Online Marketing - Digital Marketing Strategies for Gyms
Sunday, November 24, 2013
If you own a gym, you're always looking for new and innovative ways to get more customers through your doors and onto your treadmills. While you may be well-versed in traditional advertising practices, if you haven't implemented a digital marketing strategy, you're missing out on an effective, low-cost way to bring in extra bodies.
Create a Fitness Blog
A great way to engage your customers and potential customers while increasing your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking is to create and regularly update a gym blog. Because you’re in the fitness business, you already have the subject-matter expertise to share nutrition tips, workout programs and even success stories. Ask your personal trainers to contribute to the blog on a regular basis. Part of your search engine ranking depends on the frequency of content publishing, so get ready to commit.
Create and Post Videos
Video is an effective way to digitally market to your customers. Videos are easy to share, which means that they’re likely to be viewed and passed around on social networks like Facebook and video sites like YouTube. As a gym owner, you have a great opportunity to create useful, instructional videos that your audience will find helpful. You may want to post a video all about the correct way to perform a squat, or offer a virtual tour of your gym. Post these videos to YouTube, social media sites and to your own website for maximum exposure. Always include sharing links on your site to help viewers quickly share videos.
Create Social Promotions
If you want to create a stir while building your digital audience, consider implementing digital marketing promotions. Social media is an easy, inexpensive way to market to large audiences. One idea would be to have a “free admission day" for people who "like" your Facebook page, mention you on Twitter, or use a specific hash tag on Instagram. You could also offer a free class, discounted personal training session or a free branded water bottle for sharing one of your videos or blogs. Once you’ve created a following through your digital promotions, your future marketing endeavors will have even greater impact.
Manage Your Online Reputation
These days, savvy consumers tend to do a lot of online research before making a purchase. And since a gym membership often involves a long-term contract, your digital reputation is vital to your success. As part of your digital marketing strategy, you should monitor sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google and any local review sites and respond to complaints or poor reviews with positive action and good customer service. As you’re working to expand your digital influence, don’t let bad reviews sabotage your efforts.
Tags:
Marketing, Online Marketing
Create a Fitness Blog
A great way to engage your customers and potential customers while increasing your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking is to create and regularly update a gym blog. Because you’re in the fitness business, you already have the subject-matter expertise to share nutrition tips, workout programs and even success stories. Ask your personal trainers to contribute to the blog on a regular basis. Part of your search engine ranking depends on the frequency of content publishing, so get ready to commit.
Create and Post Videos
Video is an effective way to digitally market to your customers. Videos are easy to share, which means that they’re likely to be viewed and passed around on social networks like Facebook and video sites like YouTube. As a gym owner, you have a great opportunity to create useful, instructional videos that your audience will find helpful. You may want to post a video all about the correct way to perform a squat, or offer a virtual tour of your gym. Post these videos to YouTube, social media sites and to your own website for maximum exposure. Always include sharing links on your site to help viewers quickly share videos.
Create Social Promotions
If you want to create a stir while building your digital audience, consider implementing digital marketing promotions. Social media is an easy, inexpensive way to market to large audiences. One idea would be to have a “free admission day" for people who "like" your Facebook page, mention you on Twitter, or use a specific hash tag on Instagram. You could also offer a free class, discounted personal training session or a free branded water bottle for sharing one of your videos or blogs. Once you’ve created a following through your digital promotions, your future marketing endeavors will have even greater impact.
Manage Your Online Reputation
These days, savvy consumers tend to do a lot of online research before making a purchase. And since a gym membership often involves a long-term contract, your digital reputation is vital to your success. As part of your digital marketing strategy, you should monitor sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google and any local review sites and respond to complaints or poor reviews with positive action and good customer service. As you’re working to expand your digital influence, don’t let bad reviews sabotage your efforts.
