Lately I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about the free marketing materials that we provide your business when you start using FitnessTexter. That’s right, when you start a 10-day free trial of FitnessTexter for your gym, we’ll photoshop the below marketing materials for your gym. We’ll pull your logo from your website and use the address that’s on your website as well. In the examples below, we’re using a fake business called Intense Training & Fitness. For our example, they’ve decided to use ITFITNESS as their FitnessTexter texting code, and they’re offering a Free Week Pass to anyone that signs up. These will give you a head start in promoting your FitnessTexter keyword in your various marketing channels. If you’d rather design your own, be our guest. These are mostly for small fitnesses businesses that don’t have a graphic designer on the payroll. Here’s a rundown of the social media, website and print materials that we send you once you start your 10-day free trial: Social Media Marketing Materials These three marketing materials are by far the most used by FitnessTexter clients. They’re perfectly-sized to post on Facebook and Instagram, drop into a blog post, or add to your homepage pop-up (like Larry North Fitness did). Printable PDF Flyer The standard printable PDF flyer is great for bringing to Kinkos, printing out 25 and putting up around town. If you’re located in a residential area, put some up on the light poles in town (make sure it’s legal first). Otherwise, put them up at local businesses. Walk in the door, introduce yourself to the business owner and see if they’d be willing to let you up a flyer up in their door. Most small business owners are more than happy to help out other small business owners. If you’ve got a graphic designer in house, or a friend that does it, feel free to let them design your own marketing materials. They’ll be able to incorporate any specific branding guidelines that your business follows. Use ours as a simple template for designing your...
Read MoreIt’s no secret that as a gym owner, having a website is part of the success equation. Think of your website as the first impression your prospects get of your business. When they glance at your website, you want them to get an accurate representation of the type of training you offer and why they should be part of it. If you’re looking to increase your membership base this year, here are some website tips to help the visibility and conversion rate of your website. 1. Keep it Updated Let’s face it, having a website can be hard work. Even simple changes like updating schedules and testimonials can be time consuming. However, these updates are crucial. What if a prospect is looking at your current class schedule but it hasn’t been updated for that week? Or what if you forget to update your gym’s address when you switch locations? These small errors can mislead potential members and end up casting a bad first impression. 2. Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a strategy to help your website gain stronger visibility in the search engines. Without SEO, your website might not be visible on the first page of Google when a prospect is looking for gyms in your area – making it hard for prospects to know your gym exists. If you’re spending time and money on a website for your gym, the last thing you want is for your hard work to be hidden. Take advantage of SEO to ensure that your website shows up. 3. Calls-to- Action What is the goal of your website? If the goal is to keep current members engaged and encourage prospects to sign up for a membership, the only way to get those results are through calls-to-action. Want website visitors to sign up for a free trial? Great! Give them a clear option to do so on the homepage. Adding a few calls-to- action across your website is a simple way to generate leads without having to lift a finger. 4. Mobile Friendly The majority of people searching for local gyms will be doing it on their mobile phone. Therefore, it’s important that your website is mobile friendly. This means...
Read MoreOpening a gym takes more than just leasing a property and waiting for the people to start flowing in. If you’re going to run a successful gym, you need to make sure that you’re offering your members the types of quality equipment that they’re looking for. After scouring the internet and Google, we’ve put together this list of the five most essential items that every gym needs to have. If you have any other ideas that we didn’t list, add them in the comments at the bottom of this article. High Quality Free Weights Let’s get down to business. What’s the number one most important piece of equipment at any gym? Weights! After walking into some gyms, you’d think that they feel like the quantity of mirrors is the most important piece of equipment (that or the stereo system). I think most gym goers will agree, but there’s nothing worse than walking into a gym that only has mechanical machines. There’s nothing wrong with doing some chest work using the inverted row machine, but you gotta be kidding me, I’m not going to do bicep curls with on a machine. Purchasing high quality free weights is going to be one of your biggest investments, but also one of your best invests. Don’t skimp on cheap equipment. Easy Clean Rubberized Floor Workout Mats Every now and then, your members are going to need to get down on their back and do some ab or leg work. This can be doing some crunches, or working on doing resting back lifts. Whatever it may be, they’re going to need some floor mats to exercise safely. That said, make sure you purchase at least 10 cleanable rubber floor mats that your members can use to do their floor work. Doing crunches on the floor without a mat both hurts your back and also gets you filthy. You can either buy the kind that you rest against the wall, or you can also look into purchasing the kind that have the little hanging holes already pre-build into them. Either way, do your members a favor and purchase some cleanable gym mats. Keyless Entry Lockers for Personal Items How many times have you arrived at...
Read MoreKickboxing cardio class has been growing in popularity for over the past few years. There are some big names franchises out there like CKO and 9Round that are doing a great job of spreading the word about the health benefits of kickboxing. If you’re the owner of a studio, there’s a good chance you’re always looking for some extra ways to get people in the door. We were at FitnessTexter have been helping kickboxing studios increase their leads since 2011, so we have a little bit of experience in this area. Check out our tips below! Encourage Members to Bring a Friend with Them No one likes working out alone. Well, that’s not entirely true. Many people, myself included, like a good solo workout session. However, there is something to be said about having a friend at the gym with you. You can go over and talk for a bit when you get bored and need a little break. Either way, if you’re looking to increase your kickboxing studio’s membership, give all of your current members a handful of Bring-a-Friend-Free passes. They can use these when they want to have a friend come along for a workout. If the friend is impressed with your studio, there’s a good chance that they’ll want to sign up for classes as well. Do Membership Surveys to Find Best Class Times Have you ever done any market research on the best time to hold classes? How many members are you missing out on because you’re not offering classes at the correct times? These are things that you will find out if you start doing some market research using an online survey tool. You’ll be able to see that most of your members would like to have early morning classes, but you’re not offering any. If your current members are requesting these hours, there’s surely a lot of people that are not joining your gym for the very same reasons. Do some market research and you’ll surely find more times for better classes. You can also survey your members about which types of cardio classes they enjoy the most. Focus on these classes and less on the other ones. Hire Trainers that Make People...
Read MoreThis is a guest post from our friends at ZenPlanner. You work hard to get new members through the door. You spend money on marketing and sales training, engage with the community and reward current members when they refer friends. The problem is, even if you are following marketing best practices for your gym, all is lost if you can’t retain your membership base. In fact, it costs at least 5 times more to win a new member than to keep an existing one. As a small business owner, every penny counts — so if you’ve found your rhythm and are steadily growing your membership base, it’s time to explore 5 key ways to delight those members to keep your gym thriving long-term. Create a culture of community Your members may join your gym because of the equipment, location or class variety, but the key to keeping them around is building a strong community with other members. Make sure to capitalize on this the moment they sign up for a membership. Introduce them to staff and veteran members who are well connected at the gym to help them start making connections. It’s also important to create an atmosphere within your gym that encourages members to hang out before and after their workout or class. Adding some couches or chairs near the entrance is an easy way to create a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere where members can gather and connect. Empower your team Maintaining a strong and empowered team is essential to retaining your membership base. If your staff loves their job and fits the culture of your gym, they will make a positive impact on your members without having to try. Make sure you utilize the strengths of your team and empower them to own their role. Encourage them to seek out new members and get to know the regulars by name. Remember that your team is the face of your gym, and keeping their spirits and energy high will make a big impact on your member retention. Make gym and class hours convenient It may sound obvious, but your gym and class hours can make or break your membership retention. Even if your members are well connected, love...
Read MoreDaily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social are great at getting people into your facility. They have a gigantic reach that gets your business in front of thousands of people in your geographic area. However, they’re not always the best at getting people to stay at your facility. This isn’t their fault, it just so happens to be the type of people that are attracted to Groupons. Understand the type of potential gym member that comes in with a daily deal is the first step. They’re going to be a little more fickle on price, but they’re also ready to pay money to get in shape. It’s a slippery slope getting daily dealers to become paying gym members, but it’s not impossible. First step, get people in the door, second step, close the hell out of those leads! However, have no fear, there are some good ways to get your Grouponers to sign long-term contracts, and here’s how. Offer a Promotional Membership for Grouponers One of the most common problems with daily deal gym members is that they get sticker shock when they realize the real price of your gym. Most daily deals require you give a healthy discount in order to use their service. If Jane is only paying $45 for per Groupon month, and then is expected to pay $150 for every month after that, you’re going to have a hard time keeping Jane around. Introduce a special membership price for your daily deal members that will slowly help that acclimate to the normal price of your gym. Ease the membership price every month until they’re at the normal price. This will give them a good way to find out if they’re going to enjoy your gym long-term before paying the full price. Get to Know Daily Deal Members by Name, Fast It may sounds simple, but one of the easiest ways to get people to stick around at your gym and increase membership retention is to get to know your gym members by name. It’s a lot harder to say “No” to a gym manager who greets you by name every day than to say, “No, I’m not going to come back after my Groupon...
Read MoreWatch the 45-second video below to see how FitnessTexter works to increase your gym’s membership. Sign up for a free trial below.
Owner: 9Round Kickboxing of Plano, TX
I’m very pleased with the number of new leads generated by FitnessTexter. In the past 3 months, I’ve been averaging almost 50 new leads and 10 new memberships sales per month. We’d have even more sales if we did a better job closing and following up.
Manager: KnockOut Zone | Location: Miami, Florida
FitnessTexter is the highest return on investment we have ever received in our business. We have generated thousands in new revenue and also boosted our electronic fund transfers in a very short amount of time.
