Gym marketing to acquire new Customers for your gym

Marketing gym to acquire lots of want Customers and win the competition!

Factory Communication, for several years, has been implementing marketing, communication and social media strategies for some gyms in Lombardy.

If you arrived at this article, you probably typed one of these search queries into Google:

Gymnasium marketing agency
Communication agency for gyms
Marketing for gyms
Marketing strategy for gyms
Increase gym membership with marketing

This article is aimed at entrepreneurs who own one or more gyms and want to increase their clubs’ positioning in their target market.

Marketing for gyms to acquire new Clients is a very relevant topic in the fitness world, where competition is often high and differentiating yourself can make all the difference.

If we want to increase the number of contacts and customers we must, first of all, understand what they are looking for, what their needs and wants are.
Only in this way can we create a value proposition that intercepts their needs and precisely meets their expectations.
Here are some focal points that a person might look for in a gym and how these fit into an effective marketing strategy:

Values Sought in a Gymnasium

Cleanliness and Hygiene: A clean and well-maintained environment is essential, especially given today’s health concerns. Cleanliness becomes a key point of communication.
Modern and Well-Mended Equipment: The availability of modern, functional equipment in excellent condition is essential to attract potential clients seeking a quality training experience.
Qualified and Welcoming Staff: Skilled instructors and friendly staff can significantly enhance the gym experience, making it more personal and motivating.
Stimulating Environment: The atmosphere, including natural light and organization of space, can influence the motivation and well-being of customers.

The Importance of Reviews

Customer reviews are crucial in building a gym’s online reputation. Positive feedback:

They increase confidence in new potential customers.
They provide valuable insights into what current customers value.
They help identify areas for improvement.

Analyzing reviews of competing gyms can also offer insights into what customers value and what aspects could be improved in one’s offerings.

Basically we can say that, the basic condition to grow in the market is to have a good image and reputation.

“I go to that gym because the trainers are good and helpful…”
“I go to that gym because I find all kinds of classes that suit me…”
“I love that gym because it feels great. It is super clean and the staff is helpful and nice…”

Just to see just a few examples….

Before pushing on the accelerator of communication and advertising in general, it is essential to understand whether our current customers are happy and satisfied with the service we deliver.

Marketing for gyms: find out what your clients and possible clients think about you

If you want to understand what your customers think about you and improve your services there are three basic ways:

1) Carry out a survey, what in marketeering jargon, we call a customer survey

There are several online tools that allow you to do this activity.

If you want, you can also use the free tool “Forms” found in Google Drive.

Whichever method you decide to use, it is essential to preserve and guarantee the anonymity of all who fill out the questionnaire.

Otherwise we will have answers that are not real.

Even a paper form is fine; the sine qua non is that the user can deposit it anonymously in a special container.

P.s. I do not recommend the latter solution, as it would take you a lot of time to manually check all the tabs and create a report of what is on them.

The goal of the survey is to understand, really, whether your customer’s experience meets their needs.

Here are some simple example questions, where the customer can answer with a score from 1 (poor service) to 5 (excellent service):

Is the gym clean? > If you expressed a low score, can you tell us where we can improve?

Are the bathrooms clean? > If you expressed a low score can you tell us what problems you encountered?

Are the showers clean and functioning properly? (this question in case showers and bathrooms are separate) If you expressed a low score can you tell us specifically what you encountered ?

………. and on and on other questions pertaining to the ventilation of the premises, the arrangement and cleanliness of the machines, the service staff, personal trainers, secretary, music, etc.

It is not enough to read them. Ideally, you should add them to the file you used for the survey in the previous point.

It is essential to have a complete overview.

If I read a review and don’t keep track of it, it can make me happy, or it can piss me off and that’s the end of it.

Cataloging them allows us to have a complete view of any problems or aspects that need improvement.

3) Check the web for what people are saying about you and your Gym.

I know, in the previous point I told you to check social, but there are more than just those.

A user may have posted, on any site or blog a review, or an article, about you.

To accomplish this verification you can do a manual Google search, or use a free tool provided by Google.

The service is called Google Alert and it helps you and keep you constantly monitored on the web.

If you want to see how to use Google alert I recommend this article:

Use Google Alerts to check and manage your Web Reputation

Once the survey is over, it is essential to look at the data collected in a detached way.

Some evaluations you may not like.

Until this moment you thought everything was fine, no one had ever told you these things, no one had ever pointed out these problems to you.

Marketing for gyms: implement your strategy

Let’s start by saying that before doing marketing and communication strategy, it is essential to solve the problems present in the Company.
Useless to acquire new customers.
If the water in the showers is always cold, with more customers you will do nothing but make the problem worse.

If you’re thinking — okay I’ll think about it, now I don’t have time to waste with investigations…
It’s important for me to tell you that with the advent of the Internet and social media, the world has totally changed.

Web and Social, when properly used, generate so many new opportunities and allow you to implement strategies focused on acquiring new members for your fitness center.

The point is that they disrupted the process that led to the purchase of a good or service.
Before the advent of the Internet, there was decidedly little information available to people.
Basically, people were passive to advertisements.
The more communication, the greater the returns.

Today if you want to prepare an effective online marketing strategy, you need to consider multiple aspects and channels such as: Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, SEO Strategies just to name a few. Remember that in addition to Facebook and Instagram it is essential to also preside over Google My Business.

Now the user, before making a purchase, inquires.
Conducts online research through Google.
Or visits social channels to understand what users are saying.
Reads reviews.
Compares with each other, the features of products and services offered by different companies.

Do you want a practical example?

If you have made a website, it is essential that the texts contain some key phrases (keywords) to intercept the searches made by users on search engines. This activity is called SEO, and we at Factory Communication have done several SEO consultations to gym owners.

The goal of the Search Engine Optimization strategy is to attract new customers by placing your gym in the top search results.

Search queries used by users on Google to find a gym

There are several online services that allow you to find out what keywords users are using.
We at Factory Communication use among others: Google Bard, Keyword Planner (featured in Google ADS), Semrush.com, answerthepublic.com only.

Here is a brief analysis that you can use to edit the text on your website.

If you want to find out how many and what types of keywords exist, I invite you to read SEO Positioning: Keyword Research.

Remember that people’s needs change over time. It is important that you check your SEO strategy at least 1 time per year.

In addition, there are different types of keywords: informational, transactional, and navigational that indicate the user’s search intent.

For example: if your gym sells subscriptions online you might use specific keywords.

General search queries:

“Gym near me”
“Gyms in [city name]” for example if your gym is in Brescia “gyms in Brescia”
“Best gyms [city name]”
“Low cost gyms”
“Gyms open 24 hours”

Specific search queries:

“Gymnasium with pool”
“Gymnasium with sauna”
“Gymnasium with classes in [specific activity]”
“Gyms with [specific activity, e.g., crossfit, yoga]”
“Gymnasium for women”
“Children’s Gymnasium”
“Gymnasium for the elderly”

The decision-making process is managed in total autonomy by the user.

He is the one who decides where, how and when to become a customer.

At home, in front of the television, or with the smartphone right at the beach.

For this reason, it is essential that services are fully functional and meet, to the greatest extent possible, the expectations of customers or possible customers.

If this does not happen, we risk rendering ineffective, if not entirely, the communication activities we are about to put in place.

The most successful companies are those that, more than others, try to look at things through the eyes of the customer, try to understand his needs and invent new solutions to make his life easier.
Taken from “The Ten Rules of Success.”
Paolo Ruggeri

Want to learn more about Customer Experience and how to improve your business? Don’t miss these articles:

Are you looking for an agency to help you develop the marketing strategy for your fitness center?

You found our article interesting but, before you decide to work with us, do you want to contact other Agencies?

We bring you some search queries used by entrepreneurs when looking for a marketing agency for their gym:

General search queries:

“Gymnasium marketing agency”
“Gymnasium communication agency”
“Marketing for Gyms”
“Marketing strategy for gyms”
“Increase gym membership with marketing”

Some specific search queries you can use based on your goals:

“Gymnasium marketing agency [city name]”
“Low cost gym marketing agency”
“Gymnasium marketing agency specializing in [specific activity]”
“Marketing agency for social gym campaigns”
“SEO for gyms”
“Website for gyms”

Marketing gym to acquire new customers