Gym Marketing 101 - What You Need to Know

The fitness industry is massive and as we venture out of these pandemic-induced lockdowns, we find an industry that is rapidly growing with competition coming out in force.

Desire to step away from living room workouts and back into gyms, combined with increased interest in health and fitness, has meant the Gym and Fitness Industries have exploded with the market size in 2022 worth $2.2bn.

All this interest and all that competition - how on earth can you make your gym stand out and increase client sign ups? Luckily you’re in the right place, read on to find out the what, how, and why of gym marketing.

What is Gym Marketing?

Gym marketing is how you sell your business, services and products. Marketing your business helps you stay ahead of the competition and get clients.

Marketing comes down to a few key aspects - knowing who wants your service (target audience) and how to make them aware of your offers.

As a gym owner you’ll wear many hats, marketing is one that might initially seem complicated but, once you learn the basics, you’ll never look back.

Why Does it Matter?

With so much competition, it’s easy for your gym to slip into the background and your profits will follow suit - marketing helps avoid this.

The most common problem for many gym owners is actually client retention, getting clients to sign up is sometimes the easier part.

Gym owners also need to be aware that their facilities can have a seasonal aspect with  both busy and quiet months, understanding this and utilising effective strategies will help get your business through the harder months.

What Marketing Options Can You Implement?

There are a range of marketing techniques available to help you promote your gym. Many traditional marketing strategies are still valid and can be easily adapted to fit into our online world.

Promos and Discounts

A classic - provide discounts or special promotions to clients. This is where you can let your creativity run wild, who said marketing was boring!

Offer discounts to seniors and students, a free trial, or provide a special rate for off-peak workouts - getting sign up’s during quiet times.

Utilise co-operative marketing - connect with the business next door and create a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is like swapping a favour for a favour - reward your clients for bringing you more clients.

It’s a fantastic way to bring in business because clients place the most trust in testimonials from someone they know, rather than a Google search.

Quantity and quality - not only are you getting lots of leads without spending money advertising, but the leads are high quality.

These potential clients have the greatest chance of conversion and a 37% higher retention rate.

Freebies!

Who doesn’t love free stuff? Stock standard, no sign-up fee or a branded gear bag are great incentives but they won’t make you stand out.

Keep an eye on your competition, not as a copycat but to make sure your efforts aren’t wasted and if you see a marketing gap they’ve missed - seize it!

Try to find something that’s easy to implement with a high perceived value, throw in that extra PT session or an exclusive class for a sought-after program.

10 Ways to Market Your Gym

Still not sure where to start? Here’s 10 ideas to get you inspired and into the marketing mood. We promise marketing can be fun - not to mention profitable!

Where We All Start - Google

Specifically ‘Google My Business’, there’s no doubt Google and sales go hand in hand, so learn how to get on the right side of Google to create maximum returns.

Your biggest client pool is online - 80% come from the internet, and mostly through Google or Facebook. Get set up on GMB and let it help funnel clients to you.

Your profile shows up when potential clients search for a local gym. They’ll have access to all your contact info and they can head straight to your website.

More Google?

Yep, Google Advertising - you’ve got to invest a little to get the gains and Google Ads is an excellent tool for marketing.

Research where you’ll allocate your marketing budget and spread it across different channels.

Google Ads are targeted and reach a large audience of clients at the ‘discover’ stage of the buying journey - they know what they want and are finding out who’s got it.

Get Social!

Social media is your best bet for creating brand awareness. Social media is a long-game focused on reputation over new clients. Promote your brand profile and cement yourself as an industry leader.

Provide information and content that makes you valuable - positive messages, mindset blogs, fitness info, equipment tutorials, and motivation tips.

Invest in Targeted Facebook Ads

Facebook has huge reach and gives you access to plenty of potential customers. Analyse your engagement metrics then invest in paid ads.

Paid Facebook ads are deeply targeted to specific audiences, simply add a customer profile of Facebook users (age, gender, location or even users signed up for a fitness challenge). Facebook then ensures that your ads are shown to the people who have the greatest chance of conversion.

Get Your Website Right

How many times have you clicked out of a website in frustration when you land on a clunky, slow website? Websites are not new and our expectations for well-performing websites are high.

If your site looks and behaves like it's from 1998, you’ll be sending clients away to find user-friendly options. Think clean, clear, functional, and easy to navigate.

If your online booking process is streamlined and simple, you may find those ‘too-busy-to-train’ clients suddenly impulse-booking a lunchtime HITT class.

Optimise your website for end users, run regular speed tests and make adjustments. If this isn’t an area where you shine, hire a professional, they’ll optimise it for mobile and create an intuitive interface.

Localise! Your SEO That Is

Ah, maybe you were hoping you’d make it through without having to hear about SEO, not today! There’s a reason you can’t go online without hearing about SEO - because prioritising SEO gets website hits.

It takes time to gain credibility in Google’s eyes, so start optimising for the local market now. Watch your metrics and competitors closely to understand what’s working and where you need more research.

One metric to watch is your bounce rate - who comes to your website and immediately bounces off? Often users are quick to hit that back key because your content doesn’t match your keywords.

Focus on getting the right keywords to reach people in your area, what would they be typing in the search bar? - things like “Gym in [your area]” no doubt!

Print Marketing - That Final 20%

If 80% of clients come from online sources, what’s happening with the other 20%? Good question! They’re the clients hanging out offline, so don’t go neglecting traditional print!

Over half of consumers trust print more than online marketing. Use flyers, direct mail, and posters, but be considerate with print marketing and invest in the right print media.

You’ve Got Mail

Email marketing is one of the most engaging marketing platforms. But it is also difficult to get right as consumers are very picky about content they want in their inbox. Email lists are worth their weight in gold, build yours by offering something in return, try: ‘Sign Up For a Free Fitness Assessment’.

You can also utilise referral marketing for email subscriptions, try providing an email link or add a button on your app.

As for content ideas, the fitness industry is chock full of them. Try using newsletters, emails, and blogs as your own powerful marketing tools. Think, case studies, nutritional advice, workout techniques, routines, classes, client success stories the list goes on!

Build Your Tribe

Create a fitness community - fitness goals are as much mental as physical. Try online workout groups for members who can't get to the gym regularly or start with a forum

Your community support network will help build your brand, keep each other accountable and stay in touch, all the while creating loyalty and a sense of belonging at your gym.

Offer membership only online classes, this keeps your current members feeling loved and less likely to cancel. Provide online trial classes to pique interest in new members.

Challenges!

Create regular challenges and activities, involve families - try fun runs, sun rise mountain climbs or even Community Fitness Days. Members love challenging themselves and seeing their progress - not to mention there’s a little competitive spirit in all of us.

Make it visual, give silly awards, create leaderboards, request ideas to get clients talking about next year's run.

There’s always something to learn with marketing but if you know the basic principles you can’t go wrong. Creativity is key to implementing stand out strategies and profitability.

Pick the most achievable ideas listed or go all in and implement every strategy to maximise results. As long as you have a clear plan, your goals will be within reach.

If you’ve been thinking about starting your own business and being your own boss, this could be the opportunity you’ve been searching for.

Stepz are one of Australia’s fastest growing franchises and you could be a part of it! 

We are currently looking for new franchisees to bring a fantastic boutique gym to their local area. Stepz isn’t about ego or influencers, it’s about helping people become the best version of themselves by providing high quality facilities in an affordable and non-intimidating environment.

And by becoming a franchisee you don’t just get a turnkey system that can turn your passion into profit, you’ll be supported every step of the way. Check out how we helped Sam to create his own successful franchise.

Become a Steps Fitness franchisee today and turn your passion into profit!