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An ever-growing number of people are becoming more conscious of their health these days. They’re also resolving to be much more proactive in fostering their own health and fitness. Because of that, more people than ever before are purchasing gym memberships. Of course, not everyone is willing or able to go to a gym in person. Given recent circumstances, it’s not even an option for some.
Catering to the Public’s Growing and Changing Needs
All those factors have led to a surge in demand for online fitness training. Gyms that are able to meet this demand certainly stand to come out on top. Having said that, getting set up to offer online fitness classes and marketing those services isn’t a simple matter. If you’d like to add this to your lineup of options for members, having the expertise of a team of gym marketing specialists on your side will undoubtedly increase your chances of success.
Why Add Online Fitness Classes to Your Repertoire
Now is the perfect time to add online fitness classes to your repertoire. Demand is certainly high, and both you and consumers have the resources to take advantage of this constantly growing opportunity. While your current and future members can benefit from online classes in numerous ways, you stand to gain a great deal from making them available to the public as well.
Expanding Your Reach
Right now, you’re primarily catering to people within a small radius of your brick-and-mortar locations. Based on a recent write-up, people only seem to be willing to travel about four miles on average to visit a gym. That means your reach is highly limited, and you’re only accommodating a small percentage of potential members.
On the other hand, if you offer online fitness classes, you’re giving yourself unlimited reach. You can provide services to people across the country or even around the globe. At the same time, you’re appealing to people who simply don’t have the time or ability to travel to your gym or studio during normal operating hours. If you give them the option of online classes, you’re providing the opportunity for them to train anytime they take a notion rather than only during set hours or by appointment.
Giving Yourself and Your Members More Freedom
Additionally, offering online fitness training allows you to stream or record your classes and sessions from anywhere at any time. On the other end of the spectrum, your members can take advantage of those classes from anywhere. Whether they go away on a week-long vacation, move halfway around the world for a new job, or simply decide to cut back on their training efforts for a couple of months, they can still benefit from being a member of your gym.
Current members will also be more apt to renew their memberships with you when the time comes if they have unlimited options via your online classes. They’ll be more likely to tell others about you and provide the all-powerful word-of-mouth advertising that’s so valuable to today’s businesses as well. In turn, they’ll be effective allies in bringing in new members.
Don’t overlook the benefits for you and your other trainers, either. Your staff can record their fitness classes right there in your gym if desired. On the other hand, you and your trainers can record classes or stream them live from home, while on vacation, in the park on a particularly nice day, or anywhere else for that matter.
Bringing in More Revenue
An obvious benefit of adding online fitness classes to the mix is generating an entirely new stream of revenue. Sure, you’ll still be making money from current memberships because their owners can make use of both onsite and in-person training. That’s only part of the picture, though.
Recent reports show that the number of health club members in the United States grew by a considerable margin over the last 10 years.1 Revenue among gyms across the nation has also been growing by almost 9 percent each year for in-person fitness classes alone.2 Surveys indicate that many people who don’t currently own a gym membership would gladly jump on board if online classes were available.3
Based on an article released last year by Forbes, health club and gym owners who provide online fitness classes have seen significant upticks in their revenue. Some are reporting income increases of anywhere from 150 percent to more than 700 percent since the COVID-19 outbreak. Your growth potential in this realm depends largely on the range of online training options you offer and how well you market yourself.
In light of the public’s current mindset and preferences, gym members aren’t quite as inclined to revert to in-person training now that travel and social distancing restrictions are being lifted as many experts originally thought they would be. In contrast, the trend toward online fitness training actually appears to be growing despite the less stringent regulations. As such, this isn’t merely a passing fad; it’s a lasting development.
Setting Yourself Up for Success No Matter What the Future Holds
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you never know what the future might hold in store. No one really saw the pandemic coming, and it quickly took its toll on businesses and individuals across the globe. One of the main keys to success is being prepared for anything. Another pandemic could arise. Fuel shortages could leave millions of people trapped at home. Any number of other developments might prevent people from visiting your establishment in person.
As long as the power grid doesn’t fail and the internet remains up and running, though, people can always take advantage of online fitness classes. If you add them to your lineup of offerings for members now, they’ll already be in place no matter what happens moving forward. Spreading the word about their availability will help keep current members on board and make them known to prospects for future reference.
Marketing Yourself Both Now and in the Future
Providing online fitness classes will undoubtedly benefit you, your members, and prospects in many ways. Adding them to your lineup isn’t really difficult. All it takes is a laptop or tablet with recording capabilities or a smartphone and a tripod. You probably already have those on hand. From there, you simply record yourself doing what you do best and stream the sessions or post them on your website for members to use whenever they want.
Still, making people aware of your online classes isn’t a straightforward process. Doing so requires new advertising campaigns and effective marketing efforts. That’s where UpSwell comes into play. We’re experts in gym marketing. We’ve helped more than 2,500 gyms, health clubs, and fitness studios bring in over 2 million new members and hold onto millions of current members. We can do the same for you.
References:
1) IHRSA, 2019 Fitness Industry Trends Shed Light on 2020 & Beyond, https://www.ihrsa.org/improve-your-club/industry-news/2019-fitness-industry-trends-shed-light-on-2020-beyond/
2) Policy Advice, 19+ Statistics and Facts About the Fitness Industry (2021), https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/fitness-industry-statistics/
3) Allied Market Research, Online/ Virtual Fitness Marketing Statistics – 2020, https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/virtual-online-fitness-market
