Ideas to Increase Gym Membership

Are you a proud new gym owner, but would love to see your gym a little busier? Or have you recently expanded but seen a plateau in membership numbers? Struggling to get membership sign-ups is a problem that many gym owners face, regardless of whether they're new to the game, or if they've been established for a while.

Luckily, here at Again Faster, we have had plenty of experience assisting new and experienced gym owners with everything from new equipment, to helping get their names out there. We have seen small-scale gyms blossom into thriving fitness havens that the community is proud to be a part of. Thanks to this experience, it's fair to say we know some tricks of the trade when it comes to building a successful gym.

If you want to know more about a couple of our success stories, you can learn more about our partnerships with Exertion Fitness and Hybrid Performance by following the links below. Otherwise, read on for helpful ideas for increasing gym membership.

Hybrid Performance

Exertion Fitness

9 Clever Ways to Get More Membership Sign-ups

We've put together a list of 9 creative ideas you can use to boost gym membership sign-ups and turn your facility into a business to be proud of. Some you might have tried or considered before, but hopefully, at least 1 or 2 of these ideas will give you something new to try...

1 - Make the Gym Membership Sign-up Process as Easy as Possible

You might be surprised by how many people are being put off by your sign-up process. Think about your own experiences, for example when you've been shopping online. Have you ever been about to hit "buy," but there's no option to checkout as a guest and you're required to give 9 contact numbers, 3 forms of ID, your full family tree, and your blood type before you can make a simple purchase? Ok, so maybe we're exaggerating slightly, but small details can over-complicate the process for potential new members and put people off with surprising regularity.

Remove points of friction and streamline that gym membership sign-up experience. Making signing up as easy as possible is one of the best (and easiest) ways to boost your number of sign-ups. If a potential member has to waste 45 minutes of their time just to sign up to your gym, they are likely going to find somewhere else.

Make sure your registration process is as quick and user-friendly as possible, by adapting it to fit certain must-have criteria. Here are a few things we considered to be essential to a successful and seamless sign-up process.

• Make sign-up forms short and concise, only ask for information you really need
• Offer flexible pricing for customers on different budgets
• Have an automated online sign-up option available
• Maintain consistency throughout and only ask questions once

If you're really looking to drive traffic, you might even consider just requesting a name, email and no upfront payment before a trial, then let your facility and service convert them into paid gym members once you get them through the door!

2 - Have an Appealing "Introductory Offer" for Attracting Gym Members

In fact, we might even go a step further than suggesting just an appealing offer and suggest you have a near-irresistible intro offer! If you believe in your gym, you should have every faith that a tempting introductory offer will drive new members and see them stick around way beyond the length of the intro period. And if you don't have faith that your facility and the service you offer will keep introductory period members coming back for more... well you might have more fundamental issues than how to get people through the door!

It's well worth experimenting with offers, but offering something like 80% off for a sign-up's first month, or even a straight-up free week of access to your facility, could be just the ticket. This method is almost guaranteed to get you new sign-ups; then it's up to you to get a feel for what number/percentage of these sign-ups converting into long-term members will be needed for this strategy to be worth it.

Again, it's well worth thinking about how many times this has worked on you in your own life. I know I signed up for a free month of a popular streaming service 10 years ago just to watch a specific show, and I haven't cancelled it since. That free introductory case of beer I forgot to cancel saw the company get an extra full-paid month out of me and, you know what, I enjoyed it enough that I kept it up for another few months too.

Ever wondered why some products are surprisingly cheap for what they are, like electric toothbrushes or gaming consoles? It's because the company knows your lifetime value comes in the replacement brush heads or in lifetime game purchases. The same can be applied to gym members too - that cheap or free intro period might mean you break even or even lose money on the intro period itself, but you'll soon get a feel for the average value of sign-ups via an intro offer.

3 - Run a Competition for Gym Members

People love being given the possibility to win something, especially when it's free.

Competitions are a well-known marketing strategy due to how effective they can be, and they can be effective for attracting more gym memberships too. By incentivising prospective customers to sign-up with a reward, you dramatically increase your chances of securing a paying member.

So, why not get creative by using a competition to give people a reason to sign up for your gym? There are so many different approaches you could take with this, and we've outlined a few to give you some inspiration.

Some creative competition ideas include:

• A draw for new sign-ups to get a free 3-months of membership if they sign up in the next 2 weeks (or even a full year if you really want to incentivise entrants)
• A giveaway for a bundle of home gym equipment, for customers that sign up this month
• A draw for some free PT sessions for everyone who signs up in a certain week (a great idea to show off your excellent PT services too)
• Free entry into a fitness challenge where you can win a free bottle of supplements, when you sign up this week

Although people will come for the competition just because they might get free stuff, the hope is they'll stay for the quality of your service! This is a great chance to showcase the quality of your PTs, classes, or equipment. We'd also recommend making those competitions available to enter for your loyal members as well; you want to keep them happy too.

4 - Invest in some Brand New Equipment

Nothing catches the eye of avid gym-goers more than some shiny new gym equipment. A small investment into a brand-new power rack or a fresh set of dumbbells can be the persuasive cherry on top that some people need to make a commitment and sign-up to your gym.

Make a post on social media advertising your new equipment and maybe even use some tactical paid promotion to really expand your reach. Here's an example post for some inspiration:

Don't skimp on the creative design of your post, you want to make sure it's as eye-catching as possible! It may be worth seeking out a design freelancer who's willing to create some distinctive templates you can use in the future.

If you're interested in making a worthy investment in some new equipment, we have an outstanding range of products to choose from. Our versatile and sleek-looking power racks and rigs will be sure to stand out to any customers who appreciate functionality with a premium look.

Or maybe have a look into investing in our industry-renowned array of benches and free weights, which have proven themselves in the testing environments of CrossFit Boxes and functional gyms all around the UK and Europe. Even better, take advantage of our gym and facility design service if you're considering a more significant shake-up of your equipment offering. You can also get a quick quote on an array of equipment and we'd be happy to offer our best price to ambitious facilities.

5 - Attract Gym Members by Implementing a Referral Program

A well-structured referral scheme is a win-win for the business and the consumer. It's also a proven way to directly increase membership sign-ups. If you're unsure what a referral program is, it's essentially where you incentivise your customers to recommend other people to your gym and increase sales.

Sure, you'd hope that your excellent facility and professional staff will see your members do the marketing work for you, spreading the good word through glowing reviews of your gym to friends and family. But they'll be that little bit extra-motivated to get people to sign up if you incentivise them to do it!

There are multiple angles you can take with a referral scheme, so you should try and tailor yours to suit your gym and customer base. Some key points to take into consideration when building yours are:

• Make it worth both the customer's time and the person they're referring, by using double-sided incentives. Getting prospective customers is great. But if they don't actually sign-up, then that referral isn't worth too much. This strategy will help convert those prospects into paying customers.
• Offer tiered incentives. Members who consistently refer you to prospective customers should be rewarded for their hard work, right? Show your appreciation by offering loyal referees a reward that increases with every referral, or at the very least make it a referral that can stack up (e.g. if it's a free month of membership, don't cap it at one month, you may as well let them basically use your gym for free permanently if they're going to refer enough new members to make it worth your while!)
• Occasionally spice up your referral program by taking advantage of seasonal campaigns. By capitalising on the multiple holiday events that happen throughout the year, you can offer themed incentives for your customers and prospects. For example, you could give members a Christmas gift bundle of fitness supplies for every five people who sign-up via their referral
• Use guest passes to help your current members persuade their friends and family what a great facility you have. A card worth 10 free visits to friends and family of members can give prospects that little taster they need to get them over the line as full-paying members

6 - Make the Most of Social Media for your Gym

The power of social media cannot be underestimated. Nowadays, almost everyone with a phone is on social media. That includes potential customers! By establishing a presence on social media and putting in place a strategy to go with it, you just increased your chances of gym membership sign-ups tenfold.

If you don't already have a social media account for your gym, then what are you waiting for? Set one up now! But if you do, we've highlighted a few ways you can solidify and leverage your social media strategy to boost your number of sign-ups.

Just make sure to let the personality of your gym shine through in anything you post! The thing that's going to make people sign up at your gym is that feeling of authenticity that should come through in your posts, and it will help you stand out next to the flashy, multi-location gym down the road...

If you want more information on how to boost your social media engagement, there are thousands of free resources online with some brilliant tips. A google search for "social media for small business" should get you going if you're just getting started with social, or if you're looking for something more advanced, we'd suggest "growing a following on social media." Alternatively, feel free to get in touch with us and we can give you a steer in the right direction or some tips on what we've seen work in the past.

7 - Implement a Paid Advertising Strategy Online

You might be familiar with all the old-school methods of getting your name out there - attending shows, handing out leaflets, paying for some advertising space in a local paper - but the importance of showing up when people in your area search for you on google or while they're browsing on social media can't be overstated.

Yes, people finding you organically on social media, through word of mouth, or on google is helpful, but it will only take you so far. With bigger budget gyms around, you might see your gym farther down the Google results page than you wanted, or that people just a stone's throw away haven't even heard of you, let alone decided whether or not to sign up!

Paid advertising is a sure-fire way to get your gym in front of some pairs of eyes and boost your chances of sign-ups. In a crowd of other gym-owners eager to get their brand noticed, many can't afford to not put at least some budget towards making sure people who are actively looking for a gym get to hear about yours before making a decision.

A relatively small investment with an effective strategy in place can put your gym under the gaze of 1000s of prospective customers in your local area. The last time we helped out a gym with setting up some paid ads on Google and Facebook, we found that an investment of as little as £50 could get their gym out there to as many as 5,000-10,000 new pairs of eyes - a far greater reach than you're ever likely to get compared with standing in the street trying to drum up business or placing a costly ad in a local paper!

If you want some advice on how to get started with your paid advertising strategy, we're happy to help! A member of our marketing team can help you get started with some basic paid advertising campaigns. Feel free to contact us for more information on getting set up.

8 - Use The Buzz Around Real-world Events to Promote Your Gym or an Offer

We are all partial to a cheeky discount. Take every chance you get to entice prospective customers with an irresistible discount by leveraging real-world events. These could be customers' birthdays, New Year, or Christmas.

Even more powerful can be running promotions or holding events centred around special events in the fitness industry, like the CrossFit Games or the Olympics. There's plenty of scope for capitalising on the buzz around such events. This can also help to create a sense of community in your gym by getting everyone engaged with events in the fitness community, and we'll go into that some more shortly!

Remember to be strategic with any discounts though and not to do them too often. Otherwise, more and more customers will be less inclined to pay full price if they think you've always got discounts and offers on!

9 - Build a Sense of Community

Building a sense of community in your gym is hard, but it can really pay off. You don't want your facility to just be somewhere people come for workouts, you want it to be something more than that. Create a social hub, foster a supportive atmosphere, or simply provide somewhere that offers something more niche that will hold greater appeal when compared to more generic offerings elsewhere; these are all ways you can build that community feeling.

That's where gyms not on the scale of the massive, multi-location chains (you know the ones) can really become a magnet for fitness enthusiasts by appealing to those who aren't looking for something generic that can sometimes feel a bit soulless (sorry big chain gyms!)

Ultimately, if people are going to spend their hard-earned cash on your membership, they're going to want more than just access to equipment (as great as it may be) or a range of classes. It's likely to be somewhere they want to go to see like-minded individuals and to share in their fitness journey with those around them.

A few simple ideas for building that community include:

• Host or organise social events and advertise them. Getting a group of your members out for a coffee or a pint could help foster that community feeling.
• Encourage members to sign up for competitions together, from at-home push-up challenges to formal events like the CrossFit games, having members working towards goals together really creates a community spirit
• MERCHANDISE! If you don't have any already, having your members proudly wearing your gym logo on a t-shirt or on their water bottle really helps create a sense of community (and can create a little extra money for your facility too through merchandise sales)
• Capitalise on "buy local" sentiment! Remind everyone if you're a smaller gym about the story behind your facility, and how you're passionate about what you do in your area. Many people these days like to "go local" and support smaller businesses, so don't be afraid to make it clear that's who you are and what makes you great.

Just make sure that anything you do is well-documented on your social media and your website. When a potential new member is researching your gym and weighing up why they should join yours over the nearest big-name gym, seeing that easy, natural sense of community could be what lands you that new member.

Check out our YouTube channel for great content on how some facilities we have worked with have created a community around their gyms.

Getting More Gym Members - Conclusion

Business owners around the world are constantly coming up with exciting and innovative ways to drive sales and sign-ups. Many of the strategies used in other industries are easily adaptable for use by gym owners to bring more members on board.

The list we've given you today is by no means exhaustive. If you would like further information on this, check out some of our case studies. There, you can read some inspiring stories of how different gym owners we know went about setting up successful gyms. Or, as we say, feel free to get in touch and we'd be happy to share some of our experience in helping gyms get their names out there!