Email remains the most popular media for gyms electronic communications with members

In spite of the massive growth in the use of social media and wider industry predictions that email newsletters have a limited life expectancy, email newsletters remain the most popular way for gym and fitness centre owners and managers to communicate with their members.

The current Fitness Industry Survey found that among 11,300 respondents, 21% cited a preference for enewsletters, while face-to-face and in person communication was identified as the most favourable communication method - by 23% of gym and fitness centre owners.

Information gathered by Ezypay for the annual Survey revealed a growing interest in SMS service as 12% of club owners has embraced the method to communicate with customers while 11% of the members chose this way to interact with their gym.

The Survey also showed that 16% of gym owners use social media as their preferred method while only 8% of the members keep up with latest happenings by reading status updates and tweets from their gym.

The data affirms that majority of the gym members want monthly club announcements with 73% of the respondents voted on it. 15% voted for biweekly announcements, 10% for once a week, and 1% for both three times and two times a week.

The Fitness Industry Survey asked in what circumstances a club should communicate with their members via SMS and the answers were dramatic.

A substantial 36% of the respondents cited that a club should be contacting their members when their payment transaction for their gym failed while another 32% of the gym members said clubs should SMS them when there are special promotions. 31% said to remind them of a booking that they have made earlier, 30% said to inform them if the price of the membership have increased, 26% is to remind them of membership renewal and booking confirmation respectively.

Another 17% of the club members said gyms could SMS them for coming to gym reminders. 9% said to remind when payment is about to be processed and 6% when the payment is received.

Not surprisingly, when asked about types of social media respondents use, they indicate Facebook as one of main platform with 80% of gym members and 37% of clubs and fitness centres use it for daily interactions and updates. YouTube came second for club members with 31%, while only 4% of the gyms use it for promotions and marketing.

In particular, club websites amounted to 38% of social media usage for fitness centres but only 5% of the members use it for updates and latest information of their gym. There are three platforms that have created stark differences between groups of respondents, as 27% of gym members use Instagram, 21% use LinkedIn, 13% use Pinterest but none of the gyms are using them.

Since 2008, Fitness Industry Survey has been analysing how ways of communication used by gym and fitness centres affect the satisfaction of gym members.

This year the survey involved 11,300 respondents from across Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Click here to view a Sales, Marketing, Communication and Tech Infograph based on information from the Fitness Industry Survey.

In spite of the massive growth in the use of social media and wider industry predictions that email newsletters have a limited life expectancy, email newsletters remain the most popular way for gym and fitness centre owners and managers to communicate with their members.

The current Fitness Industry Survey found that among 11,300 respondents, 21% cited a preference for enewsletters, while face-to-face and in person communication was identified as the most favourable communication method - by 23% of gym and fitness centre owners.

Information gathered by Ezypay for the annual Survey revealed a growing interest in SMS service as 12% of club owners has embraced the method to communicate with customers while 11% of the members chose this way to interact with their gym.

The Survey also showed that 16% of gym owners use social media as their preferred method while only 8% of the members keep up with latest happenings by reading status updates and tweets from their gym.

The data affirms that majority of the gym members want monthly club announcements with 73% of the respondents voted on it. 15% voted for biweekly announcements, 10% for once a week, and 1% for both three times and two times a week.

The Fitness Industry Survey asked in what circumstances a club should communicate with their members via SMS and the answers were dramatic.

A substantial 36% of the respondents cited that a club should be contacting their members when their payment transaction for their gym failed while another 32% of the gym members said clubs should SMS them when there are special promotions. 31% said to remind them of a booking that they have made earlier, 30% said to inform them if the price of the membership have increased, 26% is to remind them of membership renewal and booking confirmation respectively.

Another 17% of the club members said gyms could SMS them for coming to gym reminders. 9% said to remind when payment is about to be processed and 6% when the payment is received.

Not surprisingly, when asked about types of social media respondents use, they indicate Facebook as one of main platform with 80% of gym members and 37% of clubs and fitness centres use it for daily interactions and updates. YouTube came second for club members with 31%, while only 4% of the gyms use it for promotions and marketing.

In particular, club websites amounted to 38% of social media usage for fitness centres but only 5% of the members use it for updates and latest information of their gym. There are three platforms that have created stark differences between groups of respondents, as 27% of gym members use Instagram, 21% use LinkedIn, 13% use Pinterest but none of the gyms are using them.

Since 2008, Fitness Industry Survey has been analysing how ways of communication used by gym and fitness centres affect the satisfaction of gym members.

This year the survey involved 11,300 respondents from across Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Click here to view a Sales, Marketing, Communication and Tech Infograph based on information from the Fitness Industry Survey.

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