Even the top fitness centers won’t grow without the right tools. Lacking effective marketing potential will mean that members won’t hear about your services. The good news is there are practices to help your fitness center grow through efficient marketing.

Here's the inside scoop on what works best for brand development, customer relations, and marketing to grow your fitness center.

Invest in a Modern Website

According to Marketing for Gyms, 70% of potential fitness center members will run a Google search to find the nearest studio before they pop in for a visit. When they run their search, they want to see an amazing, fresh interface.

Think of your website as the epicenter of your fitness centers’ digital footprint. Investing in a great website provides the ideal marketing platform for your fitness center. Without a website, potential members won't be able to find your studio, explore your amenities, or see what classes your fitness center has to offer.

A well designed website will help your business grow, and it tracks potential fitness center members. With the right embedded software, your members' can register for classes with online booking, fitness tracking, and check-into your studio classes.

Leverage Social Media

When it comes to expanding brand recognition, social media is the ideal outlet for marketing. BlogZonics cites referrals through social media as the largest contributor to fitness center membership growth.

So, exactly how many people are using social media? A lot!

• Facebook recently reported over 2 billion monthly users.
• Twitter reports they have reached over 330 million monthly users.
• Instagram has reached noteworthy 700 million users worldwide.

As your social media continues to grow, it provides a powerful platform to help your fitness center expand its marketing reach. Best of all, your followers handle most of the marketing for you.

Encourage Reviews

Positive reviews are worth their weight in gold. Members can leave reviews on Google, Facebook, and many other sites dedicated to reviewing local fitness centers. Be sure to encourage members to leave reviews on third party websites, such as Yelp, where negative reviews can’t be removed. This builds trust.

Unfortunately, you can’t please everyone all of the time. If someone does post a negative review, be sure to respond to the issue on the platform so customers can see your involvement. Explain to the reviewer how you plan to fix the problem. When you respond to reviews, people see you’re making the time and effort to address member concerns.

Free Membership Passes and Referral Incentives

Most potential members want to try a fitness center before they commit. Free membership passes can range from a single class to a five-day pass or a free week of membership. Regardless of your promotion, keep in mind potential members want to spend a few days trying out your fitness center and meeting your staff.

Free membership passes are also an ideal incentive for membership referral programs. Consider giving each new member one or two free membership passes to their friends. Always recognize members who send referrals your way. Make them know their efforts are rewarded with a free class, membership discount, or free merchandise. They’ll appreciate being rewarded and will be more likely to refer again in the future.

Weekly Fitness Tips and Blogs

Once your fitness center has a website and a social media following, use this momentum to provide regular fitness tips to your members. This information is a great way to keep in touch with current members, it adds value to your brand, and maintains motivation for member referrals.

Consider running a weekly blog. Start by thinking about what your members are interested in. What would they want to read about? When you use specific keywords, Google Analytics will rank your fitness center blog ahead of your competition on search results. Blogging also increases traffic for people searching for answers to the questions you’re answering.

Complete an Exit Survey for Cancelled Memberships

Even the best fitness centers lose members. As upsetting as this is, it's a natural part of business. The key is to learn from this loss. An exit survey is designed to help fitness center owners understand why a member has left.

When you lose a member encourage them complete an exit survey. This simple process provides valuable information pertaining to member satisfaction, staff performance, and your fitness center as a whole. This short survey can be completed as the member completes their cancellation form.

It can help your business immensely to receive feedback, so encourage members to take the exit survey. Fitness center members see your business different from a different perspective than owners. The exit survey highlights areas for improvement. Take this feedback seriously and make changes to improve your studio. Even simple changes and improvements can have a great impact on client retention.

When it comes to marketing your fitness center, your strategy doesn’t have to be elaborate or complex. If you follow these simple tips, you’ll be on the path to marketing your fitness center and connecting with your members.