Whether it’s from a New Year’s resolution, or a last-minute bid to get summer-body ready, everyone has their own reasons for joining the gym. It’s estimated that 1 in 7 people in the UK have a gym membership, which would normally be music to a gym owner’s ears, but just because there are a lot of members, that doesn’t mean that they are regularly attending.
In fact, it’s estimated that British people spend a total of £558 million a year on gym memberships that they don’t even use; 1 in 10 people surveyed hadn’t even set foot in the gym for more than a year.
The following tips and tricks can transform your gym into a formidable business that members will never want to leave.
The importance of member retention
Member cancellations can spell disaster for your gym’s profit margins as with each and every cancellation your company loses a reassured monthly income; beyond monetary concerns, your gym might get a bad reputation for failing to provide the services and amenities that your customers come to expect. Research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company found that companies can increase their profits by between 25% and 95% if they improve their member retention rates; this suggests that gym owners need to develop a flawless marketing strategy to attract new members, and most importantly, keep them as valued members for life if they want their business to thrive.
But why do members leave in the first place? Perhaps they feel unmotivated to challenge their fitness and are not receiving the appropriate level of support and encouragement from staff. Some may decide to cancel their membership because the costs don’t match the value of service, or your opening hours don’t coincide with their own work schedule. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure – most people that cancel their memberships do so because they are no longer attending the gym – and exactly when this is happening to each member can be found through the gym’s data.
Once you have isolated key reasons for member cancellations and the duration of non-attendance that typically prompts a cancellation, you can focus your attention on developing a solid marketing strategy to make members want to stay with your brand.
Consistent branding and making your members feel important could be all it takes to drastically improve your member retention rates. Here are six marketing techniques to try for yourself:
Personalisation
Reports suggest that only 22% of consumers are happy with the level of personalisation that they currently receive, meaning many brands are failing them in this department. Similarly, addressing customers by name in a promotional email is not enough and 92% of consumers are unlikely to engage with this very basic level of personalised marketing. Go one step further with your email and direct mail campaigns and tailor emails and notifications specifically to them; send each member class recommendations and updates that are relevant to their own personal preferences.
Loyalty schemes
It’s no surprise that consumers are likely to stay with a brand if they are rewarded for their loyalty.
Research supports the use of loyalty schemes in retaining customers; 68% of Millennials said they would choose one brand over another if there was a good enough loyalty programme in place. With gym memberships, owners can get creative with the rewards schemes they offer and can provide discounts or free classes for each milestone hit.
Gyms can even provide member perks if members reach a certain goal in their fitness journey as this shows that they can make progress using your facilities, which will motivate them to remain loyal members.
Digital marketing is the best way to keep your members up to date with potential perks and an automated campaign is an efficient way to contact your customers and also free up the time of your staff.
Feedback
This is arguably one of the most important tips to remember when it comes to getting your members back into the gym. When you’re focused and passionate about your business, it’s easy to miss the flaws and holes in your own branding; this is where customer feedback comes in handy.
Listen to what your members have to say and implement the necessary changes; once they’ve been made, let your gym members know what’s changed and that you’ve actually taken their critique on board. In terms of obtaining feedback, make the user experience as easy as possible, with a quick online poll or survey. You could even give members an incentive to provide feedback with a reward or opportunity to be entered into a competition to win a prize.
Opening hours
Many people have to fit the gym around their work life and are unlikely to consistently use a gym with inflexible hours or class times that don’t correlate with their schedule. Luckily, this is an easy issue to combat and all it requires is for you to reassess your gym’s schedule.
If possible, consider opening earlier and closing later if you can afford to keep staff on for the extra hours. Ensure classes take place regularly throughout the day and make it as easy as possible for your members to book, cancel and manage their own classes through an online system.
Community
If your brand doesn’t endorse a sense of community then you might need to reassess your company goals. Research suggests that the risk of cancellation was 56% higher among members who just use gym equipment versus those who exercise in groups. This suggests that a gym promoting community and teamwork are more likely to retain their gym members who are motivated by the people around them to carry on with their fitness endeavours.
Stay in touch
90% of club members claim to value communication from staff, making communication a surprisingly effective method of member retention. Make the most of the data you have and find a team that can teach you how to analyse it and spot trends; once data is properly managed, it’s easy to see which members aren’t regularly using your gym’s facilities. Email them directly about their absence and aim to motivate them back into the gym and ask about the fitness goals they would like to achieve.
If you’re looking for an effective marketing strategy for your gym that both attracts new members and retains them for the long term, then contact a member of the AlphaGraphics’ specialist Hospitality marketing team about the services we provide; our experienced, expert team know how to make a gym thrive in such a competitive industryFrederick Reichheld of Bain & Companysons for joining the gym. It’s estimated that 1 in 7 people in the UK have a gym membership, which would normally be music to a gym owner’s ears, but just because there are a lot of members, that doesn’t mean that they are regularly attending.
In fact, it’s estimated that British people spend a total of £558 million a year on gym memberships that they don’t even use; 1 in 10 people surveyed hadn’t even set foot in the gym for more than a year.
The following tips and tricks can transform your gym into a formidable business that members will never want to leave.
The importance of member retention
Member cancellations can spell disaster for your gym’s profit margins as with each and every cancellation your company loses a reassured monthly income; beyond monetary concerns, your gym might get a bad reputation for failing to provide the services and amenities that your customers come to expect. Research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company found that companies can increase their profits by between 25% and 95% if they improve their member retention rates; this suggests that gym owners need to develop a flawless marketing strategy to attract new members, and most importantly, keep them as valued members for life if they want their business to thrive.
But why do members leave in the first place? Perhaps they feel unmotivated to challenge their fitness and are not receiving the appropriate level of support and encouragement from staff. Some may decide to cancel their membership because the costs don’t match the value of service, or your opening hours don’t coincide with their own work schedule. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure – most people that cancel their memberships do so because they are no longer attending the gym – and exactly when this is happening to each member can be found through the gym’s data.
Once you have isolated key reasons for member cancellations and the duration of non-attendance that typically prompts a cancellation, you can focus your attention on developing a solid marketing strategy to make members want to stay with your brand.
Consistent branding and making your members feel important could be all it takes to drastically improve your member retention rates. Here are six marketing techniques to try for yourself:
Personalisation
Reports suggest that only 22% of consumers are happy with the level of personalisation that they currently receive, meaning many brands are failing them in this department. Similarly, addressing customers by name in a promotional email is not enough and 92% of consumers are unlikely to engage with this very basic level of personalised marketing. Go one step further with your email and direct mail campaigns and tailor emails and notifications specifically to them; send each member class recommendations and updates that are relevant to their own personal preferences.
Loyalty schemes
It’s no surprise that consumers are likely to stay with a brand if they are rewarded for their loyalty.
Research supports the use of loyalty schemes in retaining customers; 68% of Millennials said they would choose one brand over another if there was a good enough loyalty programme in place. With gym memberships, owners can get creative with the rewards schemes they offer and can provide discounts or free classes for each milestone hit.
Gyms can even provide member perks if members reach a certain goal in their fitness journey as this shows that they can make progress using your facilities, which will motivate them to remain loyal members.
Digital marketing is the best way to keep your members up to date with potential perks and an automated campaign is an efficient way to contact your customers and also free up the time of your staff.
Feedback
This is arguably one of the most important tips to remember when it comes to getting your members back into the gym. When you’re focused and passionate about your business, it’s easy to miss the flaws and holes in your own branding; this is where customer feedback comes in handy.
Listen to what your members have to say and implement the necessary changes; once they’ve been made, let your gym members know what’s changed and that you’ve actually taken their critique on board. In terms of obtaining feedback, make the user experience as easy as possible, with a quick online poll or survey. You could even give members an incentive to provide feedback with a reward or opportunity to be entered into a competition to win a prize.
Opening hours
Many people have to fit the gym around their work life and are unlikely to consistently use a gym with inflexible hours or class times that don’t correlate with their schedule. Luckily, this is an easy issue to combat and all it requires is for you to reassess your gym’s schedule.
If possible, consider opening earlier and closing later if you can afford to keep staff on for the extra hours. Ensure classes take place regularly throughout the day and make it as easy as possible for your members to book, cancel and manage their own classes through an online system.
Community
If your brand doesn’t endorse a sense of community then you might need to reassess your company goals. Research suggests that the risk of cancellation was 56% higher among members who just use gym equipment versus those who exercise in groups. This suggests that a gym promoting community and teamwork are more likely to retain their gym members who are motivated by the people around them to carry on with their fitness endeavours.
Stay in touch
90% of club members claim to value communication from staff, making communication a surprisingly effective method of member retention. Make the most of the data you have and find a team that can teach you how to analyse it and spot trends; once data is properly managed, it’s easy to see which members aren’t regularly using your gym’s facilities. Email them directly about their absence and aim to motivate them back into the gym and ask about the fitness goals they would like to achieve.
If you’re looking for an effective marketing strategy for your gym that both attracts new members and retains them for the long term, then contact a member of the AlphaGraphics’ specialist Hospitality marketing team about the services we provide; our experienced, expert team know how to make a gym thrive in such a competitive industry.
