Fitness marketing and social archives

Apr 21

How to gain more clients through yoga marketing

By Ollie Bailey Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news, Yoga

Yoga is quite amazing. People rely on it to transform into better versions of themselves. It helps people to heal. And those are some of the reasons the yoga industry continues to gain more popularity in the UK. However, running your own yoga studio is not a walk in the park. Like any business, the yoga industry has a lot of challenges and competition. Therefore, you need to embrace the best yoga marketing strategies to stay ahead.

Let us have a look at some of the most effective yoga studio marketing strategies that you could employ.

Come up with loyalty programs

If you wish to increase your client base, an easy way to do it is to create loyalty programs for clients who frequent your yoga studio. So, why are loyalty programs important? Well, they will make your clients happy, which means that you will retain most of them. Happy customers can help you sign new clients faster by recommending your studio to friends and relatives.

You, therefore, should make the loyalty programs a priority; they don’t even have to be complicated. Something simple such as a point system could work. This is where a customer earns points every time she/he comes to your studio, and these points add up to some real redeemable value.

Entice your customers with value

Another great way of getting more clients coming to your yoga studio is by enticing them with value. What does that mean? Simple. Come up with viable ideas on how to create special promotions for your customers. For starters, you can offer new clients free trials. If you wish to retain the clients, however, then you’ll have to come up with something sustainable and much better than a free trial.

For instance, you can come up with incentives such as reducing the rate of the first few classes. Additionally, you could come up with a great pricing model that is easy for your customers to understand. That way, your customers will have an easier time selecting a package.

Target your audience

Another great way for you to grow your client base is by knowing your target audience. Once you define the customers you’d want to come to your studio clearly, then you can come up with yoga advertising ideas. Ensure that each ad you put out there focuses on a particular audience. You could even use your current customers to determine the people within the same demographic.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to advertise your business. One of the most effective platforms includes social media. You could post Facebook ads targeting different audiences. You could also send out emails to people who seem to share the same interests with your current students. That way, you will be able to reach a wider client base.

Rely on yoga studio software

We live in a technological age. Long gone are the days where you had to stack files to maintain your database. That is why you need to start using yoga studio software to streamline tasks in your business. If you have the proper management software, then your instructors will have an easier time managing your clients.

But that’s not all! Having the proper software in place could also improve your booking procedure. In fact, clients will find it easier to schedule studio sessions because the software provides versatile booking procedures. Additionally, the software will save you and your customers a lot of time, and there is nothing more enticing to a customer than saved time and flexible solutions.

Hire great instructors

Hiring great instructors counts as one of the best yoga marketing ideas. How come? When a client comes to your studio, she/he looks towards bettering themselves. As a result, clients will want to be under a trainer who can help them achieve their fitness goals effectively.

Besides, your staff contribute to the success of your business greatly. So, whenever an instructor takes your clients through a particular structure or yoga style and it works, there is a high likelihood that those clients will recommend your business to others. The opposite also applies.

To get a good instructor, you have to make sure that you are thorough during the hiring stage. Besides hiring the skilled instructors, you should also come up with ideas to promote them. By doing so, you create a good rapport with them, and they will be more likely to take care of your clients as expected.

Connect with local businesses

Yoga studio marketing should involve creating partnerships with local businesses, especially if you set up your business in a small town. You should make an effort to know the owners of the businesses around you, especially those that you can benefit from.

For example, if there is a coffee shop within your location, you can organize an event whereby the coffee shop will serve as the caterers in your studio parties. This will benefit both parties, and that is how other business owners will recommend your business to their clients.

You must ensure that any partnership you get into will benefit both parties. Otherwise, your efforts will be futile. Moreover, ensure that any dealing you have is both time and cost-effective.

Sell products in your yoga studio

Frankly, anyone coming to a Yoga studio is looking to stay fit by embracing a wellness program. Therefore, if you want to gain more clients, then you should try selling wellness products in your studio. That will not only entice your customers but will also help you engage with them much better. Furthermore, you get to boost your source of income.

Apart from wellness products, you can also sell beauty products, nutrition supplements, yoga clothing, and fitness equipment. You can even go a step further and brand these products with your business’ logo to increase awareness.

Host a free workshop

One of the best and most effective ways of gaining new customers in a yoga studio is by hosting a free workshop. However, you must ensure that the workshop focuses more than just your current yogi students. There is a high likelihood that there are people in your locality who have never considered yoga as something they would do. As such, you should tailor your workshop to focus on them as well.

The primary purpose of your free workshop should be to create awareness. Use it as a platform to educate those people who don’t know a lot about yoga and to clear out some myths that surround the practice. Be careful, however, not to make it so overwhelming.

Like any other business, the yoga industry is a competitive one. Therefore, you may want to employ the yoga marketing tactics that we’ve listed above if you want to stay ahead of your competition. Proper marketing strategies will not only get you more clients but also increase your revenue.

To take your yoga offering to the next level check out how Gymcatch can help you. Book a demo today!

Apr 21

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Gym name ideas: The inspiration you need

By Ollie Bailey Fitness marketing and social archives and news, Gym and studios

The fitness industry is rapidly growing. Therefore, several fitness shops are opening around the country and competing for a similar audience to your gym. You need to differentiate your service from the rest to attract a substantial market base. One of the ways you can do this is by selecting the right name for your gym. Your prospective customers must have heard the name of the gym before they even know what you are offering.

The name also gives the personality and the identity of your brand. This way, you can give your audience a preview of who are and what you do. Unfortunately, coming up with gym names can be challenging. In this article, you are going to learn the importance of a good business name and steps to follow when coming up with creative gym names.

Why should you select the right business name?

The name embodies everything about your gym business. It gives your brand the voice, personality, core values and the vision of your gym. The audience is able to tell what you do and how you do it. You can also tell a story of your life with the name.

Grabs attention and enhances recall

A good name captures the attention of your users. Then, it becomes the word that comes to mind when your target audience is looking for quality fitness training.

Influences user perception

You can use your name to influence how the users view your brand. Perception plays a role in the effectiveness of your marketing methods and shapes your branding strategy.

Steps to use when coming up with a name for your gym

As discussed above, the gym name is a vital component of the business as a whole. Below are a few steps on how to generate name ideas for your fitness business.

Know your potential market

You always have the target customers in mind when coming up with a business name. This enables you to get a name that presents the right message about your business. To determine your target market, start your research using demographics such as income, location, gender and level of education. Create a wholesome gym persona of your potential clients.

Check how the competition is doing it

The local competitors are looking at a similar audience as you. Therefore. Some of the ideas that they are implementing can work in your case. Look at their choice of the brand name and ways they engage their audience. Use this to gain insight into your naming. However, do not use a name that is similar to any of the competitors so that you do not end up losing clients to rivals due to the name confusion.

Select your archetype

The archetypes are those characteristics that determine your brand. They are also the models of thinking and long-lasting truths that form part of the brand perception. Popular archetypes include the hero, magician, caregiver, lover and the outlaw. Create a name around any that you pick to bring pout the personality defined by the archetype. Brands like Nike and Gymshark have created names around such models as heroism and magician.

Generate name ideas using online tools

You will find various business name generators on the internet. These free tools will ask for the type of business and come up with tons of names. While these names may not be the most inspirational ones out there, the ideas can give you insights for your brainstorming. The good thing is that these tools are free. You can always play about with various elements to see what names you can get. Then, pick a few names and improve them to create excellent results.

Keep your name simple

Create a simple, straightforward name for your gym. Remember, when it comes to business names, simple ones are the most memorable. You also want a name that your customers can share out with ease. However, being simple does not mean that it should be boring. Always pick a catchy name that shows what your fitness business is all about.

Here are a few examples of simple but effective business names, SoulCycle, Cobody and Bam Bam Boogie. In the above examples, SoulCycle’s main fitness activity is cycling, while Cobody main business is getting fit in a small space. If you are running a business with various services, you do not need to be specific on a particular activity. Instead, you can go for gym name suggestions such as Fit Train, FitPro, Cheetah Gym and Ribbed Lift.

Get a different perspective

You may find it hard to come up with names on your own. In such a case, ask for help from other people. They can inspire you and help you find insights out of the box. On the other hand, if you have gym name ideas and are not sure if they are good, shortlist the best ones and ask for other people’s views on the same. Professionals in the fitness industry are a good point to start.

However, if you would like to try various gym name ideas on a circle that is larger than your immediate one, you may use social testing tools such as SurveyMonkey. With such online tools, you can send your ideas to a small focus group and get detailed feedback. Since the focus group does not know you, they are more likely to give honest feedback.

You can also get prospects from your target audience and ask them a few quests on gym names. Here are examples:

• Is there a memorable gym that you know?
• What does the name remind you?
• What would you expect from gyms with similar names?

Check if you can use the name and domain

It is essential that you check if the name is free or similar businesses are using it. This saves you from unnecessary lawsuits from the use of a registered business name.

On the other hand, you need your domain to look similar to your name. Given that over 65% of your target market are likely to search for a business online, you would want the name that comes to their mind to point to your domain. After securing your domain name, go ahead and create an excellent gym website. Also, consider having a gym management system to meet your customer service expectations.

Examples of excellent gym names

ConBody

ConBody fitness group showcases it offers as activities as prison-style fitness. CossMarte created the company while he was incarcerated. These classes are designed based on workouts that he could complete in his 9″ by 6″ cell. In essence, this business name tells a story of the owner’s life and the kind of fitness styles you would expect from its classes.

Girls Just Wanna Box

A boxer called Kristina Ejem started this company. During her physical training on boxing, she had first-hand experience of how women boxers are disadvantaged in their training. Since there were very few opportunities for women to join boxing, she started a niche in this area. This is when Girls Just Wanna Box was established. From the business name, it offers courses that are specifically designed for women who would like to join boxing. This name provides an excellent example of how one can communicate the product directly to the audience using a name.

Conclusion

The choice of creative gym names affects customer perception, brand marketing strategy, and product positioning. Use the examples and ideas generated in this article to clear a perfect name for your fitness business. A good name is several steps ahead into marketing your gym.

Once you’ve got your gym brand name sorted out you’re going to need gym management software. That’s where Gymcatch can help, book a demo and see what we can do for you.

Apr 07

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How to open a gym

By Ollie Bailey Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Recently, the fitness industry has significantly developed due to numerous campaigns aimed at fighting obesity and the upcoming trends towards health and fitness. Opening a gym can be a great business idea though there is high competition and you need to prepare yourself properly. Starting a gym may not be an easy task but can be extremely rewarding if you get hardworking and committed enough. To be profitable, your gym model revolves around several key elements and the following steps will help ensure that your business is well planned, rightly registered, and legally compliant.

Plan your business

As an entrepreneur, a clear business plan is essential to help you figure out specifics in your industry and discover some unknowns. You need to ask yourself how much does it cost to open a gym, what is your target market, the business name, and how long it might take to break even. Planning will save you in the long run since once you write down what you are going to do, you will know how exactly to get it done. Here are some points you need to consider in your business plan.

The start-up and running cost

The initial gym capital can vary massively depending on your location, size, type of establishment, and facilities. Opening a gym can cost you from a minimum of around £80,000 to £100,000, covering the equipment outlay and marketing expenses. A larger facility may cost more, a franchise may have lower operational costs, but you may have to pay an authorisation fee; thus, it might or might not be a cheaper option. You can also try to minimise start-up costs by buying already used equipment but ensure that they are thoroughly inspected and serviced before use. Consider other ongoing expenses including, labour cost, gym management software subscriptions, power bills, and rent depending on the location and size of the facility.

Your target market

You need to understand your prospective customers, their interests, hobbies, and needs to focus your attention on a specific segment of people who are more likely to appreciate your services. Include necessary demographic details like age, gender, and occupation; also consider their personalities and lifestyles. For a gym, your preferred clients are individuals who want to lose weight or those who require personal training services to meet their fitness goals. Try and target those clients interested in long term gym commitment to protect your gym from early cancellations.

How to make money through a gym

Besides understanding how to start a gym business, you must know how you get paid. The primary income source is collecting membership due; however, you can generate supplemental revenue by offering exceptional services, including yoga, aerobic classes, kickboxing, Pilates or dance classes, among others.

Get an appropriate business name

Choosing the right business name for your gym is very important and is the cornerstone of the success of your enterprise. Try to match your name with the type of gym and your target market to build some brand identity. Make it simple to pronounce and select a great combination of words to make it more memorable. Do significant research on your competitor’s brand names to avoid similarities, and you can even use a name generating software to make your work easier.

Identify a gym niche

Identify a fitness gap in an area and try to fill it by determining what kind of gym best suits your target market. You can opt for a speciality gym to focus on a particular activity like yoga, dances, cycling, or much more. You can also choose to go for the traditional gym which offers varied workout options in one location, including strength and cardio workouts, personal training, and other fitness classes. You may provide additional services like massage, sauna, child career, and tanning at an additional fee.

A medical gym offers wellness services like physical therapy to help clients recover, prevent or manage a health condition. This type of operation requires professionalism, and you need to provide a variety of educational materials to your clients to boost their physical or mental wellness. A family gym centre includes a variety of workout options including group fitness classes and youth-friendly programs like swimming, sports club, and summer camps for kids.

Get financed

Once you have the relevant content about the industry and have selected your right gym type, you need to figure out where you will find start-up funds. Personal saving is the least expensive option since you pay for your equipment without using another source. If you lack access to all the funds, you can also tie-up with an investor, who supplies you with the funds without necessarily getting involved with the gym operations. However, the investor will expect to make some returns from the investment based on the agreed-upon terms.

Bank loans are the most common ways for most people and the best place to seek funding is from your local bank. A standard bank loan for a small business enterprise will have less interest rate than from other financial institutions. However, you need to present a professional business plan to the bank so they can assess the potential success of your new gym and collateral to secure against your loan. Sometimes getting a bank loan can be a bit challenging, if you don’t qualify for one or you don’t wish to get entangled in lengthy legal proceedings, you can seek funds from micro finances.

Get a strategic location

The growth of your gym heavily relies on whether your potential clients consider it convenient and easily accessible. When thinking about the site, find a space on people’s route home or open ground. First, determine how many clients you can serve in your facility to know how much space you need to find a perfect location that best suits your needs. Find out whether the people in your neighbourhood are more likely to drive in your facility, and this means that you will need a sizeable parking space with a convenient entrance.

You can also choose a location in the busiest part of the city where the surrounding dwellers will only need to walk or take a bike over for a gym session. Also, consider the look and feel of your location, whether it can impress your target clientele. It is crucial to avoid choosing a spot next to businesses that conflict with your operations.

Obtain necessary permits and licenses

To smoothly run your new venture, you need to abide by the set rules and regulations. You, therefore, need to do in-depth research or inquire from a lawyer on the necessary permits required by your local authority. You need to comply with the health and safety executive standards as well as the set FIA code of conduct guidelines. Ensure that you undergo safety training before starting the gym business and subject your employees to adequate training. Your staff needs proper coaching to handle small scale injuries.

Equipment should also be subjected to regular inspection by relevant authorities to prevent causing harm over time. If you plan to add other services such as massage and spa, make sure you adhere to the licensing requirements. You will most likely want some music in your gym to keep customers moving, get a license to avoid infringing music copyrights. In the long run, ensure that all your permits are up-to-date and incase of additional services, always consult with the legal counsel. Note that failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines and even business closure.

Get insured

Your employees are also prone to injuries in their line of duty; thus, get an employer’s liability insurance to cover for any compensation claims. You also need to protect your hard-earned money used to purchase the equipment and secure the premise, therefore insure the premise, stock, cash, motor, and premises contents against instances of theft.

Market your brand

Excellent marketing will help your business stand out from others which subsequently results in success. Once you determine your customer base, you can promote your business in various places where your potential clients spend most of their time. Social media is one great medium you can use to generate new membership. Use multiple social media platforms to share video content to showcase the type of workout in your facility. Choose the right platform including Youtube and Twitter but if your target group is generally an older crowd, go for Facebook. You can also use Instagram to send engaging photos of your gym to attract millennial demographic.

Come up with great offers to attract new customers, such as membership discounts. Take an extra step and visit businesses whose employees can be your potential clients and offer them a company discount. You might also consider local advertising by taking out ads in local newspapers or offer free work out days to attract a considerable customer base. Establish a business website that allows target customers to learn more about your gym and the type of services you offer.

Conclusion

Opening a gym can be very profitable, bringing along a sense of life satisfaction. Use the above guideline on how to open a gym to help you actualise your dream and set up a firm foundation for your business. Develop great marketing strategies to increase your customer base by knowing your demographics and getting creative enough to reach out to those individuals. You need to do excellent market research to draw out a profile of your target clients and buy the appropriate equipment that meets the expectations of your customers. With a proper mix of training, skills, commitment, and passion, a gym business can turn out to be a very successful venture.

Don’t forget Gymcatch can provide you with the gym membership management software to help build your dream gym.

Apr 07

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How to start a fitness Instagram

By Ollie Bailey Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Instagram is considered as one of the major marketing platforms in social media. It can be a vital strategy for boosting your fitness business. Starting a fitness Instagram can be an excellent way to establish your brand. Whether you run a personal training business, gym facility, or sell your products online, Instagram marketing channel is most likely to be an effective platform. But the question is, where do you start?

First of all, let’s look at how to start a successful fitness Instagram. Here are the tips you need to look at:

Remember, fitness covers a broad topic. Those people who would be interested to follow a bodybuilding fitness account may not be the same people who have the interest to follow an Instagram yoga blogger.
Do you want to increase the number of cross-fit followers, bodybuilding followers, or yoga followers?
You need to select your target market guided by your niche carefully.
To have authority over a specific area, choose your niche, and strictly stick to it.

When starting a fitness Instagram, picking a specific area and focusing on it can be much easier to capture more audience than generalising the approach. In this article, we share how to start a fitness Instagram.

Get clear on your goal and objectives

Just like any other marketing activity, you must have clear goals and objectives. This is crucial because it will influence the kind of content you will post. For example, Are you trying to get new PT clients or gym members? Are you interested in promoting fitness programs regarding post-pregnancy or promoting active ageing classes? Or will you want your website to drive more traffic to where you sell fitness products? Once you get a clear idea of why you want to create your Instagram account, you can now go ahead and tailor your content and profile accordingly. Before you set your intentions on Instagram, the first step is to determine what achievement and success mean to your business. These key questions will help you to answer how to start a fitness business on Instagram.

In the end, what do you intend to achieve through your Instagram marketing?
Are you creating brand awareness to reach out to your target customer base?
Do you want to use the platform to display your services and products?
Are you using Instagram to acquire new clients or to educate your followers?
Are you trying to engage your community?

Instagram account for business can be of use in various ways to assist meets your overall goals. That is why it is crucial to set realistic objectives, and this will further help you match your strategies with the objectives. For instance, if you want to use Instagram to endorse a new instructor or trainer, then you should target an audience that will generate excitement and buzz in the lead. To find the right audience, you can use a tool like Instagram insights.

Create an amazing business profile

To create an Instagram that magnetises followers, a high business profile is essential. To appear in search web results, you need a strong business profile. The first item people see is your profile, so it must make a positive impression. Three most vital elements must appear in your business profile:

Profile Photo – use a headshot picture with a professional logo.
Bio – to make any potential business prospects find your online content, you must include the keyword in your bio.
Link – this will not only take followers to your homepage but also your lead page.

There is a lot more to be included in the business profile, but these three things are fundamental. The business profile feature gives you a way to other online tools such as Instagram adverts, contact information, Instagram insights, and many more.

Instagram adverts – it allows you to advertise on the platform and promote your posts. These help your business to grow both your engagement and your reach.
Contact information – the contact button is indispensable and allows your users to contact you very quickly. The button can be set in a way that people can call or email you. Also, you can set your location through a map.
Instagram insights – this allows your users to see what content works best for them. It gives your business all the crucial data concerning the account as well as how posts perform. Insights provide weekly performance data on clicks, reach, followers, impressions, the website, etc. Additionally, it gives comprehensive data on your follower’s demographics, such as times they are most active and location.

Develop quality content for your target audience

Here we are talking about starting your Instagram content and including things like hashtags, captions, and images. Also, inspirational quotes such as ‘mouth-watering healthy meals’ as well as aspirational fitness activities such as ‘beach yoga’ work very well. However, you must come up with the right content that will appeal to your specific target audience and is authentic to your brand. You can use consistent filters and colours to give your theme a cohesive mood. Include relevant fitness, yoga, and health hashtags. Several captions can be used according to what you see best fits your needs. Keep the captions short and snappy. People will absorb the message more efficiently. Blog posts must be longer, and a lot more detailed, and emoticons should be used to break up the text. Create a clear call to action such as ‘follow our bio link’ etc. For high-quality Instagram content:

Create different posts by using varying formats – play around with different inspirational quotes and formats. Instagram has a variety of different formats, and you can use a mix-up. Use video to provide demonstrations and tutorials. Create posts that allow you to share several photos at a time. Play around with different inspirational quotes and photo formats.
Use ready-to-use templates – many online tools can help you create engaging content for your ideal clients. The templates are amazingly useful, and you don’t need a top-notch designer. You can create Instagram stories and insights using the tools.
Use high-quality pictures – people want to see beautiful thought out content. If you use fuzz photos slightly, it may not draw attention.

Follow and interact

Creating a fitness Instagram is not just about quality content, but should be interactive too. Many people tend to look at who follows you, and a few will follow you back. The key to having a fitness Instagram is to interact with your followers genuinely. To achieve this, like and comment on their content, and that way, you will start building relationships. Avoid unfollowing those people you follow. At last, this will develop fans that might finally purchase what you offer.

Instagram can build a community and a perfect place to interact with people. You can repost customer photos, use call-to-actions, and host competitions just to keep followers engaged.
• Utilise call-to-actions – you can ask followers for suggestions or feedback. You can ask for an answer to a question. You can as well reward your followers after entering into a competition and many more
• Regram – this allows you to share the content of other people. By doing so, you can create further connections.
• Tag people – when you post content from customers, tag them. If you are working with influential people, share their posts, and tag them.
• Engage other accounts – do virtual networking. Ask questions, comment on photos, and suggest tips.

Reach your ideal clientele with ads

Instagram, just like other significant channels, has a dominant ads platform. Facebook powers the ads, and you can post the same ads across both Instagram and Facebook. The ads have a stunning visual design layout that helps to create ads to be simple. Popularity with Instagram is growing and causing it to become an essential part of the general marketing strategic options.

Use A/B Test to your ads until you configure which combination gets the best result for you.
Create a promotion ad that gives value like free introductory classes.
Use quality videos and images.
Create a dedicated landing page on the website. Provide a direct ‘call to action’ when the person gets there.

Rinse, repeat and scale what’s working

Identify what is most effective and double down on the efforts to achieve that. After a particular milestone, review your Instagram posts and profile. Evaluate what needs to change, what can be improved, and what worked well.

Were there particular hashtags and themes that worked well?
Which of your accounts followed you back the most?
What content was the most popular?

After you have identified the most popular elements, then focus on them for the next like 30 days. This ensures you don’t hit a plateau in your fitness program. Instead, it helps you to continue to grow.

Make a content calendar

To maximise your reach, ensure you create a variety of useful content and a content calendar. Schedule different types of posts and share them on different days. For example:

Monday – share a workout tip.
Tuesday – share a motivational quote.
Wednesday – make it a transformational day by posting a photo of ‘before and after.’
Thursday – share a healthy meal recipe.
Friday – let it be your networking day. You can promote a company to push existing partnerships.
Saturday – make it an interacting day by asking a question.
Sunday – make it a light sharing day by posting a health and fitness meme or a funny Gif.

Summarising, by following the above steps, now you are aware of how you can start a fitness Instagram for your business. For a long term success, use this information to create and set up your account in a strong foundation. Having a clear goal and well set up objectives will ensure your focus on social efforts align well with your business goals. Great creative content and a strong profile will help your services and products appeal to your target audience. Following others will enable you to develop a lasting relationship with people who might get interested in what you are offering. Evaluating your social efforts can help you to quickly scale up and build your fitness program to be an amazingly effective marketing platform.

Once you’ve got your fitness Instagram set up and the enquires start to flowing through. You’ll need to invest in fitness management software to organise all your clients. That’s where Gymcatch gym booking software comes in! Get in contact with us today to see how we can help you.

Apr 07

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Social media marketing tips for fitness professionals

By Ollie Bailey Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Social media is an essential tool for fitness professionals looking to grow their fitness businesses. As things stand, social media users already have a massive appetite for all content related to fitness routines and general well-being.

As a business owner, you can’t, therefore, afford to ignore this particular channel when creating your marketing, advertising, and branding strategy. The following is a look at some of the social media marketing tips that you can use to enable you to market your fitness business.

1. Inspire, entertain, and inform

One of the leading reasons why individuals sign up to social media platforms is to get entertained. Other reasons include to be informed about global happenings and to interact with their friends. You have to realize that social media users don’t register to these platforms so that businesses can sell to them.

As such, businesses that are always posting content that has too much “salesy” language will often end-up being bypassed. The key to attracting a sizeable following on social media is to make certain that your content is based around the following three (3) main principles:

I. Inspire: Use social media to share motivation content sourced from other pages or use your pages to showcase the transformation undergone by your members.
II. Inform: Try to educate your audience using valuable details related to nutrition and fitness. You should aim to provide them with advice clearly and concisely so that it becomes easier for them to implement some of these routines at home.
III. Entertain: At times, social media users just want to enjoy themselves. You can provide some entertainment by infusing some of your personality into the content. Aim to distinguish your brand from the serious nature demonstrated by other brands in the fitness industry.

2. Focus on mobile

In your quest to learn how to get popular on social media, you will have no option but to focus on mobile. For many industries today, the main channel of communicating with their target clients is through the use of mobile phones.

According to a recent study commissioned by Smart Insights, tablets and mobile phones were the main devices used by people in the hours outside their normal working days. Business owners need to engage with their target clients during these particular hours. The study also established that a majority of users spent a large chunk of their time on different phone applications.

Your brand needs to be active on Instagram and Facebook. The two social networking platforms have been seen to be the most efficient when it comes to advertising a fitness business. In addition to this, you can also consult with your web developer to ensure that the brand’s website is properly optimized for mobile. You also need to look into how you can integrate a fitness business booking and management system. Integrating this type of system will help you save time by reducing the overall amount of time you spend on repetitive tasks. You also get to boost your revenue stream, enhance customer experience, and communicate much more easily with your audience.

3. Exercise patience and post frequently

A common reason why many fitness business owners don’t succeed in digital marketing is that they lose hope easily. Many business owners start to give up after only having tried marketing their business online for a couple of weeks. The reason for losing hope is because the brand owners expect to start seeing results as soon as they have launched an advertising campaign.

However, what you need to understand is that the process of growing your online presence isn’t a sprint, but is more similar to running a sprint race. What’s even worse is that some brands opt to purchase fake followers on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Anyone who has ever tried this will tell you that it doesn’t end well for the brand.

Buying fake followers means that in theory, you will have hundreds or even thousands of people viewing your posts; but not all will engage with the posts you make. This is because the audience isn’t organic. Your posts will, therefore, end up with very few clicks and shares. There’s also the possibility that you could get into trouble with the platform administrators
Instagram and Twitter have been actively cracking down on individuals, influencers, and fitness brands that have resorted to purchasing fake followers. So instead of choosing the ‘easier’ route, you should aim to at least post 3-5 times each week on all the platforms your brand has an active presence.

The following is a quick guide on what your brand should post online:
• Post nutrition advice which can be in the form of an image, blog post, or video
• Share an article or newsletter that is relevant to the fitness industry
• Post a workout tutorial that can again be in the form of an image, blog post, or video
• Post two pictures or videos of your weekly classes
• Share your timetable for the week

4. Don’t underestimate the power of an advertisement

Instagram and Facebook Ads are the most recommended marketing and advertising option for small fitness studios looking to advertise via the internet. The two methods are highly recommended because they are affordable compared to other forms of traditional and online advertising.
Also, a large percentage of the population today spends most of their free time on the two platforms. Look at it this way, Instagram has more than 800 million active monthly users, while Facebook has more than 2.2 billion active monthly users. A major benefit of using the two platforms is that you can create custom ads targeted to a specific audience.

If you would like to target different market demographics, you could also choose to run a wider selection of advertisements. Ensure that you have a separate creative copy as well as a copy that is customized to your specific demographics. Doing this provides you with a considerable advantage as opposed to relying on the one-size-fits-all criteria.

Whenever you are creating ads for use on Instagram and Facebook, make sure to keep the following in mind:
• Only use high-quality images and video: Digital marketers have predicted that video content will make up around 80% of all internet traffic by the year 2021. It is, therefore, important that you start looking into how you can implement video advertisements into your online digital marketing strategy.
• A/B Test all your social media Ads: A/B testing should continue until you have fully determined which combination of creative and copy provides the best results. It’s possible to do this using the official Facebook Ad Manager. The manager has also provided users with an easy-to-follow guide on how to go about the testing.
• Create a dedicated landing page: This is probably the most important aspect of running any social media campaign. You need to provide your audience with somewhere to go once they are done clicking through the fitness advert that you have provided. Your landing page should also have a clear CTA (Call to Action) inviting users to sign up for that particular promotion.
• Come up with a promo for your advertisement campaign that provides value: A good example of this could be something like ‘Sign up by 4 pm on Tuesday to get 3 Free Introductory Classes.’
Remember that lead generation is an important factor in achieving success for any business in the fitness industry.

5. Good images and high-quality video is key

Whether you’re creating content for use in paid adverts or to help you generate organic content, you will need to make use of high-quality images and videos. Below is a look at what you have to do:

Images

Make sure that all your images are as visual as possible. Any text used with the image should be kept at a minimum. When it comes to paid adverts, platforms such as Facebook often implement a 20 percent rule. This is because it favors ad images that don’t have a lot of text. The aim here is to ensure that the users have a high-quality experience.

When the ad image has too much text on it, Facebook will typically show the image to as few people as possible. In the long run, this means that your ad will not be as efficient as you would have liked. The Facebook Text Overlay Tool will help you ensure that the text you have used in the ad doesn’t surpass the 20% rule.

Video

All your fitness videos have to be short and straight to the point. Research from Facebook suggests that when it comes to paid advertising, forty-seven percent of the true value of a Facebook Ad is seen in the first three seconds of a video. The same research goes ahead to note that 74% of its value is seen in the first ten seconds.

When it comes to the audio aspect, you are encouraged to assume that many users (85% to be precise) will opt to watch the video with no sound. What this means is that your fitness brand has to look for ways to help it pass its message along without necessarily having to use audio. You can think about using captions in the place of audio.

6. Build online fitness communities

When it comes to social media marketing, your fitness business should aim to create a fitness community. It’s possible to achieve this by implementing two simple, but highly efficient strategies:

I. Create Groups: Facebook comes in handy for fitness businesses looking to create closed groups for their gym or studio members. You can then proceed to create a page where members can interact with one another and get to build relationships that extend beyond the gym.
II. Using a Hashtag: Hashtags are quite effective when used on Instagram. You can come up with a hashtag that is specific to your fitness gym or studio and which will assist you to spread the word about your fitness routines and brand. Often, people share social media pictures of them attending a specific gym in a bid to show off to their followers and friends on these platforms.

Hashtags assist in increasing the visibility of your content. Any person interested in that particular topic will be able to view it with ease. The most popular types of hashtags used by fitness businesses are the brand-specific hashtags, trending hashtags, and content hashtags.

Once you’ve got all the client enquires coming through, you’ll want to make sure you have a good fitness management software. That’s where Gymcatch can help you, get in contact with us today.

Mar 31

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Delivering virtual gym classes: It’s so much easier than you might think

By Ollie Bailey Corporate, Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

From a cycling class to a high-intensity class, virtual gym classes give customers the flexibility they need to workout whenever and wherever they are, making them more accountable for their own fitness progress. Virtual gym classes have been a fixture for many fitness and wellness businesses for some time. But with isolation rules being imposed across the world, many health and fitness professionals are exploring virtual and online classes for the first time.

The good news is that demand for virtual workouts for all fitness levels is absolutely enormous!

For some fitness businesses, virtual gym classes will provide a practical stop-gap to continue to provide fitness classes through the challenges of social distancing when studios have to close.

For other studios and professionals Coronavirus will mark a watershed and virtual yoga, Pilates, dance and other group fitness classes will become a fixture in fitness business’s schedule. We predict that while virtual training will never replace in-person sessions, for certain disciplines, the convenience of being able to join sessions from your living room means that demand online health and fitness will be here to stay. For exercise businesses, this is a fantastic opportunity.

The great news is that most of what you need to deliver a virtual fitness studio are free or very inexpensive, and it can all be done using equipment you’ve already got.

How virtual classes work

Broadly speaking there are two options:

You can deliver pre-recorded online sessions
You can deliver live-streamed classes

Pre-recorded virtual workouts

Pre-recorded virtual sessions are perfect when you’re delivering one-way content. You can’t react to your clients but what a pre-recorded workout class does mean is that you can be really precise. You can record your content and use simple editing software to edit and refine your content so that when it’s made available to your clients it is perfect. So if you teaching something that requires real precision this might be the way to go.

There is also the time and efficiency benefit of creating a pre-recorded session. Once you’ve done it you can make it available and it can be used (and sold) multiple times. So if you are teaching a course and you want clients to be able to consume the content in their own time, this might be the way to go.

Suggested video technology:

Suggested editing suites:

Live streaming workouts

In other scenarios, there is no replacement for that live experience. Whether it’s virtual personal training or tuition or online group exercise classes or boot camps there is simple, inexpensive technology to stream virtual workouts.

This solution means that you deliver live classes over the internet to an invited audience who can join in from wherever they are.

These virtual classes can be one way: whereby you get on with delivering the exercise and your clients follow your instructions. You can also set up two-way online sessions where your client or clients turn on their cameras and you can provide real-time feedback.

Suggested technology for live virtual classes:

Online bookings and payments

You’ll need a booking system for virtual fitness classes. Because you can’t run the register or take payment in person, online payments are going to be necessary. For some exercise businesses, this might mean using a gym booking software for the first time.

Make sure your system has specialist tools for virtual fitness classes. This means that only clients that have booked will get access to the log in details for the virtual gym class. This will keep your classes secure and protect your revenue and also save you a huge amount of time because you don’t need to contact each client individually to give them the log in details.

Taking online payments though a booking system for your fitness business is simple, safe and secure for you and your clients.

Safety

Give some consideration to any safety issues that might arise if you are giving virtual exercise. Do you need to alter and collect variants of your normal waivers and consents? Are there any practical instructions that you should be asking your clients to take before they join one of your online fitness classes? If you need to collect new waivers, your online fitness booking system should have the facility to help you collect this in the booking process.

Whether it’s a short-term fix or a long-term strategy, virtual gym classes are a fantastic opportunity for yoga, pilates, group exercise and personal trainers to show resilience through this challenging time.

Community value

If it is possible for your fitness or exercise business to deliver virtual or online classes this will not only help your business through a difficult time but it will also make a huge contribution to the health and wellbeing of the population when people need your expertise, energy and support so acutely.

If you have any questions on how you can take your classes online our team here at Gymcatch will be very happy to help. Just drop us an email at hello@gymcatch.com or check out how our online fitness services.

Mar 30

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How to grow your fitness business

By Ollie Bailey Fitness marketing and social archives and news

The fitness industry has changed over the past years as it gains popularity and global expansion. Competition is also increasing at an alarming rate; thus, the possibility of acquiring new and retaining regular clients is higher. However, you can learn how to grow your fitness business if you follow the guidelines below.

Provide high-quality fitness content

Are you so concerned about how to grow your fitness business? Start by offering your clients things that they didn’t expect when they signed up. It’s time to market yourself by delivering exceptional value. Offer them free and relevant fitness educational content through social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook. You can also create instructional YouTube videos and avail the links to your clients or include health and fitness blogs on your webpage. Be as creative as possible, to over-deliver and surprise your clients; it will help you market your expertise.

Create excellent service with better experiences

You need to create transformations in your client’s lives who come to your fitness enterprise seeking change. If you sell a positive outcome, you will get more loyal clients, revenue up and total transformation for your firm. You must offer excellent personal training services by dedicating your time to creating the best possible solutions which offer great value to your clients.
To acquire and retain customers, you need to find out their wants and needs, then use your expertise and knowledge to deliver. You can opt for semi-private training sessions to meet your client’s requirements since their transformation is a clear representation of your work and can market you effectively.

Build networks

If you focus on building excellent relationships, by striving to change lives, your business will grow naturally. You need to reach out to others both on and off social media since building networks and supporting other fitness personnel can amount to substantial success. Also, attend fitness conferences locally and interact with other trainers in the industry.
Be smart and committed since the more you interact, the more you reach more potential clients. Outsource as many things as you can from others by joining the online fitness networking groups to link with many experienced and like-minded personnel.

Opt for social media marketing

The most frequently asked question by many well-being trainers is how to improve fitness business. Today, people spend most time logged into their social media accounts; thus, this is the key to your business’ growth. Establish your presence as an excellent fitness trainer using great tools to maximize your linkage through Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Build loyal followers base on these platforms with robust actions and high-quality photos. You need to remain extra active on your social media accounts by participating in relevant discussions, providing training tips, and following up on recommendations from existing clients.

Advance your knowledge

Take care of yourself first by advancing your skills as a professional fitness trainer and get certification from your local organisations. It will help you offer better services and boost your brand, since investing in your education will record tremendous growth. Be consistent in seeking knowledge; today, you can learn too much from other fitness websites and YouTube channels to obtain significant value. Remember that you must remain constant in seeking fitness skills and the moment you stop learning, your business stops growing.

Show off your results

Come up with strategies to ensure that other people know of your great results, by selling out what you can do for a client. You can use testimonials; for instance, show your clients an example of a person similar to them who has obtained success from your firm to gain credibility and trust. Word of mouth campaigns remains to be the best way your fitness business can increase brand reputation. Come up with a program, which will entice your happy clients to give referrals to their friends and colleagues. You can give them incentives or reward them when they refer a new client.

Come up with a clear website

If you didn’t develop a website when starting your business, come up with one now. Ensure that it is easy to manoeuvre with precise details of your services, contact information, price packages, customer reviews, and fitness images where possible. Make sure that your logo and any industrial affiliations are well displayed to make it memorable and to build trust. Also, utilise search engine optimisation techniques to increase the visibility of your website to generate more traffic. If new clients use Google to look for fitness places, then your business will come on top, and they will also enjoy the user experience as they browse on your site.

If you don’t have the time to create a site, Gymcatch can also provide you with a web page which you can use to promote your business on various platforms.

Build a strong brand

You probably have a logo, colours, and brand identity to your business, but that is not enough to stand out among your competitors. Think about what your customers are saying about the services as this is the authentic branding of your venture. Ensure that your clients receive value for the money and time they have invested, and they will remain loyal. You can try and personalise training plans by catching up with them on some sessions, and this will make a difference compared to other ventures elsewhere.

Put your clients’ needs first

Every business looks at its profits at the end of the day, well, for a fitness venture, you have to make your clients’ health and happiness the priority to achieve that goal. Make your customers experience the core of your business, and your clients will spread the word. You may have vast experience as a trainer, but through excellent service of making your customers healthier and fit, they will see the impact in their lives. Your clients will see the advantage of choosing your services, and they will end up marketing your business on your behalf.

Track your progress and make adjustments

Keeping in mind that you had a well laid out plan before you ventured into the fitness business, check if there are any noticeable improvements. It helps you to ensure that you are hitting the numbers to accomplish your goal before it’s too late to recover. It is, therefore, vital to come up with an excellent plan and do a weekly recap instead of waiting till the end month. Whenever you find gaps, implement a contingency plan early enough and avoid more errors.

Conclusion

It will be helpful if you implement the above tips to increase your customer base and achieve high retention levels which will result in business growth. It’s good to note that the success of your enterprise doesn’t entirely depend on generating more leads you need a combination of the above factors to create realistic strategies and to create a powerful growth system.

To help push your business to the next level don’t forget to check out Gymcatch fitness management software.

Mar 30

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How to create appointment confirmation emails for your fitness clients

By Ollie Bailey Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Clients anticipate appointment confirmation emails from their gyms or fitness instructors. This effort may seem minor, but it signals to them that you think of them and care enough about their experience. It is one of the proven ways for helping you avoid no-shows, and also heightens your credibility in terms of excellent customer service.

Each time a customer makes a booking online, the first personalised communication they receive is your appointment confirmation. You can make it more meaningful and appealing by adding extras such as rescheduling opportunities if needed, a thank you note and relevant links.

A great confirmation email is an excellent first impression and must, therefore, be created professionally. If you are looking for insights on how to confirm a fitness appointment, you are on the right page. Here, we tell you how to do it right and explain what to include and why.

When to send and what to include in a confirmation Email

Imagine sending out an appointment email to a client and failing to receive their confirmation? On the day of the appointment, they fail to show up, leading to wasted time and money. This time would have otherwise been slotted to a meeting with a different client. This is why the confirmation of appointments matters.

A confirmation email should be timely, informing your clients of your scheduled plan. It should include a summary of the activities, applicable amount and when the meeting will take place. As soon as the clients books an appointment, send the confirmation email.

If the appointment is booked in advance, send a reminder email at least 24 hours before the meeting. Focus on the time, date and place. Consider automating your confirmation appointment email through Gymcatch software.

What different emails might look like

For the new customers, you might want to emphasise on the venue and what they should bring. Attach online forms for them to fill and send back; this will save time. Take time also to send them an itinerary of your services.

For your returning clients, use CRM to track their history. This will help in creating a personalised email. They will appreciate it when you communicate about their skill level and advanced lessons you could offer.

When it comes to marketing, sending out the email right after the fitness lesson goes a long way. This is an excellent way of making them come back. Here is what you should include:

A subject line

This is the most crucial detail in an appointment. Here, begin with the words ‘appointment confirmation’ in bold. Be sure to structure your email being careful to highlight the time and the date of the appointment. This ensures that each time your client opens their email box, they will be reminded of the appointment. Because you want to ensure that these details stand out, take a good look at an appointment confirmation template to get the gist of what great formatting looks like.

The service provider

Who will the client be meeting? Include this in the description area. That means including the name and the title of the staff. Every important detail about the staff member must feature, such as the address, phone number and any other helpful information the client may need to contact them.

The type of appointment

A fitness provider must itemise the booked services. Give enough detail to bring confusion to a minimum. Sometimes, clients forget the details of their appointment and why it was booked.

Location

Even with an address, it is professional to embed a map or link your location to a map. This will make it easy for your clients to find you. If in the past customers have had trouble finding you even with the help of a map, link up to a landmark and request clients to call you as soon as they approach it. If the fitness appointment will take place virtually, link up chats and webinars.

The cancellation policy

Your fitness business should have a cancellation policy. As soon as a client pays in advance, including the fee and your cancellation policy. Make the policy clear to ensure that it does not interfere with your workflow.

When sending out these emails, make them short and precise. Clarity is a signal of credibility and professionalism. Lengthening it leaves the most crucial details in the dark. Remember, your clients don’t want to keep scrolling through long texts with a lot of irrelevance. You could also create your emails with your branding to make the message appear as though it is coming from you and not from an automation system.

Go the extra mile and include a personal message, something like, ‘Hello Mr. Wilson, sorry we are running a little late, not more than half an hour.’ this sounds professional, unlike a message reading ‘your appointment will be late.’

For all your clients, remember to thank them and include a brief welcome note to the new clients. Most businesses forget this part, so remembering to add it makes you stand out.

Make the email part of your branding

When creating your confirmation email, map out your customer experiences. What do they already know about you, and how did they find you? Are there particular links they used to make the appointment and what information might they be looking for?

Every marketer will tell you that sending out confirmations via email is part of marketing and can help you with customer retention when done right. In that case, like in all your marketing strategies, including your brand complete with the logo, images, fonts, and colours.

Be sure that the tone used in messaging matches your brand. In fitness, for instance, your email should communicate fun. Make it vibrant and cheerful just as your website. However, maintain a visual hierarchy. This means ensuring that the most important details stand out. You could, for instance, highlight them or use a different colour to attract the reader to it. Remember to make your content friendly to all versions, including a mobile device. Images and other special elements must be formatted in a certain way to be legible in all devices.

When creating a confirmation message for your clients, always stick to professional communication and the principles of your business. Make it brief, straight to the point, prompt and concise. Your clients will find such an email very helpful.

Gymcatch believes that great things happen when everyone has easy access to exercise. For that reason, we create easy to use, affordable tools that help our customers manage their businesses, allowing them to do more of what they do best- bring exercise to their community. While taking all the effort of creating and a confirmation email out of your hands.

Mar 30

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Dance studio advertising: How to draw in more clients

By Ollie Bailey Dance, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

You have a beautiful dancing studio, and your primary concern is how to attract a substantial client’s base. Running a successful studio requires excellent work since the competition is tight, and you are not only competing with other dance studio owners but also with every other fitness and leisure ventures in your area. Here are dance studio advertising ideas that could be helpful.

Use social media to gain clients

In this digital era, people spend most of their time on several social media platforms. You can use the platforms to make people aware of your schedules, special classes, and to provide other relevant information. Note that social media management is an art that requires great mastery to bring out business success. First, determine your target groups to decide the platforms you need to use. For the younger generation, use Instagram, but Facebook is a popular option for their parents. To reach millennials, use YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or twitter.

The key here is consistency and ensure that your platforms are always active in providing consistent information about your brand. Update your pages with the latest news to entice returning visitors. Also, share high-quality photos of your studio sessions, clear audio, and stable visuals and share promotional links on your platforms.

Plan an open house

Introduce your business to the world by allowing your potential customers to walk into your studio and meet people behind studio dances. Let them gauge what you have to offer and see the spaces they will be dancing from. Interact with them by answering their questions, offering demonstrations, performances, and easy lessons.

Keep in mind that fostering a human connection is one of the most important marketing ideas for dance studios. Run open house sessions and allow your current students to bring along their friends and family for a fun dancing time together. It is a great chance to encourage enrollment by offering discounts and gifts for already registered students.

Uphold email marketing

Sending direct mails is a compelling way to deliver relevant information and reminders to your clients as you attract other potential customers. However, you need to come up with great mail strategies to ensure that you provide informative content to avoid spam. You can resend the mail to those who didn’t open it or send reminders to those who missed out.

Keep the message short and clear with attractive email design and include your brand logo. Also, ensure that you include a call to action to advertise a new class session, to attend an event, register or get more information.

Use print media

You may be relying heavily on digital marketing methods, but you still need some traditional techniques. Give flyers to your clients, both new and existing, and encourage them to share with their friends. Post some around town, and take others to areas where your potential clients hang out. Ask a few local shops if you can leave some flyers or brochures there and display others on supermarket community boards. You can also extend to the local newspaper to increase the coverage.

Offer discounts and promotions

It’s evident that people like getting free hampers; thus, the main dance studio advertising idea is giving out discounts. Give your clients a certain percentage off a given number of lessons such that they won’t pay the whole amount or give them a free experience. Make sure that you impress everyone since anyone who walks through your door is a potential client.

During registrations, offer free give away items or an incentive on the registration fee to those who pay the whole amount. Come up with referral codes for your existing customers so that they can get a discount when referring their friends. You can also take advantage of the school holidays and hold a promotional event to attract new students.

Develop a website

Think about those potential customers who may be searching for new dance studios on the internet. If you have a good website for your studio, the chances are that your target clients will reach you easily. You should, therefore, come up with a website to do your marketing and utilise search engine optimisation to generate substantial traffic. Create web integration and ensure that your searchers have a seamless experience on the site. Include your location, type of instructor offered, studio name, and contacts to convince your potential customers that you stand out in this venture, and they will be a click away.

If this sounds all like a lot of work, set up a Gymcatch account and we can get web page live for you which can be shared across various platforms.

Participate in dance competitions

Do you want to show the world that you offer the best dance classes? Take advantage of the dance competitions that may be happening around and showcase your potential to target customers. Ensure that your established dancers are on top of their game and develop winning routines in both group and solo events.

Give your team beautiful attires which clearly show your logo, dance name, and location. Ask your other dancers to invite their friends to watch the rehearsals and competitions. You can also opt for free dance performances, which will attract large crowds’ attention.

Visit schools

Schools have a lot of potential customers; thus, establish a relationship with the tutors in schools, daycare centres, and youth centres by making them aware of your studio. Request them to inform their friends and parents about your venture. Give them some leaflets or brochures of your services, location, and contacts to help spread the word.

You can also teach some dance styles, if possible, to entice them and make them want to be your next clients. Ask the school administration if they hold dance competitions where you can showcase your talents and leave them with your studio contacts.

Team up with local businesses

Visit other companies around you that relate to your venture to reach out to an extensive customer base. They could be athletic clothing shops, dance supply shops, and dance shoe stores. Ask them to post your flyers at their store and post theirs at your studio for mutual benefits.
Team up with them to hold joint promotions where you can reach more potential clients. Don’t be afraid to partner with those that are not complementary like restaurants; ask them to hang a poster during peak seasons.

The demand for great dance classes is high, and the above tips will help you market your studio, making it attractive. However, you need to dedicate your time and effort to pull new customers into your studio and help them stay forever by providing the best experiences for all ages. Create an environment where various types of individuals can learn and grow by ensuring that your entertainment type suits your target demographic.

To push your dance studio business even further check out dance management software features.

Mar 23

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Fitness centre business plan: Push your business to the next level

By Ollie Bailey Fitness marketing and social archives and news

If you are looking for funding for your fitness studio from financial institutions, individual lenders, or established investors, then having a solid business plan is essential. A business plan is a fundamental document that sets out the goals of an organisation, available resources, and how specified objectives should be achieved. The document also highlights various strategies employed to achieve business objectives and the timeline within which they should be met. If you have intentions to push your fitness centre to the next level, you must understand the various components that will define your business plan. This article captures details of everything that you should know when drafting a business plan.

Defining a business plan

A business plan is defined as a formal document that acts as the roadmap for an organisation. Fundamentally, a business plan shows how your company operates, its success path, and predictions on the future of the business. In most cases, a business plan will comprise of the following elements:

Company description
Executive summary
Products and services
Financing
Market analysis
Organisational structure and staffing
Marketing plan

Benefits of having a business plan for a fitness studio

Essentially, there is no problem working without a business plan. However, for a fitness studio, with a business plan, you stand an opportunity to leverage the benefits that come with such a plan. Here is an overview of some of the benefits of working with a fitness centre business plan.

1. Awards

While this might not be the most sought-after benefit of a business plan, entrepreneurial awards have become quite popular across the globe. Such awards include investment capital, grants, and mentorships. Whether you are awarded for being the best entrepreneur or the best innovation, you will need a business plan as part of the requirements in the application process.

2. Planning

Having the clarity of ideas for your fitness centre put in writing is one of the key advantages of having a business plan. The plan helps you to understand the scope of operation of your gym as well as knowing the resources and workforce you need to keep your business on the move. This will also help you in your gym brand future expansion plans. You can refer to your written plan each time you want to make progress to your fitness centre.

3. Draft of ideas

When planning to improve your fitness and gym services, you are likely to have a pool of ideas. This is why you need a business plan, which enables you to have rough drafts of all your ideas under one document. With these rough drafts, you can manage to identify the ideas with the highest likelihood of success.

4. Enhanced research

A fitness centre business plan outlines the essential factors necessary for the success of the business. These factors include the source of funding, market analysis, resources needed, cost of facilities, and the existing market competitors. A business plan enables you to run effective research on these factors, giving you informed insights on the best approaches to adopt for the success of your fitness centre.

Elements of a business plan for a fitness studio

This guide gives an overview of some of the fundamental features of a business plan.

Company description

This element of the business plan highlights why you have chosen to be in the business of fitness, and the solutions the company offers to its clients. The company description of your fitness centre will include the organisation’s history, core values, objectives, and strengths. If you are new in the fitness industry, then you might want to address your professional achievements in this section.

Executive summary

The executive summary is the initial thing that readers of your business plan interact with before perusing through the entire document. An executive summary is basically a brief overview of your fitness centre business plan. It must be brief and concise, outlining a description of your business, market needs for the fitness industry, and how your gym will address those needs. The fitness studio’s mission statement is also highlighted here. When writing this section, you must have the reader in mind. Avoid using fitness jargon here, unless you are giving definitions for used terms.

The essence of the Executive Summary section is to outline every element captured throughout the business plan that will be sufficient to create an appealing first impression. Other elements to indicate in your Executive Summary may include the following:

Description of your fitness centre.
A brief outline of your company’s history, location, staff, and organisation structure.
Fitness services and related products offered by your fitness centre.
Financial goals achieved by your business.
Financial projections for the next three to five years.
Goals that your fitness studio intends to achieve and the resources needed to achieve them.
Future growth plans for your business.

Market analysis

The market analysis section highlights the research of key elements that contribute to the success of your fitness centre. These factors include your competition, market, and industry.

Competition

Your fitness centre operates in an environment controlled by other fitness players. It is essential to highlight who your competitors are and how your business stands out from the competition. How are your products and services different from those offered by your competitors? How do you intend to leverage the predicted growth in the industry against the increasing number of fitness service providers?

Market

This section is also to address the fitness studio’s target market. How will your business meet the needs of the growing demand in the expanding fitness industry? Is your company offering solutions to your local market? If you are using Facebook to market your fitness centre, how are the Facebook Audiences Insights playing along?

Industry

Your business plan must address the industry within which your fitness studio is operating, as well as show demand for your business in line with the industry’s characteristics.

Products and services

This section of your fitness centre business plan is where you indicate the services and products that your business is selling to its clients. Here you can talk about your membership plans, personal training, yoga training, pilates training sessions, and other gym services. You can also address your courses, packages, and offers.

Financing

The financing section comes towards the end of the business plan. However, if you are looking for funds to start or expand your fitness studio, then this is one of the most critical sections of the document. You will need to capture your documents that show your financial status as a fitness centre, including balance sheets, cash flow statements, income statements, and cost analysis. In this section is where you also address your financial projections for the next three to five years. This section enables financiers to have a snapshot of financial goals that your fitness centre intends to achieve.

Organisational structure and workforce

This section shows how people involved in your fitness studio are organised, including shareholders, stakeholders, managers, directors, and the subordinate staff. You will also need to indicate the type of employees your business will be hiring to enhance your expansion and their designated roles towards the success of your fitness studio.

Marketing plan

This is a critical section. It addresses how you intend to get your brand to the target market. You will be increasing your brand visibility through your marketing plan. The only way customers will come to you is when they know where you are and what you do. In this section, you will indicate all the traditional and modern marketing methods your fitness centre will adopt to reach out to potential customers. Market experts recommend a highlight of the following elements in your market plan:

Product – These are the items your fitness centre sells to its clients, including memberships, classes, personal training sessions, and other courses.
Place – Your business will only attract more customers if more people know where you are situated. This aspect of the marketing plan captures details of the location of your fitness centre. This also involves highlighting how you will create an online presence for your business.
Promotion – You will need various marketing strategies to attract online and physical traffic to your fitness centre. These strategies should be well outlined in your marketing plan.
Price – The cost of the services and products featured in your fitness studio must be clear to your customers. Make your prices available for the various fitness packages in your fitness centre. This is the best way to beat the competition in the industry.

Appendix

This is typically the final section of a business plan. The appendix captures the essential documents and data that support your business plan. Such documents include and are not limited to the following:

Permits and lease documents for your fitness centre.
Market research reports.
Your CVs and resumes, as well as those of your staff and trainers.
Credit reports.
Business contracts and agreements with your fitness clients or vendors.
Licenses that support your fitness business.
Contact details for advisors, accountants, attorneys, and other third parties.
Graphs, charts, and tables that support information captured in other sections of your fitness centre business plan.
Product packaging samples and illustrations of services offered by your fitness studio.

Beat your competition

A mix of the right tools and a competitive business plan are key determinants in the success of your fitness centre. If you are looking for the right tools to manage your fitness centre, connect with your customers, and facilitate bookings or payments, then Gymcatch is your ideal partner.

For more information on Gymcatch yoga studio software and how it can help with your booking, admin and marketing. Get in contact to book a demo or start a free trial.

When to send and what to include in a confirmation Email

What different emails might look like

A subject line

The service provider

The type of appointment

Location

The cancellation policy

Make the email part of your branding

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