6 marketing gym ideas to help you in the new normal

Looking for some marketing gym ideas to help you get kick-started in the new normal? Regardless of what COVID-19 phase you might be experiencing, whether it’s operating again or back in lockdown, it always pays to be planning out a gym marketing strategy. Particularly when trying to tackle to new normal our world is now faced with.

We’ve listed out 6 gym marketing ideas to help you bring members back through your doors when the time is right!

1.      Run a welcome back campaign

If you’re one of the lucky ones that can open and operate again, albeit with a few changes, then it’s the perfect time to run a welcome back campaign for your members and even your gym leads.

Host a re-launch week where members can come back in and take some classes, complete some pre-planned launch workouts, meet the fitness instructors and PTs, and access supplements and nutrition plans.

Make sure to spread the word via multiple channels – including email, SMS, and social media.

2.      Revamp your gym social media marketing

If you’re wondering how to market a gym on social media, it all begins with your content strategy. Having a clear and varied gym social media marketing strategy is going to help you so much in the long run and actually get engagement from your followers.

Ensure you post regularly, and your feed has a variety of content on it – not just promotional content. Social media isn’t just a selling mechanism. It’s an opportunity to connect with your followers (ie. customers and potential members) so you want to show all sides of your business including your values, team and members.

Some gym social media post ideas are:

  • Re-introducing your team and telling their stories of lockdown
  • Sharing how you looked after your staff and members during lockdown
  • Workouts targeted at easing back into gym after an extended break
  • Motivational quotes
  • Member transformation stories
  • Member goals
  • Share how you’re staying COVID-safe
  • Class instructor social media takeover to show behind the scenes

There’s plenty more! Get your team together and start workshopping some ideas and mapping out a social media schedule. Having a strategy and plan in place is going to be so much more effective than just posting on the fly.

3.      Communicate your COVID-safe plans and contact tracing app

One of the biggest barriers you might have to overcome with members when you first reopen your doors when the time is right in your city or town, is how you plan to stay COVID-safe. Put together a campaign around the measures you plan to take in your gym to stay COVID-safe.

One great way to safeguard your business and put your members at ease is implementing a contact tracing app in your gym. Jonas Leisure have recently launched Visitance – the perfect contact tracing app for the gym industry.

Visitance works by a member scanning a QR code placed at the gym entrance or front desk. A web page will then load where the gym member can fill out their essential contact tracing details before they can enter and use the facilities. The data can then be held by your centre enabling you to contact people in the event your gym encounters a positive COVID case. It can also be used as a people counter in real-time so you know when your gym is nearing capacity.

For more information on the Visitance contact tracing app, click here.

4.      Target members who cancelled their gym membership

People may have cancelled their memberships at the beginning of COVID-19 for a range of reasons. Realistically, no-one knew what the next few months, weeks or even days were going to look like. There was – and is still – a lot of fear of economic downturn and as a result people have tried to save where they can. For some, this meant cancelling their membership completely – even if you froze membership fees during lockdown periods.

If you’re lucky to be in the phase of reopening, consider pulling a marketing list of all the members who cancelled pre-COVID and send them a targeted email and SMS campaign with an offer inviting them to re-join.

5.      Collaborate with local businesses

Teamwork makes the dream work! One marketing gym idea is to engage with other local businesses within your community and see if you can leverage off each other’s customer bases.

For example, you might choose to partner-up with a local café for some cross promotion. They can offer one free coffee to all of your members, while you can promote your reopening membership specials or a free class pass to their customers. It’s a win-win situation!

6.      Say thank you

Your members have been through A LOT over the past few month. The pandemic has really challenged our communities, and everyone has felt the brunt of it.

So don’t forget to thank your members for sticking by you. For returning to your gym as you open, and for their patience while you close. For continuing to pay their full or partial membership fees if they elected to, or for signing up to any online classes you offered and supporting you that way.

They are the lifeblood of your business so show them how much you appreciate their ongoing support. Sometimes all it takes is a simple email communication expressing your gratitude, while others might want to offer freebies as thanks – it’s completely up to you and what works for your fitness business.