office associates, or even brand ambassadors.

Process

Process refers to the procedures and systems you use to deliver gym services to customers. This includes activities like customer support, member engagement, and gym booking.

For instance, say you want to boost member engagement. You could integrate wearables into fitness routines to offer members personalized workouts based on their wearable device data.

Physical evidence

Physical evidence is proof that your brand exists. For example, you might show your target clients your physical gym or professional website to demonstrate you run a legitimate business.

Bearing the 7 P's of gym marketing in mind, you can create an effective marketing strategy that resonates with your target audience and delivers results.

Next, let's explore eight effective gym marketing ideas to help you grow your customer base and retain existing clients.

1. Create a Strong Branding Strategy

We hate to break it to you, but potential customers won't choose your gym if they've never heard of it. In fact, 50% of customers are more inclined to purchase products or services from a brand with a recognizable logo.

That's why you must develop a strong branding strategy if you don't want to fall behind the competition. However, establishing a robust branding strategy doesn't solely involve creating an attractive logo. It also involves establishing consistent visual elements, developing a brand voice, and identifying your brand's mission.

2. Utilize Social Media Platforms Effectively

Nearly 320 million Americans are on social media. Additionally, Americans spend slightly over 2 hours on social media daily. So, you might lose out on many potential customers if you don't use social media to promote your gym.

However, with dozens of social media platforms available, how do you choose the right one for your fitness business? First, you must identify where your potential customers hang out. You can determine where your potential clients spend most of their time by conducting a simple customer survey.

Once you've identified where your target clients love spending their time, you can create engaging content. Short on content ideas? Don't fret. Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) is an easy way to promote your gym on social media.

And best of all? UGC is an authentic way to promote your brand, and it resonates better with fitness enthusiasts than many other marketing tactics. Encourage members to participate in social media challenges showcasing their transformation journeys to create buzz on social media.

3. Implement Referral Programs

About nine out of ten customers trust recommendations from close friends and family more than advertisers. That's why you should tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing to promote your fitness business.

Create a referral program and offer incentives such as free merch, personal training sessions, or exclusive discounts to encourage current members to refer new clients.

Also, consider using a tracking system to track successful referrals and identify your top brand ambassadors. Identifying and rewarding your top referrers can encourage more members to join your referral program, making it a win-win for your members and your business.

4. Host Special Events or Challenges

Building a community is an integral aspect of fitness gym marketing. Hosting special events or challenges is an excellent way to forge relationships with people and businesses in the local community while promoting your offerings.

Here are some special events and challenges worth hosting:

Open house days

Organize open house days to allow potential members to experience your gym and its services firsthand.

Charity events

Host events like charity walks or runs to support local causes and increase your brand's visibility.

Fitness challenges

Host fitness challenges, such as an Ironman challenge or AMRAP challenge, to engage current members and attract new ones.

Free trial days

Offer new clients free trials to entice them to join your gym after experiencing its facilities.

5. Optimize Your Website and Engage in Local SEO

Most potential members won't just walk into your gym. They'll check your gym's online presence first. In fact, about eight out of ten people will search for your company's online presence before visiting your gym in person.

You can give website visitors an excellent first impression and optimize your website by doing the following:

• Making your website easy to navigate, enabling visitors to find what they want easily
• Optimizing your website for various devices
• Employing on-page optimization techniques such as including relevant keywords throughout your website's content to improve its search engine ranking

Aside from optimizing your website, you shouldn't risk ignoring search engine optimization (SEO) fundamentals. SEO basics are critical to increasing your visibility online and helping potential customers find your site.

In particular, you can't neglect local SEO as a local business owner. Why? A whopping 76% of people who perform searches on their smartphones visit local businesses within 24 hours of finding them online. So, you could lose many customers if you don't have a local SEO strategy.

You can boost your gym's local SEO by submitting your business name, address, and contacts to local business directories and getting many favorable reviews on third-party review sites like Yelp.

6. Invest in Content Marketing and Video Marketing

Content marketing is an excellent way to increase brand visibility and attract new members. Consider creating informative and engaging blog posts where you provide readers with helpful nutrition tips, fitness advice, and success stories to encourage them to stay on track with their fitness goals.

Additionally, consider creating videos to appeal to potential members who prefer to watch videos rather than read text. You can share workout, instructional, or testimonial videos of members who have achieved their fitness goals.

Also, you might want to consider partnering with fitness professionals or fitness influencers to produce videos that reach a wider audience.

7. Offer Discounts and Promotions

Many new gymgoers want to test the waters before committing to a regular workout routine. Consider offering new gym members special introductory rates or trial memberships to entice them to sign up. For instance, you could provide new members a free trial week to allow them to experience your gym and services before committing to a membership.

You could also offer loyal, existing members discounts to keep them engaged and boost retention. For instance, you could offer existing members a one-time discount after they achieve a particular milestone, such as reaching 100 visits at your facility.

8. Display Ads and Paid Advertising

Want to reach an audience that's already interested in the services you offer? Display ads and paid advertising can be a boon for your business. Best of all, display ads and paid advertising allow you to reach a highly targeted audience based on interests, location, age, gender, or even device.

That said, paid advertising can be relatively costly. For instance, PPC (pay-per-click) ads on platforms like Google can cost small businesses up to $5,000 monthly. Not ready to pay for search or display ads? Then, you might want to invest in digital signage — especially to attract walk-in clients.

Digital signs cost significantly less than paid ads and are excellent at capturing people's attention. In fact, 76% of consumers have visited a business because a digital sign grabbed their attention. Leverage digital signage to advertise your gym's services, share fitness tips, and promote upcoming events.

Get Started on Your Gym Marketing With Fitness On Demand

With the eight proven strategies listed above, you can boost membership and retention rates and set your business apart from competitors. Fitness On Demand can help you develop your gym offerings even further by providing high-quality digital fitness content your users can access anywhere and anytime.

Fitness On Demand allows you to build up your digital presence and elevate customer experience through personalized fitness experiences. With over 1,200 premium classes from renowned fitness brands and on-demand content for member convenience, you can appeal to both existing and new gym members seeking modern and accessible workouts.

Ready to give your fitness club marketing strategy a makeover and grow your gym business? Schedule a demo today to discover how our solutions can elevate your business.