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December 30, 2022
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Growth
Marketing
Fitness Clubs
Retention
category
minute read
December 30, 2022
Fitness-related goals are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions, so many clubs see an influx of new members in January. Beyond attracting these new members, many clubs find it challenging to ensure they remain active and engaged beyond the initial enthusiasm. Implementing thoughtful and targeted gym member retention ideas is key to overcoming this challenge.
Studies show that only 8% of Americans will keep their New Year’s resolutions year-round, and 80% fall short by the start of February. Losing up to 80% of new members can have a drastic impact on your overall revenue and growth. With the right member engagement strategy, you can retain more members come February 1st.
Use these 5 gym member retention ideas to keep your New Year’s member joins around all year.
The New Year’s rush is fueled by individuals embarking on a fitness journey as part of their goal for a healthier, more active lifestyle. But what motivates these resolutions, and more importantly, how can understanding these motivations guide your club’s retention strategies?
Fitness resolutions stem from various personal desires – to improve health, to look better, to feel more energetic, or even to accomplish specific fitness milestones. Sticking to these goals is a psychological challenge as much as it is a physical one. The initial enthusiasm can quickly wane when faced with the realities of regular workouts and lifestyle adjustments.
Several factors can influence your members’ dedication to their New Year’s fitness goals:
Each member's journey is underpinned by personal aspirations and challenges. By understanding these motivations, you can tailor your engagement strategies to be more effective and resonant. Let’s explore how to apply your understanding and enhance your engagement strategies.
By aligning your engagement strategies with your members’ motivations, you can bolster their commitment to their fitness resolutions. The encouragement will drive both their success and your club’s retention rates after the New Year’s rush.
New Year’s members are excited about reaching their health and wellness goals. To keep them motivated year-round, you need to be intentional about how you use each of your communication channels. Text messages, push notifications, and emails are three of the best ways to reach and engage members. Utilize communication channels to offer tips, encouragement, and stories specifically geared towards keeping New Year’s resolutions. Regular updates that acknowledge the challenges and celebrate the small victories relevant to each member can significantly boost their morale and sense of belonging.
Texting is a quick and direct way to reach members. Texts have a 98% open rate and 83% are read within 3 minutes of being received, making texting a great way to update members on club events and encourage in-person visits. When paired with member segmentation, texting can drive upsells for spa services, personal training, and new programming.
Mobile devices are one of your members’ most frequently used communication channels. Similarly to texting, push notifications directly engage members with curated content. Use push notifications to remind members about their classes or pique their interest with helpful resources. Regular reminders will keep your club at the top of their mind.
Email marketing is a personal experience, and successful emails reflect the interests of the member receiving them. Segment your contact list so members always receive information relevant to their interests. Tailoring fitness challenges, meal plans, and discounts to member segments shows members you understand their needs.
A crucial strategy is to create a sense of community that specifically resonates with the aspirations and motivations of new members. Here’s how to tailor your community-building efforts to keep New Year’s members engaged and committed.
Create a welcoming and supportive community by offering community-building activities specifically addressing the needs and goals of new members. Make your club a place where New Year’s members don’t just kickstart their fitness journey but continue to thrive throughout the year.
Tailored fitness programs cater to individual member needs, enhance member satisfaction, and encourage commitment. New Year’s joins often come with specific goals in mind, like losing weight, building strength, or improving overall health. Collaborating on a personalized plan demonstrates that your club values their individual journey and knows how to support them.
Trainers and staff play a pivotal role in creating these individualized member experiences. They can support new members by:
Incorporating these strategies enhances the value provided for members and establishes a foundation for long-term retention. For New Year’s joins, tailored fitness programs can be the difference between a fleeting gym membership and a lasting, rewarding fitness journey.
In the quest to retain New Year’s member joins, face-to-face engagement between your staff and members plays a pivotal role. It’s crucial to create opportunities for staff to connect personally with members, address their motivations, and foster a sense of belonging. Consider how automating your club’s operations and give staff more time to build personal relationships with members.
With the time saved through automations, staff can shift their focus to engaging with members directly. This face-to-face interaction is invaluable, especially for new members who may feel overwhelmed or uncertain in a new environment. Automate routine tasks to significantly reduce staff workload:
By reallocating staff time from manual tasks to meaningful member interactions, your club can build stronger member relationships and improve retention.
Don’t let your New Year’s members slip away. With a solid engagement and retention strategy, you can retain these members all year round.
Leveraging your fitness club’s marketing automation tool to its fullest potential can increase retention rates by 14%. Discover effective strategies for utilizing marketing automation to drive and engage leads from the Club Automation team.
Read the highlights or watch this webinar to learn:
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A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!