Sweat Equity: Client Engagement in 2020

As COVID-19 continues to stir controversy and angst across the globe and may continue to do so indefinitely, our encouragement to you is to keep focusing on solutions.

While your gym may be able to open its doors in the coming days or weeks, don’t expect to return to business as usual. Many of your members, who’ve transitioned to online training, may have discovered they prefer their digital programs, while others will be experiencing apprehension about returning to their non-essential hang-outs.

Without forfeiting relaunch hopes, keep developing your online fitness platforms, keep marketing, and keep communicating. Bolster your clients’ confidence in your business’s ability to survive.

And with that, in this edition of Sweat Equity, we’re focusing on member engagement; how generating leads can bolster revenue, and how to effectively communicate online with your clients.

New This Week: Client engagement in 2020… COVID-related business updates… Marketing your online training business… Communicating with online clients… Interview with the creator of Ultimate Sandbag Training, Josh Henkin.

If you’re ready to grow and manage your business better, book a demo with our team today.

---

Client Engagement in 2020

Engaging clients in a digital world

Lead Generation: Customer Relations in a Digital Era

Whether you’re a gym owner or an online trainer, membership is vital to your fitness business because it’s your main source of revenue. With the turn-over rate for fitness clients greater than 50% in most cases (and currently, most likely higher), it’s not an option to ignore membership attrition.

Client retention tools are essential to maintain a steady revenue flow, yet every client that leaves still needs to be replaced by a new client. This is where lead generation comes in – reaching potential customers, and reaching them early in their buying journeys.

According to a study conducted by MobileFIT, “Membership churn represents $6 billion of lost revenue for the fitness industry each year!”

First, what exactly is lead generation? Here are a few definitions from the top marketing resource, Hubspot:

“A lead is any person who indicates interest in a company’s product or service in some way, shape, or form.”

“Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service.”

So, how can you stir membership sales (even with the world mostly on lock-down)? Here’s how lead generation unfolds, in practical terms:

1. A potential client comes across your business (accidentally or purposefully); maybe they find your website, blog, or social media posts.
2. After reading, they click a link you’ve provided to “find out more about…” – called your CTA (call to action).
3. The link takes them to a landing page, where the goal is to excite and exchange; meaning, the visitor wants to interact with your offer, so they provide you with their email to begin the relationship.

[Related: Promoting Your Gym With Digital Marketing]

Effective Lead Generation Content Strategies

Before understanding how lead generation can benefit your business, think about your current marketing approaches to membership sales. From there, find a lead generation strategy that matches your already-existing marketing strategy and couple the effort. In addition to discount offers, local advertising, and phone inquiries, below are a few hyperlinked lead generation resources chock-full of ideas to get you started:

Content is the foundational activity for lead generation with stats indicating that at least 47% of users viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. Here are a few steps to help you create some great content.

Read: https://t.co/vEjhIioXBQ pic.twitter.com/4WNVwM9Xq5

— Hype & Dexter | APAC HubSpot Partner of the Year (@HypeandDexter) January 30, 2020

[Related: 25 Examples of Lead Generation Forms That Convert in 2020, How to Generate Leads Through Content Marketing]

While developing a lead generation strategy is important, know that you don’t have to go at it alone. Delegation is a great tool to have in your toolbox as the owner of a fitness business. Why worry about building a website with SEO-driven landing pages when you could hand that responsibility off to someone else?

Our dev team at Exercise.com knows SEO like you know rep schemes. Let us take custom websites off of your plate by scheduling a demo with our team today:

Competing in the Online Training Space

Here’s how to make your online training business more competitive

As if implementing mobile apps wasn’t already a significant business strategy, stay at home measures have definitely upped the game. More people than ever are turning to mobile apps to adapt to a less socially integrated lifestyle.

E-commerce competition is fierce and TechCrunch reported that there were “…31 billion new app downloads in Q1 2020, up 15% from the fourth quarter of 2019.”

According to Statista’s Consumer Spend on Mobile Apps Q1 2020 Report (Clement, 2020), “…consumers spent a total of 23.4 billion U.S. dollars on mobile apps across all platforms.” Needless to say, the market is saturated.

How can you make your online training business more competitive in an already-saturated market? Here are a few practical steps to stay ahead of the curve:

• Check out your competition (let their weaknesses be your strengths!):
  • snoop through their websites
  • analyze their emails and newsletters
  • follow their social media accounts – gauge the temperature of their audience engagement
  • read their customer reviews
• SEO analysis with Google Analytics: find out what keywords customers in your niche are using and optimize your website’s content accordingly
• Other solutions:
  • make sure you’ve identified your niche and client persona and fine-tune your market targeting efforts
  • personalize your clients’ experience
  • be creative with your fitness program selection: mix it up with monthly memberships, challenges, and target goals
  • provide meaningful support and resources in addition to workout packages – think blogs, newsletters, affiliate memberships
  • adopt a ‘pro’ mentality
  • place a high value on continuing education and be sure to incorporate your new skills and certifications into your training repertoire

This graphic from Hubspot provides some ideas on how to attract, engage, and delight potential clients and customers:

[Related: Sweat Equity’s Identifying Your Target Market]

Do you wish you knew more about marketing and SEO? Your wish has been granted! Moz is offering courses for free through the end of May:

We’re continuing to #PayItForward with 🆓 Moz Academy courses until May 31st. Take this time to learn SEO on us. Use promo code: wegotthis

You’ll learn about:
Keyword Research
Backlink Audit & Removal
Local SEO Fundamentals plus morehttps://t.co/Aay3i6ax0E#SEO pic.twitter.com/UrZf2PBOWD

— Moz (@Moz) April 29, 2020

---

Communicating With Online Clients

Is there a right way to communicate with clients?

When it comes to digital communication, constant app notifications aside, your clients’ inboxes are likely also maxed out. This might make you wonder, “Is there a right way to communicate with my clients? As long as I’m communicating, does it matter how I communicate?”

Yes. When you need to communicate with your clients, the what, how, and when of digital engagement does matter.

A few tips to always keep in mind when communicating with your clients:

• Use the right tone when vacillating between marketing and educational content.
  • Marketing emails have a more conversational feel while educational content should be more technical.
• Beware of positive vs negative language
• Keep it brief, keep it timely
• Make it personal and include their name
• Follow a style guide to maintain a consistent and professional appearance (you can pen your own guide, but AP and CMOS are also excellent writing resources)

And don’t overlook your SMS marketing approach. An in-depth explanation for fitness businesses is provided here, but here are the basics:

• Send a welcome message to new members
• Send promotion and event highlights
• Send schedules and new programs
• Send random hellos
• Send renewal reminders

Texting is extremely cost-effective and offers real-time contact with your SMS subscribers. Don’t forget to use text messages to encourage referral programs, confirm appointments, and send other useful, motivating comments.

[Related: 14 Tips to Boost Customer Satisfaction with Your Comments]

Cost-effectiveness aside, texting a wide range of clients on a daily basis can become time-consuming. With the Exercise.com software platform, the messaging is handled for you through the power of automation.

To learn more about all-in-one software that can help your business grow, fill out the form below:

---

This week’s Fitness Business trends was brought to you by Brittany, Mathew, and Jeff.