After a whole year of hustling, everyone can now sit down, relax and rejoice with a glass of their favorite Christmas cocktail. Jokes are cracked, laughs are shared, and every worry of the world takes a backseat. But in the process of letting loose, your clients also temporarily forget about their fitness dreams.

All the hours that you put into training them are now replaced with the hours of them overindulging and getting a bit too cozy at home. Alexa, play cricket sounds in the gym.

But this doesn’t have to be the case this time around. With a little effort and the right strategies, you can keep your customers off the couch and engaged at your gym. After all, your wallet also deserves to be happy during the time that’s meant to be all about happiness. 

So, how do you make that work? Let’s look at some ideas:

Introduce fitness challenges

Of course, your gym members want to look fit and amazing for the holidays. They have family reunions to attend and people to impress. Use this to your advantage and introduce a ‘Fit for the Holidays’ challenge. Run it through the weeks leading up to the holidays and throw in some attractive incentives like a customized nutrition plan, weekly check-ins, and one or two HIIT workouts. 

Make it competitive

If a simple holiday challenge doesn’t work on some members, make it competitive for them to instill motivation. 

Present them with a challenge that will have a winner at the end of it. You can present this challenge to all the participants of your dance or gym class. Explain how reaching the objective will win them points or prizes. People like winning and the recognition that comes with it. So, tap into that competitive instinct and think of some simple and straightforward challenge ideas.

Some examples are:

• Most miles run challenge
• Most calories burned challenge
• Total weightloss challenge
• Most gym visits challenge
• 15-day walking challenge

These are some pretty simple challenges and success can be gauged easily. These challenges not only push your customers to do their best but also make them feel like a part of a community. 

Offer special seasonal classes

Everyone gets bored with routine. Bring something new to the table that’s appealing enough for your clients to leave the comfort of their homes.

Know what keeps them going, what makes them excited, and what they need the most at the time. Think Weekend of Wellness, offering meditative yoga classes to those dealing with holiday stress. Gratitude Week that’s focused on Turkey burn rides for those who have packed some pounds over dinners. Give them what nobody else is and watch your clients clamoring for more.

Bring a friend promotion

What’s a holiday season without the spirit of spreading happiness? The more, the merrier. Encourage your gym members to bring a friend to get free classes or discounted rates on your merch. Those incentives are tempting and so is the thought of training with one’s friend. 

This will get you double the usual number of people at the gym. These are all potential clients who are getting the chance to know and experience your services better. Many of them might even come back to get your cash register running.

Keep the hours flexible for easy access

Holidays are not the best time to be rigid about the timings of your gym. People are busy shopping, planning, decorating, and out having fun with friends. They might not be able to visit at the time they previously used to.

By extending the hours, you minimize the chances of your gym members not showing up at all. The convenience of a facility that’s open 24/7 could be a huge motivation for your clients during the holidays. 

The time is NOW. Grab their attention early and keep them engaged. These ideas are not only for gyms. Whether you’re a pilates studio, a dance studio, a yoga studio, a personal trainer, or a sports instructor, you can reap the fruits of these strategies and turn the slow season into a success. 

The post How to Keep Your Gym Members Engaged During the Holiday Season appeared first on Fitli.

1. Revamping your site

Nowadays, chances are that most of your new customers and clients are first finding your business not through your brick-and-mortar studio or gym, but through your website. The odds are also good that they’re looking at your site on a smartphone, and performing a local search. With these factors in mind, you’ll want to ensure that your website is up to speed with Internet user behaviors and expectations for today. Here are some key areas to focus on:

Responsive design

Take a good look at your site on several tablets and smartphones. Is everything from your logo to your primary call-out to your sign-up button clear, readable and compelling? If not, you may want to hire a designer to ensure that your site is responsive, which means that it automatically adjusts itself to look great on any device.

SEO

SEO today is not just a matter of having relevant keywords and inbound links. Google, in particular, has made it clear that the new approach to SEO is all about great content, fast-loading pages and a user experience that is tablet and smartphone-friendly. If their algorithms find thin content, slow-loading pages or a cluttered experience (on any device) this will damage your site’s ranking.

On-boarding    

How many clicks or taps does it take for a new customer to sign up at your studio or gym? How many fields does the user have to fill out? Two, five, ten, twenty? Does your sign-up page allow users to sign up with their Facebook, Google or Twitter accounts, or do they need to start from scratch? These are the kinds of questions you will want to ask yourself as you consider a redesign of your on-boarding process for new customers. A well-designed, streamlined onboarding process could make all the difference in your sign-up numbers and your bottom line.

2. Expanding your offering

Your studio or gym is, first and foremost, a valuable space for people to achieve their fitness and wellness goals. And if you’re not using that space at every opportunity, then you’re missing out on some real revenue. For example, suppose you’re primarily a Yoga studio and you’re only using the space at certain times of the day when the demand for Yoga sessions is strong and attendance is high. During the off-times, rather than close your studio, you could use that same space for another popular fitness and wellness activity in your area, such as dance or martial arts, with an entirely different peak-demand schedule.

3. Rethinking your pricing

This is a popular time for fitness and wellness studios and gyms. This means more business, but it also means more competition. Your customers can easily perform at-a-glance comparisons of your pricing for memberships, daily sessions and so on with your competitors. So it’s wise for you to do the same, and see how your studio or gym stacks up. Of course, you will always want to consider your location, instructor experience, and other factors when deciding who your true competitors are. But once you have that worked out, you may find that you are pricing yourself out of reach of a much larger customer base.  Alternatively, you may be underpriced and leaving money on the table.  Lowering or raising prices can both be a way to increase revenue.

The vitals

As a fitness and wellness studio or gym, it may be time to give your business a health check-up. First, make sure that your site works perfectly on any device, follows the new approach to SEO, and has a streamlined sign-up process. Second, if you’re not using your valuable studio or gym space at every opportunity, consider expanding your offering. Third, compare your pricing to competitors in your area, and make any adjustments necessary to bring in a steady stream of new customers and clients.

To learn more about how to increase revenue and help your fitness and wellness small business thrive, consider scheduling a demo or cut to the chase and sign up for a 30 Day Free Trial with Fitli.

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Many gyms and fitness center owners believe an eye-catching website is enough. It is not. In fact, your website could be hurting your fitness business, making it difficult to attract customers and new members. If you have not thought long and hard about your website, how it aligns with your mission and core principles, and how it adds value to your customers, you are better off not even having a site.

Everyone has heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.” Repeated studies have shown that the majority of consumers are using the internet as part of their shopping process, for both goods and services. It is not just for online shopping. Consumers are going online to research virtually every company that they plan to do business with, and they are starting their research very early in their decision-making process. So, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, consumers are looking at your website and determining whether you are trustworthy and if you can meet their needs. With this in mind, Here are several ways that your website can hurt your gym or fitness center.

Mistakes Harming Your Fitness Website 

1. Does Not Target Your Ideal Member

Take a moment to visualize your ideal gym or fitness center member. Who do you see? Is it an older person trying to lose weight and get back into shape after years of television watching? Is it a young woman who wants to look great for her wedding? Is it a college-aged individual who is using your gym as their second home? Trying to build a website that will appeal to every type of person will only work against you. You want to identify those customers who either share your values or your values compliment theirs.

2. Copy Is Generic and Lifeless

Your employees and trainers are likely very friendly, engaging, and interesting people. Is that reflected on your website? Is your verbiage pompous and arrogant? Is the content filled with a ton of fitness jargon and slang? You are the ultimate face of your brand. Consequently, they should hear your voice when they read your website copy and content. Inauthentic, generic, and poor writing will give your website visitors the wrong idea. Your website should reflect the face of the people who customers will meet when they visit your gym or fitness center.

3. Provides a Poor User Experience

Many gyms and fitness centers have visually stunning websites that ultimately fail due to poor user experience. A good website design will be uncluttered with easy navigation. Visitors should be able to find the information they are looking for within just 2 or 3 clicks. Moreover, your website must adapt to any mobile device. Today, more people are using mobile search than a desktop. If your website is not usable on a potential customer’s chosen device, they will find one that is.

4. Does Not Align Your Core Values with Customers

How do your core values help members achieve their needs, goals, and desires? Take as an example Planet Fitness. There are many within the fitness industry that don’t even consider Planet Fitness as a real fitness center. Yet, it is one of the largest franchises with one of the largest membership bases. This happened because of effective messaging that aligned their values with their target customers.

Do you have questions? What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about how your website can hurt your gym or fitness center, or a related topic, please contact us.

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