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As we begin prepping for the New Year, you need to be asking yourself if your gym is really ready to take on the resolutions rush. We love making fitness resolutions and committing ourselves to better health. In 2020, it was the most common commitment people made, with 46% of Americans saying this was their New Year’s resolution. With January being the biggest month for new sign ups, according to the IHRSA (with more than 12% of all sign ups happening in January), it’s important that you prepare your gym to take on — and attract — new members.
Get your fitness club ready for the New Year
The New Year is not only a time to start fresh, it’s a time to get your fitness center in shape for a successful year! With your busiest season right about to hit, you need to prepare yourself and your staff for the influx of new members.
Here’s what you should be asking yourself as you prepare your gym through the holidays:
1. Have you launched your fitness marketing campaigns?
One of the most important things you can do to prep for the upcoming rush is send out marketing to your potential customers. If they don’t even know your gym is there, ready to help them take on their goals, your prospects will end up more invested in your competitors.
Start by targeting your audience with an omnichannel approach, and get those New Year’s Resolutioners ready to take on their goals! Here are a few ways to reach your prospects:
- Direct Mail Postcards – Reaching your audience through direct mail cuts through the noise and competition to get right into the hands of your prospect. Send them a personalized, compelling offer for starting their New Year off right!
- Social Media Ads – Prepare to serve, not only optimized social media ads to drive new customers to your gym, but also engaging social content that will motivate new members to jump on the fitness bandwagon.
- Retargeting / Display Ads – After your prospects have seen your mailer or social ad, retarget those individuals to keep your fitness brand on the top of their minds before the New Year begins.
2. Is your staff trained for the New Year rush?
Bringing in the new customers with strategic fitness marketing isn’t the only thing you should be focused on. Be sure your team is prepared for the rush by training with phone scripts and enrolling new members. If they aren’t prepared to get you those new members, your marketing efforts will fall flat.
3. Do you have enough equipment?
Enticing prospects with new equipment is always a good thing, but also ensuring you have enough equipment to actually handle the volume of new members is key. Go through your gym inventory and assess what you need to update to prepare your gym.
Don’t forget about your current members
The New Year is a time of new resolutions and new members! But as you focus on getting those new fitness junkies into your club, don’t forget about your existing members who have been loyal to your gym. Continue to show your gratitude with a loyalty program. Consider offering group classes to entice both your existing members and new members.
By introducing members to a group class, you can significantly reduce your churn rate and increase retention. Group fitness can help to create social support and a sense of community among your members, and even build rapport between your new and existing members.
Contact the experts at UpSwell to begin preparing your fitness center for growth and get your marketing strategy on track for the New Year.
