Even if you’ve got a bustling, successful gym it’s always important to keep focus on attracting new members. This is not to say you shouldn’t spend time on current members, it’s about finding the time to balance both. This is where social media has a key role to play. It can be a fantastic platform to both promote your gym or studio to new members as well as engage with existing ones. In this article we’ll take a look at paid, organic and other marketing strategies you can use with social media.
Create the opportunity for social interaction
It may seem funny to start with live events if we’re talking about social media, but if you’re missing out if you don’t create opportunities for in-person social interaction. This is a fantastic way to engage your current members as well as get your business in front of new potential clients.
You can also create cross-marketing opportunities by inviting other businesses in the area to collaborate with you. Top tip: Beverage-based businesses are good candidates for partnerships because of their diverse customer bases as well as the ease in transporting their products.
Whether your event is exercise related, or just social, it creates the opportunity for exposure on social media as people share their experience through pictures and posts. This is a huge advantage for any organic social media strategy as we will discuss in more detail in the next section.
Building a following on social with no budget
When you are trying to build a following without the use of paid promotion it is considered “organic”. To do this effectively you have to commit a consistent posting schedule. If you’re not giving people the opportunity to see your content or business, then it will get buried among the thousands of over posts that are competing for the space.
You should be posting on Facebook or Instagram (or other social media platforms) at least once a day for the first few months. If possible, you can then increase your posting schedule to several times a day.
Before you start posting, you should build a brand voice and tone guide so that all content you produce is cohesive. This can also extend to the kind of graphics or images you use.
Finally, you should be varying what kind posts you publish. Try out images, videos, questions or even memes. You will soon find what kind of content best connects with your audience.
Getting paid exposure on social media
If you do have some budget (you need to spend at least $900 per month) then using paid promotion on social media is a great way to make people aware of your business.
In a classical marketing strategy you’re going to need to run different kinds of ads or boosted posts depending on how much your potential clients know about your business.
To begin with, your ads will just be focussed on making people aware that your gym or studio exists. You’re going to use broad messaging that connects in the most general way with potential new clients.
Following from this, you’re going to want to start using ads with more specific messaging about how you can help them. Why is your business better than the rest? What are you unique selling points? You’re explaining to people why they should be choosing your business over someone else’s.
The last kind of ads you should be running are ones that encourage people to take a direct action like getting in touch with you or signing up for a membership or class. These are not effective unless someone is already aware of your studio, which is why the awareness phase is the most critical. You may be driving this through a special offer or discount that you offer to new sign ups within a specific timeframe.
As your ads become more targeted, you will see that they become more expensive. This is because your audience at the conversion stage is far more valuable to you then someone just looking at general info about your gym. You just need to accommodate for this when you’re planning your overall paid budget.
If you find the right software provider for your gym, they will do much more than simply provide you with the tools for bookings and class scheduling, they will provide invaluable insights and guides on how to grow your business. For a great example, click here and checkout their blog, packed full of tips and great ideas.