How to use Digital Marketing to grow your Fitness Business

(P.C. – Unsplash, @buildingjavier)

With the fitness business revolutionizing every day, it’s important to stay abreast with the latest market trends as well as successfully keep up with rising demands of the consumer. This field is undoubtedly competitive but if you are able to carve out a name for yourself and build customer trust, then no one can stop you from gaining ahead on the road to fame. With people now working and having sedentary lifestyles, emphasis on maintaining good health and physical fitness has gone up by notches.

With the onset of Covid-19, many fitness centers, gyms, health zones and clubs have suffered tremendous losses, because of the need for maintaining stringent social distancing and cleanliness norms, people still haven’t been able to completely let go of the risks associated with the virus and are avoiding public places like these. Undoubtedly, not only has this created a negative impact on the revenues of the businesses but also has had a negative impact on the health of many and now people are actively looking forward towards maintaining a good physical health routine.

This shall prove to be a win-win situation, as now the gym, fitness center owners can market themselves in a unique fashion post the pandemic and attract the consumers yet again, as well as, give a chance to customers to rekindle their trust.

How to use Digital media to rev up your presence

With competition rising up by notches every day, digital media gives you an equal chance to promote your brand and generate awareness, as much as is available to your competitors, so is available to you, then why not make the best use of it. If you are a newbie, then you can start organically and once the results start pouring in, you can opt for aggressive marketing, but the results shall only be visible, if your strategy is  well thought of and well-placed and we at Zivanta Analytics can precisely do that for you.

Use of Digital Media:

1. The first is to know your target audience and their preferences – It is imperative to know whom are you wanting to attract, for instance whether they are professional body-builders, celebrities or influencers, college-goers, working professionals, etc. The marketing strategy shall change for every profile you undertake and wish to target because of their different set of needs and so shall change the information you wish to share with them. It’s very important to understand the obstacles or the challenges faced by your target consumers, for instance whether it is related to flexible time schedules or giving privilege services and facilities or solving gym membership related queries.
2. Making it easy/convenient to schedule appointments – With people using smart-phones at all times of the day, the route to reach up to your business or signing up for your services, shall be easy and convenient. It’s important to have a clear call to action (CTA) route to reach your goal.
3. Have an interactive website – Having an interactive as well as a pleasant website, shall enhance your likability, your website shall not only be easy to navigate but shall answer basic first-hand queries of your potential clients, because that can determine how successfully are you able to convert future leads into proper clients. For instance, you should provide answer to

• What all entails your membership
• List of amenities and facilities offered
• Batches if any, and the timings
• Process of signing up

You should offer some special discounts or free classes or any freebie to attract the consumers, this shall not only incentivize them to come to you but also experience the services offered by you first-hand, and if impressed, can act as local brand ambassadors.

4. Creatively using social media channels to attract your target audience – With nearly every local or big business having social media presence, it’s important to create such messages and ads which shall appeal to your target audience and publicize them on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, etc., wherever you engage with them the most. People surf through these channels to know more about your business and not to forget, the social media ads. You can create brand awarenessand attract new customers in and around your local area with the appropriate social media advertising strategy.
5. Having positive reviews, helps your business grow organically – With people now preferring to gain knowledge about any service or product they wish to buy first-hand instead of believing ads or marketed stories; brands and businesses these days ask their customers to leave a positive feedback for them online on Google, Yelp, Facebook or any such channel, where reviews can be posted.

     Not only does this help the client get an idea about your quality of services but also have a first-hand idea about your services leading to authenticity in a business-consumer relationship, which is the cornerstone for any business or brand to rise up, organically.

Here are some interesting suggestions to retain your existing clients and attract newer ones:

1. Offering special discounts on your Gym Anniversary – Running a special program on your gym anniversary can be beneficial for you in the long run, because not only you can make your old customers feel special again but also attract new customers by offering specialized discounts or some special facilities or maybe some surprise gifts. This will help in cultivating strong relationship between you and the client.
2. Calling local businesses for a challenge – To boost up sales and attract crowd, organizing fitness challenges is a good idea; because business owners and entrepreneurs are competitive per se, offering them an opportunity for friendly competition with other businesses shall encourage everyone to work towards a common goal, and resultantly enhance profits of your gym. The winners in this case, shall be decided fairly because here there runs a risk of being funded or being partial towards one organization. Prizes in this case can vary from offering bulk discounts on gym membership or free training or customized diet plans for all.
3. Featuring well-performing Gym members – Featuring exceptional performers or your loyal customers on your website as well as on-site premises, won’t only act as a source of motivation but also encourage others intrinsically to perform well and enroll with your centre as they would believe in your results, here action would speak louder than words and those featured customers would act as unpaid brand ambassadors for your business. For instance, you can take a photo of that special member while or after their workout, share and post why are they special to you and give them recognition them on your digital platform. You can make it more special, i.e. by creating special gifts like Mugs, key-chains or t-shirts that have a special saying or acronym specially attributed on them. These shirts won’t be made available to everyone but shall have to be earned i.e. only those special or featured members will get them.
4. Having an interactive member interaction platform- In today’s times when everyone is short of time and are running a hectic schedule, it is very important to have a vibrant and a dynamic interactive channel between your business and them, not only to clarify their doubts instantaneously but also make them feel privileged by acknowledging their time crunch. This can be done by posting blogs on a regular basis apart from running a question answer portal. This can be enhanced by you posting personalized videos by coaches, dieticians, successful clients etc. on a regular basis on various social media channels like Facebook or Youtube, this shall also help in spreading your word over a larger geographical area. This unique content not only saves your time, but also helps in improving your website rank for more keywords.
5. Providing customized diet plans – ‘Nutrition and Healthy eating’ are the two key words in today’s times, especially when people have less time to dedicate towards building a healthy lifestyle, of which healthy food forms a huge part as well as the biggest problem is when people don’t even know where to start off from and what to eat. This is the place, where you can step in and offer them guidance to make their lives easier, that’s why it is imperative to generate content that will attract people and keep them with you. So providing your members with a healthy yet tasty meal plan will not only keep them happy but also make them feel that they are cherished and that you are working hard to keep them fit and healthy.

 Fitness these days just isn’t about going to gym or Zumba classes and losing weight, but it is holistic, i.e. maintaining a healthy lifestyle in all aspects. So as a business owner you should always remember to communicate the right message to the right audience by following the right routes, and this is where Zivanta Analytics can help you directly hitting the target and make you stand apart from your competitors. At the end of the day, just selling doesn’t matter, how you sell and what you sell, as well as what value does it carry for your customers, matters.