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Health Club Marketing Tips

One of the most important fitness marketing strategies you can employ to bring in leads to your health club to is make sure that you are located on the first page of Google’s search results. Local residents searching for a health club, or performing “near me” searches, are perhaps the hottest type of leads. These leads have already shown that they are interested in or have a need for your services by performing the search, SO MAKE SURE THEY FIND YOU!

A strong Fitness local SEO program with research what search terms are the hottest in your area and make sure that your website ranks at the top of Google’s “organic” rankings for each term. They are called “organic” rankings because they are “earned” rankings, not paid ads. A local SEO program will also include registration and updating your business information with local search directories.

Another way to ensure that your health club is showing up on the first page of Google’s search results is through the use of health club PC Advertising. PPC search ads are paid ads that show up at the top and bottom of every Google search page. They are called PPC (pay-per-click) ads because you are charged only when someone clicks on the ad.

Different from organic results, well crafted Healthclub PPC Ads give you the ability to appeal to the consumer with persuasive text that motivates them to take an action (clicking on your ad). You can promote specials and include extensions on your ads with your phone number and links to specific services pages.

Local PPC ads coupled with a strong local SEO program are a very powerful combo, as they give your health club the opportunity to occupy at least 2 spaces on the first page of local search results; one in the organic listings and one in the paid ad listings. This is HUGE because searchers are over 70% more likely to click on a business that has multiple positions on the first page.

A successful health club remarking ad program will continue to serve ads to website visitors long after they have visited your website, and it is an important part of fitness digital marketing. Google and facebook scripts give you the ability to tag everyone that visits your website with a code that will classify them, and subsequently serve them your ads for a determined period time throughout their online journey. This is “remarketing”.

Google fitness remarketing ads show on Google “ad ready” websites and youtube, which consists of over 80% of the internet. Facebook remarketing ads display on facebook’s newsfeed as well as in Instagram.

The strategy of remarketing ads is to re-enforce products or services that the web visitor showed interest in. Remarketing ad tags can be added to your health club’s website on a site wide, or a page by page level. This enables you serve up different ads promoting individual offers or services, depending on what the web user showed interest in.

Once a sizable remarketing audience has been created on Google and Facebook, powerful “lookalike” audiences can now be created consisting of members of your local community that show the same interests and buying habits as the site visitors that you tagged.

4. Optimize Your Website for Conversions

You’ve done all the work to drive traffic to your website, now make sure it is setup to convert! Yes… Local SEO and PPC Search Ads will drive traffic to your website. Remarketing ads will follow site visitors after they leave your website. So… what happens when they are on your website?

Driving every website visitor toward a conversion point is critical to your marketing ROI. With so much time and resources dedicated to driving traffic toward the website, it is essential that you invest in professionally written content that persuades each visitor into performing a valuable task, such as filling out a contact form, calling the club, or purchasing a service. This is refereed to as a “conversion”.

Special attention to the arrangement of graphics and content on the site is also very important factors that contribute your website’s ability to direct, or funnel website visitors toward conversion points.

Lastly, make sure that proper measures are put in place to respond to any inquiry from your website IMMEDIATELY! Whether you receive a contact form or a phone call, it is imperative that a professional from your health club reaches out to the new prospect while you are still top-of-mind.

Though much of your fitness marketing budget is needs to be dedicated to digital advertising, Fitness Direct Mail is still a very powerful way to get new members. Direct Mail still outperforms digital marketing in many key areas, including ROI, and response rate.

Check out these numbers:

  • 1,254% is the average return on investment (ROI) for direct mail
  • Consumers who receive direct mail are able to recall the promotions 75% the of the time, compared to 44% for digital ads.
  • 79% of consumers are likely to act on direct mail immediately
  • 79% percent of households at least scan their direct mail daily and 55% report they read their entire direct-mail daily.

Another reason why fitness direct mail is a great option for attracting new members is the fact that other industries are doing less direct mail, so there is less competition in the mail box now. Your promotion, especially solo direct mail postcards, will now stand out even more which greatly increases the chance of it being read and making a connection with then prospect.

Tight targeting of specific audiences based on demographics data also makes direct mail powerful. The greatest advancement in direct mail over the past few years is the precise ability to target who you want mail to by choosing high performing mailing routes that meet specific demographic requirements. These mailing routes are small groupings of homes located within local neighborhoods around your club. The days of blindly mailing to a radius around your health club are gone!

Digital marketing has become a necessary weapon in hour fitness marketing arsenal, but if you dismiss using direct mail to precisely target local home around your club, you risk missing out on a vary valuable channel.

6. Get Social

Social networks offer your health club a very valuable opportunity for 1-to-1 interaction with your members online. Social platforms such as Facebook are a great forum to field questions from members and new prospects, as well as provide them with news and updates. Being available to interact with members and prospects via social media harbors trust and helps to build relationships.

Having an active social media presence also provides your health club with the ability to give your brand a face, or a personality, and to always control the narrative. Use this power to introduce members and prospect to your team, your amenities, as well as your fitness classes. This helps to break down barriers make members feel more comfortable, which will lead to increased attendance and participation.

Remember.. Don’t shy away from bad reviews on social media! Seek to answer them and reach a resolution to any problems that may exist!

Of all the health club marketing tools available to you, none of them have both the combination of low coast and high ROI like email marketing. Fitness email marketing costs very little compared to other marketing channels. For every $1 spend, you can expect to earn $38 of revenue on average.

Email is a great tool for staying in contact with existing members. Sending out a monthly marketing email or newsletter with health tips is a great way to stay top-of-mind. Also consider including group class features in a monthly email, as well as promoting profit centers within the gym.

When you email a member list, you are approaching the target from a position trust, which is very powerful and persuasive.

8. Affiliate Marketing for Fitness Clubs

Don’t underestimate the importance of establishing relationships with local businesses and setting up a passive income stream. An affiliate marketing program is where people outside of your health club refer people who may be interested in a gym membership.

In this situation, the referral is usually very meaningful as it is coming from someone in the local community that the new prospect trusts. Consider approaching professionals in your local community to setup an affiliate marketing program, such as:

  • Physical therapists
  • Supplement providers
  • Fitness apparel stores
  • Personal Trainers

Offer incentives to business that refer new leads to you club such as discounted memberships for their employees, or even a flat referral fee.

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