As we covered in an article about fitness industry growth, gym membership fees account for most of the revenue for gyms, fitness studios and other facilities. Selling the memberships is only step one for gym owners. Membership retention is incredibly important to income growth and scalability of your fitness business. A good membership retention strategy also saves you money, because retaining existing customers is more cost-effective than attracting new ones¹. Below are 13 gym membership retention tips that will help you boost retention without reducing your prices, and in doing so, your value.
1. Build Community
Starting at a gym or in a training program can feel overwhelming and even discouraging for many people. A sense of community goes a long way toward making them comfortable, and, by extension, toward membership retention.
A good onboarding process welcoming new customers into your fitness family is the first step. After that, you’ll need to socialize your members with one another & get them comfortable in your fitness facility.
2. Add More Group Classes
If you aren’t offering a good variety of group classes or don’t offer group training sessions, then it’s time to start.
Group exercise is a popular aspect of the fitness industry, and that trend isn’t reversing any time soon. In fact, many gym members join specifically for group classes.
We are social creatures, after all, so take advantage of the natural inclination in us to be around others and make fitness fun.
Offering an extensive and diverse group exercise schedule can really boost gym membership retention rates. The following five classes are the go-to choices that have been popular over the past decade²:
- Yoga
- Weight/Strength Training
- Dance/Zumba
- Spin/Cycling
- HIIT
Don’t forget about the trendy, up-and-coming ones either. Combat-derived classes continue to gain popularity, as do rowing classes. A good mix will enhance your member experience, and clients will look forward to throwing in something new with their old favorites each week.
3. Run Competitions & Challenges
Friendly, gym-wide competitions & challenges are fun ways to keep members motivated and feeling like they’re a part of something.
It helps to reward customers with exclusive deals, discounts or free branded merchandise.
The prize is especially important here and depends on the interests & goals of your members. Some fitness challenge examples include:
- Monthly running, cycling or rowing challenges
- Bi-weekly weight loss or calorie-burner challenges
- Increasing lifts by 10% over a given time
4. Host Events
Onsite or off, themed or otherwise, events can significantly boost member satisfaction and retention. There are literally hundreds of ideas to choose from, and these are just a few:
- Special guest instructor nights
- Social hour with vendors onsite
- Themed holiday workouts (Get Carved for Thanksgiving, anyone?)
- Tasting events with smoothies and healthy snacks
- Training for local events, like Tough Mudder or a triathlon
5. Take Advantage of Social Media
You probably think of social media, chiefly, as a tool for marketing. But social media is also great for gym membership retention because it enables you to reach so many people, all the time.
There are many ways you can use social media posts to engage with, learn about and help your members. Call out any big milestones that certain members have reached on your social media and they may, in turn, repost your business on their social channels, furthering the reach of your brand & business.
You can also run fitness challenges and contests among group members and post open-ended questions that invite contributions from members.
6. Communicate Regularly with Members
It pays to stay in touch with gym members—literally. The key here is to communicate about things that members care about. Resist the urge to upsell and overpromote. Refer, instead, to the 80/20 rule, which says that 80% of the messaging you put out there should be helpful & informative, with 20% dedicated to selling.
This ensures a sweet spot, if you will, where your followers feel like they’re getting something from your social presence without necessarily feeling like they’re being sold to all the time. It’s also a great way to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, thus fostering trust in your brand.
Send out regular newsletters, emails, and text messages to keep them engaged and informed. Keep members informed about new services, programs, classes and events happening at your gym. Mention new equipment you’re adding and renovations to your space.
Using your email marketing software to segment your clients is particularly effective. You can target participants of a recent event or fitness challenge. You can also check in with members who you haven’t seen in a while.
Lastly, don’t forget to send personalized birthday emails with a nice deal attached. This can be a free or discounted class, training session or product. Everyone appreciates a little freebie!
7. Ask for Reviews & Testimonials
Asking for regular feedback is important because it shows members that you value their input and gives you a sense of what to change if necessary. It also provides an opportunity to showcase a happy member in your gym, on your website, social media or in a newsletter.
Of course, there’s a time and a place to ask for reviews, and misjudging this can have consequences for gym. membership retention. Be sure to check out 7 ways to ask for gym reviews in order to avoid common errors.
8. Create Helpful Content
You should already be publishing content across multiple channels as part of your gym’s marketing strategy. But content marketing helps you retain current members, much as it helps reach new ones.
In fact, current members are your best source of ideas. What questions do they have about their health? What new skills do they express interest in? Are there any effective strength-building or dietary tips that are worth publishing?
Answering your clients’ questions will position you as a thought leader in your industry, boost your gym membership retention rates and lead to more referrals & sign-ups. Two easy avenues for this are:
Start a Fitness Blog
A fitness blog helps you build your brand, bolster your reputation as a subject matter expert and connect with a wide audience. This is where you’ll share your best advice, information and expertise with people.
Whether you’re sharing an instructional how-to post or new training techniques & nutrition tips, always focus on the reader and their fitness journey. Your article should answer a question or solve a problem that your readers (current and potential members) have.
How will this content help them reach their fitness goals? In short, how is this information you’re offering useful to your audience?
Use Social Media
Post helpful, educational & value-driven content on your social media channels. This can be exercise form demonstrations, nutrition tips, healthy recipes or micro-workouts with guest trainers. Post about 4–6 times per day and always make some things exclusive, like members-only giveaways & competitions.
Video is preferred above other content types, so think about starting that YouTube channel. In fact, don’t think about it—get on it! Here’s a guide to creating your fitness YouTube channel.
9. Create a Referral Program
Client referral programs are a fantastic way to generate free leads by getting members to promote your gym or health club to friends & family members. But they’re also effective tools for gym membership retention because current members are more likely to continue if their friends sign up.
It doesn’t hurt either that current members get some nice incentives for taking part. Some things you can offer in exchange for referrals are:
- Free or discounted training sessions, fitness classes & meal plans
- A free shirt or a discount on store items
- A 1–2-month membership discount
You should promote your referral program at your gym, on your website & social media channels. It is also effective to embed referral forms in email marketing messages and mobile app notifications.
10. Create Rewards & Loyalty Programs
Building service, class or product discounts into memberships not only drive sales, but also provide value for current members. Vagaro’s Memberships feature allows you to add reward points to someone’s membership. Reward members with points for things like:
- Consecutive check-ins
- Top class performers
- Upgrading their membership tier
- Amount of weight lost or muscle gained
Adding reward points in this way can encourage future purchases, including a training session or class that might not be covered by their current membership—or a membership upgrade. The money you “lose” in this case is more than made up for in the next billing cycle.
11. Regularly Maintain Your Gym
Club members won’t tolerate a gym or fitness studio that isn’t well maintained for long. They expect to work out in a clean, comfortable and safe environment every day. Sanitizing and decluttering is only half the equation. Old or broken equipment must be repaired or replaced immediately.
Put yourself in a member’s sneakers for a minute. How long would you tolerate that “Out of Order” sign on your favorite machine? Moreover, how quickly would you reconsider your membership if a pully snapped while you were using it?
Broken equipment that isn’t getting fixed on time is a huge impediment to gym membership retention. In fact, it is one of the biggest reasons people leave their gym³.
We know that commercial fitness equipment is expensive, but a good business equipment insurance policy should cover repair and replacement costs.
While we’re on the subject, equipment breakdown is only one kind of unexpected event you need to insure yourself against. Check out this list of other gym insurance types that can safeguard your reputation and, by extension, your member retention rates.
12. Run Seminars & Workshops
Organizing fitness seminars and workshops does multiple things for your gym, fitness center or personal training business.
First, they are a fun and effective way to engage an entire group of your members in a highly specialized class they’ve probably never taken before.
Moreover, by making it about something they care about, you show that you care about your members’ interests & goals.
How do you find out what these interests & goals are? Simply by asking, or training your employees to ask, is the simplest way. A few other ideas are to conduct surveys on social media or link to a form in your email.
Seminars and workshops add value for members and position you as an expert either directly or by extension. You may have extensive knowledge of competitive weightlifting, and the medals to back it up, to run a seminar yourself.
Alternatively, you may know a personal trainer who happens to also be a Marine Corp Captain and triathlon competitor who is interested in sharing their knowledge with your fitness club.
Dig deep into your network for someone who is willing to work with you. If that works out, they may ask you to do the same thing for them, which turns into effective cross-promotion.
13. Embrace Technology
By now, you should be using gym management software that automates booking, scheduling, marketing, payroll & other daily processes.
But since we’re talking about member retention, we should focus on the following two features:
Membership Management: Possibly the biggest issue of member retention is price. Instead of lowering your prices, you need to provide a range of membership options that work for a variety of people. Additionally, you’ll need the option to set memberships on an automated billing schedule to protect your recurring income.
Data & Reports: You’ll want to look at class attendance reports to determine which ones are filling up. Similarly, check sales reports to find out which memberships are selling, and which ones are lagging. This data should tell you whether you should replace classes or membership types that aren’t providing value to members.
Remember to also check how often members are checking in for workouts, classes or training sessions. Low attendance is a red flag for membership cancellations. Segment these members, reach out and learn what their dissatisfaction stems from before this happens.
- www.outboundengine.com
- www.lesmills.com
- www.mensjournal.com
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The bottom line is that customer retention is incredibly important to gyms, boutique fitness studios and other fitness businesses. It is an ongoing effort built on loyalty, trust, connection and value.
While it’s hard work, retention doesn’t have to be the uphill climb you put your members through in their cycling classes. It starts with community building that begins as soon as they walk through the door and continues with group-based classes and activities.
This is elevated by consistent communication that is personalized, value-driven and helpful.
After reading this, you may have some fresh class ideas in mind or want to rethink your membership structure. Wherever you are, Vagaro’s automated membership, client management & marketing features can simplify and streamline your member retention campaigns.
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