6 min
What can you do to make your gym stand out from all other competitors?
The fitness industry is on a rapid incline and nothing is stopping it from reaching further heights. In 2022, the fitness, health, and gym club industry in the US generated about 30.6 billion dollars in revenue. It was projected that industry revenue would rise slightly to $30.8 billion in 2023.
There are gyms all over the place, and they all offer, at their core, the same thing: a place to get fit. So, the ordeal is how to make your gym a priority above all the other gyms in your area.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder so many gyms employ the efforts of pro-marketers to drive new business and retain existing members. Whilst hiring an agency is one path you might choose, there are also plenty of marketing strategies you can start using yourself, as an owner or manager at a gym.
So, what can you do to make your gym stand out from all other competitors? Here are 6 life-changing tips and tricks to make your gym the number one priority:
- 1. Maintain excellent customer service
- 2. Have a unique mission statement, brand and logo
- 3. Keep consistent social media marketing
- 4. Have new initiatives and offers for customers
- 5. Evaluate your competitors
- 6. Gym software that does the heavy lifting
1. Maintain excellent customer service
Customer service is directly linked to the popularity of any business. For gym owners, a major tip is maintaining flawless customer service will help the gym to prioritize itself and make it stand out. To really achieve this very important milestone, it’s necessary to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Figure out their likes and dislikes and what’d they prefer more in the environment of your gym. Take out the time to understand every individual’s fitness journey and why they’ve decided to come to your gym.
Any complaints or issues filed by any customers should be taken very seriously to show them that their opinions do not go unheard.
One way to find out how satisfied your customers are with you is to email surveys or leave a suggestion box. This way, you can find out what to further improve in your gym. A happy customer is a loyal customer and will really boost the popularity of your gym and make it stand out.
An other way to maintain excellent customer service is to use gym-management-software to improve and automate your customer journey en service.
2. Have a unique mission statement, design and logo
Emphasizing the mission and goals of your gym is another tip that is equally as important as customer service in making your gym stand out. To engage in any physical exercise, every fitness freak knows you have to be motivated. Making sure your gym has a motivating and inspiring message behind it will help engage more customers and overall improve the likability of your gym.
When anyone enters your gym, feeling inspired to work out and exercise is the basic emotion they need to feel. Having encouraging messages, fitness journeys, and helpful trainers present will all help to bring the atmosphere about. Investing in your gym’s design and logo is also a big aspect to discuss. As part of this investment, choosing the right name for your gym is equally important. A strong name can boost your brand’s impact and create a memorable identity. Learn how to pick the perfect gym name in our guide Choosing a Gym Name. You want to make sure your gym promotes positivity, encouragement, and motivation and for that having a brand name, logo and overall design is very important.
Need help with gym branding? Develop your gym’s brand in 5 steps
3. Consistent social media marketing and management
In today’s modern era, business owners are blessed with the opportunity to obtain free mass media marketing in the forms of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Being a gym owner, you’ve probably noticed that fitness freaks tend to indulge more into the making of their feeds on Instagram and Facebook. They like to track their fitness journeys and post progress pictures on social media to help inspire other people as well.
As a gym owner, an important tip is making sure you keep your social media accounts well updated is very necessary. To stay relevant on the web, it’s important to keep your posting consistent. Offering exciting new deals exclusive for people who follow you on your social media can be a great way to build your popularity and make your gym stand out. Posting your customers daily and admiring them for their hard work creates and shows the motivation and positivity of your gym to outsiders. Ultimately, this improves the recognition and popularity of your gym which makes it stand out more.
4. New initiatives and offers for customers
To make your gym the number one priority in the area, you need to keep your customers and fitness freaks excited and on their toes. If it gets too bland and people find themselves bored with their same old routine, they might consider changing their gym just to spice it up a little. Being a gym owner, you can’t allow this to happen and an easy way of making your gym stand out is to offer exciting new initiatives every month or so.
A helpful tip could be to design general weight loss programs, diet and plans, featuring a gym member every month or “bring a buddy to the gym” days. Everyone likes to be recognized and there is no better way to keep your members happy than them knowing their trainers and coaches are paying attention. This also improves the likability of your gym and will definitely make it stand out more than others.
5. Evaluate your competitors
As a business owner, it can seem like it’s you against the world. While the competition may be fierce, you’re not without a few advantages of your own. Leveraging competitive research is a great way to understand more about the competition you’re facing. Not only will it show you what your competitors are up to, but you can learn their weak spots as well.
Creating specific files or documents on each neighboring gym or threatening gyms and then finding ways to overcome their benefits and advantages for customers will help draw more people towards your gym, increasing the popularity. Taking advantage of their weak spots and making sure your gym doesn’t lack in those departments can make your gym stand out more than other gyms. For instance, say a competitor’s website is strong, yet they have a small social presence. That presents a great opportunity for you to jump in and target their customers via social media.
6 Handy tools to help you spy on your competitors: Get valuable insights about your competitors
6. Gym software that does the heavy lifting
Coming up with your gym development plan isn’t easy. It requires a ton of thought, effort, and hard work to make your gym stand out and become fitness freak’s number one priority. Following the mentioned tips and tricks could definitely bring some significant improvement in your business. However, if you’re finding it difficult to manage as a gym owner, turning towards gym software like Virtuagym could help you organize your gym plans, coaching and engagement. The dedication and hard work will be worth it once your gym stands as the number one gym in the area that leaves its customers happy and satisfied and provides quality fitness.
