“Reconnecting with Fitness” has been a rallying cry for our industry, and I believe it to be a great starting point for a new Sales & Marketing strategy.
For people who’ve struggled to build long-term habits, which could be considered the “Other 80 percent” we’ve yet to engage, we need to find new ways to communicate with them. I detailed this concept a few days back in a post. I’ll share the link below. This new market isn’t looking for us. We have to look for it. We have to create a program that focuses on the idea of “Pain, Reward, Pain, Reward, Pain, Reward, etc.”
Usually when someone tries to build a new habit, they try to build the new habit all at once, but habit building requires repetition without friction. It’s not always easy, but it becomes easier when you look at change in an incremental way.
It’s this kind of messaging that leads to the development of short-term habits that build toward long-term adoption. This is something I believe can help get new butts into gyms.
Are our prospects even hearing our messaging? Better yet, what are we actually doing to get them to listen? Is our messaging even important enough that it’s worth someone’s time?
Ideally, we’re all going to market with a message, with a story, with something that differentiates us from our competitors. We don’t ONLY want to go to market with an offer or a deal of some sort.
An offer is an offer is an offer until it becomes something larger than an offer. An offer just is dollars and cents. If you and all of your competitors are messaging offers instead of outcomes, isn’t it a coin flip as to who wins the business?
Ultimately, though, we want our future members to make a commitment to a goal, instead of a commitment to a discounted offer. So our message has to be sticky, while also feeling frictionless.
Which brings in your Member Experience. The modern day gym member wants an exceptional member experience above most other things, and it’s the experience that will help to drive the long-term adoption of those healthy fitness habits (what I referenced above). So your Member Experience needs to be just as frictionless as the messaging that got them to make a commitment to the goal that got them in the door.
Outside of membership types or offers, what actually sets YOU and YOUR BUSINESS apart from the rest? Whatever your answer is to that question, that is what you should be taking to market.
If you have questions or want to test out some messaging, reach out to me and I’ll give you my best feedback.
