The corona crisis has been dragging on for several months now and all industries are suffering from it. First and foremost the gyms. Because many members have terminated their contracts because they could not train and may have felt a little neglected by their studio. The reason for this is that many operators of gyms do not attach importance to communicating with their members outside their own premises. So that you do not have to face this problem, you should better prepare your communication, and thus also your marketing, for such difficult circumstances. In this blog post, we will show you 7 online marketing measures that you can implement immediately in order to be able to reach your members in any situation.
What is online marketing for a gym?
The competition between different gyms is getting stronger every year. In addition, it is less and less important what you actually offer in your studio, but increasingly on how you sell yourself to the outside world and how you communicate with your members. The easiest way to communicate is via the Internet. Simplified, this is exactly what online marketing for your gym is all about. That is why a grasp of SEO and 백링크 뜻 (backlink meaning) can get you an edge over the competition.
Online marketing usually has two primary goals. On the one hand, the acquisition of new customers through the generation of leads and on the other hand, the improvement of customer loyalty, so that your members stay with you for a long time.
1. Action: Analyze the target group
The basis for optimal marketing is detailed planning. In order for you to properly plan your future marketing activities, it is imperative that you know your target audience and analyzes the needs and interests of your target people. There are different ways to analyze your target group, but you should use them all to a certain extent so that you understand your target group. To find out the needs of existing members, you can ask them. This is the easiest way to get information. However, of course, you also want to address potential new customers. To learn more about this group of customers, you should research fitness industry forums on the Internet or read online reviews. It is also very important that you regularly visit trade fairs in order to be aware of current developments. This analysis gives you a rough picture of the composition and interests of your target group.
2. Measure: Optimize the homepage
In addition to the profiles on social media, your homepage is the most important point of contact for potential customers. If you don’t have your own homepage yet, then the first thing you should do is create one. In addition, there are various tools online that make the creation of a website child’s play. When creating a new homepage or optimizing an existing one, the design is crucial. To help you in this area to develop a functional and appealing design, we have another blog post where you will find 8 tips for successful web design.
In addition to the design, the functionality of your website must also be right. This means that on the one hand all links and buttons must work, but on the other hand, your website offers corresponding functions. You may want to offer members the opportunity to order products, such as protein powder, online or buy cards of 10. An automatic appointment is also a frequently used tool that simplifies your life and that of your customers.
3. Action: Online marketing for your gym on social media
Your profiles on social networks also require constant care and attention. Because today, a large part of online marketing takes place on these platforms. Therefore, it is important that you have a qualitative and easy-to-find profile that you make your members aware of. The best way to do this is to print the names of your profiles on all the promotional materials you use. You can also use displays or the like specifically for promoting social media or contact your members directly.
Aside from paying attention to your profiles, the quality of the posts you post must also be adequate. It’s best to publish content that adds value to the reader or photos that look professional. You can also use the reach of social media to draw attention to special promotions or events. If you can encourage your members to share your content, you’ll reach an enormous number of people. In order for your members to want to share the content you publish, you need to interact with you on social networks. This means that you should reply to comments and messages so that members realize that you are interested in them.
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4. Action: Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the most common tools for promoting your gym online. Your own ads will be displayed in matching Google searches after they have been created. In order for your ads to reach the right target group, there are two important points to keep in mind.
First, you need to create an ad. On the one hand, a suitable advertising title, as well as an attention-grabbing ad text must be selected. You should note that the content of the ad should cause a prospect to click on it to learn more about your studio. After you create and publish an ad, it takes a certain amount of time before you can see if the ad is successful. This can be seen in the click-through rate, i.e. the percentage of people who have seen and clicked on your ad.
After your ad runs for a certain amount of time, then you need to sort out your ad’s keywords. Because Google automatically plays your ad in matching Google searches and thus collects a list of search terms that may match your ad. You need to sort out this list regularly because not all search terms really match your ad. You must exclude these so that you can only reach the searchers who are also interested in your offer. On the other hand, you can also include certain keywords so that your ads will always show up in those terms.
5. Measure: Content Marketing
Content marketing is a relatively recent form of marketing. Here, no specific product or service is advertised, but the attention of a target group is attracted by publishing content. So you provide the target group with information or the like and in return, you generate traffic, i.e. visits, on your own website or social media profiles. When creating this content, two criteria must be observed in order to achieve the desired effect.
On the one hand, you need to make sure that you create the right type of content. Depending on the industry in which you are active, the target group is interested in certain topics. For the members of a gym, this is usually an interest in topics that have something to do with sports, nutrition, or fitness. Therefore, for example, you could provide your members with training videos in which you show the correct execution of certain exercises or which exercises are helpful for different areas of the body. Alternatively, you can also offer cooking recipes or nutrition tips. Of course, that’s not all you can publish in terms of content. In the field of content marketing, there are no limits to creativity. With content like the ones mentioned here or completely your own ideas, you have a good chance of reaching a lot of people and generating a lot of attention for your gym.
6. Action: Prepare for crisis situations with online marketing
The previous 5 measures are designed to immediately optimize the online marketing of your gym. But what if there is another crisis situation similar to the corona lockdown? So that you do not suffer from such circumstances, you need to prepare for it. However, this preparation is not easy, especially for gyms, as it depends mainly on the customers in the shop. Nevertheless, there are some services that you can offer your customers even with a closed studio.
These services include online courses. In doing so, you publish training videos or live streams in which you hold the courses that would normally take place in the studio. So you can keep your members fit from home and dissuade them from terminating their contracts.
7. Measure: Optimization of online marketing for your gym
Now that you’ve improved online marketing for your gym, you need to optimize it regularly to stay successful. This optimization affects all areas of your online marketing because there is always a starting point that can be improved. Above all, your SEO and your Google Ads must be checked regularly, because there are always new requirements that must be observed. In order to have lasting success, you also have to adjust your strategies again and again. Because no matter how well they were planned, current changes result in new starting situations that must be included in the planning.
Result
In this blog article, we have shown you 7 measures that you can use to optimize the online marketing of your gym. If you use all these measures for yourself and regularly optimize your marketing, then you are guaranteed to reach more new customers and improve customer loyalty with your existing members. In addition, you are better prepared for a possible new crisis situation.