Since gyms around the nation have had to close their doors indefinitely due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, there’s a lot of uncertainty around the future of the industry and maintain members.
However, it’s not the time to wait idly by for word of reopening. Nope, it’s now more important than ever to be working ON your gym rather than IN your gym. And one of these all-important projects is working to keep your member base engaged so that when it comes time to reopen once again, you have a member base to come back to.
Read on for tips on how you can effectively keep your customers engaged during these uncertain times!
Regularly update your members
With the announcement that all gyms are to be closed on March 23rd 2020, it might feel like there may not be much more to update your members with during the shutdown period. However, information around the COVID-19 pandemic changes drastically each day and there will be things that you need to communicate to your client base in a timely manner.
Keep an eye on the news, preferably a reliable source that doesn’t feed into the media hype, and relay this information back to your clients. A great source is the World Health Organisation.
Use your channels wisely
Luckily in 2020 there are so many platforms we can use to reach and engage with your members. Email is still one of the best ways to target your membership base so make sure you’re reaching out to them here. SMS is known to convert highly – since our society lives with our phones in our hands, and really only receive text messages from those in our social circle, it can be highly engaging. Social media on the other hand is a great way to share engaging content to your audience and reach them on more of a brand-connection platform.
However you choose to communicate with your members, make sure to pay close attention to the tone you use. With so much fear and uncertainty in our communities right now, we need to make sure we use a light, positive tone of voice in our content. It will set you apart from the darker, doom-and-gloom media tones and create a beacon of positivity many members will want to follow during this time. When we finally come out the other end, you will have maintained an engaged audience and can work to rebuild your business.
Continue business with live streamed workouts
Just because your doors are closed doesn’t mean your business (and cash flow) has to grind to a halt. Look at other ways you can bring in revenue. Instead of freezing memberships and losing that revenue for however long businesses are closed for due to COVID-19, you can continue to offer some services for that membership payment.
Introduce live streamed workouts which your instructors can do from their own homes. They would be mostly body weight workouts without equipment so everyone can participate. Already so many brands are doing this via Instagram Live and YouTube live.
Up your content marketing game
There’s no denying that online we like to engage with content that delivers us information or value – along with the occasional cute puppy video. In the shut down period, focus on creating workout videos, nutrition guides, tips from experts like personal trainers, and so much more to keep your audience completely engaged.
Use fitness tracking tech to create at-home fitness competitions
Have you found that when you run 12-week challenges, your members are super engaged, visit your gym regularly, and are active in your private Facebook group? Of course they are! They’re working hard towards a goal alongside their peers. They’re pushing and motivating each other to achieve. So why can’t you bring that sort of engagement to your brand even when your doors are closed?
In 2020, we are advantaged with tech tools that can track our fitness and nutrition progress. Tools like MyZone, MyFitnessPal, and Fitnexus are easily accessible to your members. Fitnexus for example is a custom branded fitness app and is a sister-product to MyMemberSales. With Fitnexus members can track exercise, connect with other members, and so much more. (Psst – Fitnexus is available to you through MyMemberSales and Jonas Leisure. Click here to learn more).
By using fitness trackers during the gym shutdown period, you can track the fitness goals of your members, your members will have more motivation to work out at home, and you can still have a member of the month!
