Tru Soldiers

Posts Tagged ‘gym marketing’

Stop throwing crap against the wall, hoping for something to stick. Have you ever heard that expression? We notice this kind of marketing each day in every type of gym. Marketing is not rocket science, but it is easy to fail if you do not have a system in place. Don’t waste your marketing dollars and follow these simple steps to gym marketing success!

Step 1: Designate X % of revenues towards your marketing efforts. Do not wait until a bump in your health club revenues is needed to start marketing. Don’t ever stop your marketing efforts. Articles on marketing will tell you that the average amount you should spend towards marketing is thirteen percent of revenues. Not profits, but revenues. You might think, I am not even making enough money to pay myself! Hmm, the age old question is what comes first, the chicken or the egg? You cannot spend money if you don’t have any money and you cannot make money without spending money! But if you review closer, you will see places to lower costs or increase profit centers by many dollars. Begin with two percent of your revenues, then five, eight and so on. It is important to allocate a portion of your revenues to marketing and you need to decide how you will spend that money. You need a reasonable ROI to increase your marketing budget the next month and the month after that! But get a plan.

Step 2: Create a marketing plan. Successful marketing is not a one-time mailing or spending money on advertising space because a salesman came to your door with an incredible Val-Pak offer. When doing a la cart marketing, you will never have a steady flow of prospective traffic. It will not take long to create a plan for success. Sit down one afternoon and prepare a separate page for each month in the year. After looking over your budget, you should know exactly how much you can afford in marketing. Decide on what types of marketing would work best during certain times throughout the year. For example, January is full of New Years resolutions, April is when it is time to prepare for bikini season, June is summer for free and August is time to go back to school. Those are the most obvious ones to do. If you are a health club in the northern United States, your weather becomes much colder faster than in the southern states. If you are in the south, people want to get out of the heat during summer by going indoors to exercise. Or perhaps your demographic area will help determine what your marketing plan should be. If your health club is in a blue collar area, what better time to advertise than during tax season? And if you offer childcare opportunities, the summer is a perfect timing to give a break to moms and dads from their children while they work out? Just plan your health club marketing calendar, month by month.

Dependent on the theme of each month, what type of marketing is best for your prospects? Perhaps a direct mailer in June? Get involved with children’s organizations during the spring and summer? Does your city have a parade or festival? Determine ways in which you can get involved or volunteer. Your health club’s plan may need tweaking as the months progress or if you are presented with unique marketing opportunities. As a health club owner, you already know how to bob and weave.

Step 3: Don’t try to handle it all yourself. You already have too many responsibilities. Imagine trying not to let your marketing efforts fall through the cracks. Pick someone else responsible to market your health club. And here is a thought…if your marketing efforts are successful; will you be the one who can sell memberships? While an increase in members is always terrific, is your sanity worth it? In addition to managing your gym, handling member concerns, keeping track of billing and member check-ins, managing personal trainers, and training a few people yourself, keeping the club spotless, training your staff, maybe even finding time to eat…can you imagine trying to give prospects a tour and selling many memberships throughout the day and also follow up with missed guests? Whew, I am tired just thinking about it all. Allocate certain marketing responsibilities to your health club employees, outsource printing needs, find a Boy Scout troop or youth group within the area to distribute door hangers and here is my favorite…Select VMG to take care of everything!

Disregard that shameless plug. This is the point; you have too much on your plate. Obviously there is so much more to marketing than what can be covered in this article, but these are the foundational elements to successfully marketing your health club. Follow these three easy steps and you will set the stage for marketing success!