There are lots of strategies out there to market your gym or fitness studio. You’ve heard them all before, especially the digital marketing options. Build a website! Do SEO! Make sure you’re posting everyday on Instagram! Run Facebook ads! None of these are wrong, but there’s nothing new or creative about these strategies which means that your local community has seen it all before.

Do you really want your studio to stand out? To draw in crowds? Well then you’ve got to get innovative with your marketing strategies.

Give them a challenge

There’s a few things we know about people…. First, the majority of them aren’t super motivated to work out. When you appeal to their competitive nature, however, that all changes. 

One way to get potential members excited about joining your gym is to gamify what you do. There is plenty of software companies that now offer heart rate monitor systems that hook up to TV screens so you can track who’s staying in their target heart rate zone and for the longest. 

While competing against your friends is fun,sometimes it’s more important to compete against yourself! 

Setting up literal challenges like a squatting challenge, or a reps challenge, or a balance challenge can get people excited to make it to the gym to test their own limits. Not only is this a great way to drive foot traffic, but it can be a big community-building activity as well.

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Make video marketing a priority‍

Boutique fitness is growing. And fast. Your yoga,barre, Pilates studio or even a gym is likely to have some stiff competition.So if you really and truly want your business to stand out, you’ve got to be willing to put in the time and effort that others won’t. In terms of creatively marketing your gym, start with making videos. 

Most people today prefer to watch videos instead of reading long-form content, and they don’t just want educational content either. It’s always a good idea to create videos that introduce your staff or your mission, videos showing the right way to do certain exercises or poses,and of course, behind-scenes content. All these videos are great for sharing with your current audience on your current social media accounts to drum up interest and engagement. 

However, the people want to be entertained and this is a place where you can get truly creative when looking for new ways to market your gym.

So sing! Dance! Do some skits. Pop music parodies usually get a lot of hits. Post these videos on Facebook, post these videos on IGTV, post these videos on YouTube. Post these videos on TikTok. 

Don’t forget that YouTube is a search engine just like Google, and it can be easier to get traffic and views on YouTube if you have the right type of content. 

And TikTok? That’s a whole new animal. The platform is for short-form mobile videos and usually focuses on lip syncing,comedy, and videos that highlight talent. The platform is growing at an alarming rate and makes it much easier to be found than Facebook or Instagram.(Plus, challenge videos do super well on TikTok!)

Focus on referral marketing

It should be no secret to you by now that fitDEGREE’s software focuses on enabling your members to invite their friends to class. Because really, who wants to work out alone? But the truth is that getting your happy members to refer their friends is the #1 way you’re going to grow your gym. So how can you get creative with it? Run contests, incentivize their referrals, give special bonuses like 1:1 coaching or massages for members that refer people to your gym. 

But getting members to send potential members your way isn’t the only way to do referral marketing! 

Gyms and fitness studios are small businesses that can be successfully (or not so successfully) driven by their local communities. So think about businesses that synergy with yours…. Local juice shops? Chiropractors? Spas? Possibly a masseuse? 

Approach these businesses in your community with an idea of what special you can provide their members and a plan for how you’ll promote them to your members and bring them new business as well.

Highlight your big wins

I can’t say enough that happy members create more members because it’s so, so true. Happy members will want their friends to join them in class, and in general, they’ll just tell others about your gym because it’s something they feel strongly about. 

There are a few things you should be doing with these happy members in addition to just asking them to bring in friends:

•  Ask for reviews! Google, Facebook,Yelp, and Trust pilot just to name a few. These will pop up when a person searches for your company and will show social proof that others really love your brand.
• Feature them! We see it in gyms every where: the dreaded before and after photos. (Shiver!) But not every person is into fitness for some kind of huge physical transformation. Did Sarah achieve her lifting goal? Did Billy Bob just do a handstand scorpion for the first time? Take a video. Snap a photo. Share it with your community on social media! Sharing member-inspired content is essential because it shows your members that you care and highlights that aspect of your gym culture for anyone who might want to join. (Added bonus: people love to share stories about themselves, so spreading the word will be easier!)

Conclusion

Marketing is hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to pull off any strategy effectively, so it’s important to choose your strategies wisely. Doing the same old song and dance that all of your competition is engaging in probably won’t move the needle. Instead, focus your efforts on more innovative marketing strategies and watch your gym grow. Picking challenges, video marketing, creating a local referral plan, or using your members to highlight your studio are all good places to start!