Five ways a custom mobile app can grow business for gyms and PTs

Online marketing solutions experts Marketing for Gyms are highlighting that mobile phone apps are the way of the future for both gyms, fitness centres and personal trainers – and their online and offline business.

Marketing for Gyms Director Sean Bridger explains “in this competitive market you need to consistently look to the future and pick up the trends of where things are heading.

"A few short years ago if you were told you needed to have your business on Facebook you would have thought they were crazy and would have simply ignored the fact.

“Why would you want to waste your time on Facebook where people write messages and share information?

"Fast forward to today and Facebook now has over one billion users and is absolutely essential for business growth (and) if you are not on Facebook you are missing out on tapping in to an unlimited market place of leads and members."

Bridger predicts that mobile phone apps will be the next biggest trend when it comes to growing and marketing fitness businesses.

However, Bridger cautions “not all apps are created equal - a poorly designed mobile app can be a waste of money if it doesn’t have the specific features a fitness business needs.”

He suggests the five key features for a custom mobile app that will grow any gym or personal training business.

1. Lead Generation with a Free Offer

The ability to generate leads is one of the most important elements to any marketing strategy. Having a free offer such as a Free PT session, Group Training Session or five Day Pass is crucial. The key is to offer something of value in exchange for the prospects details including name, email and phone number.

The back end of the app needs to be linked to an email auto-responder where the lead will receive a welcome email with the free pass. The email will also let them know that a staff member will contact them within 24 hours to organise the free pass. This provides a high level of professionalism which adds to the credibility of your business.

The app should also be linked to the PT or Gyms email so they can be notified directly after someone opts-in. The new lead can then be followed up to commence their free session. Immediate follow up is essential to convert the maximum number of leads. Your mobile app will become one of the most powerful lead generation tools for your business.

2. Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is one of the best strategies to generate new clients. They are already qualified, sent to you by someone they know and trust and have a high rate of retention as they already have a connection with their friends. Having a ‘Refer a Friend’ tab on your mobile app is an extremely powerful lead generation strategy when used correctly. The key is to create new and ongoing referral incentives every month so your clients don’t just refer friends once, but on an ongoing basis.

You could offer an individual incentive for referred members such as ‘Refer a Free 5 Day Pass to a friend and receive a Free PT session for every friend who becomes a member’. Or, you can offer one bigger prize each month and every person who refers enters a draw for the chance to win. The Gym Factory do this really well and they have given away free TV’s, Surfboards and even Diamond Earrings!

The benefit of a custom refer a friend page is the ability for members to easily share via SMS, social media and email. A link to download the app is sent with a customised welcome message directly to their friend’s phone, Facebook account or email. After they download the app they simply opt in for the free offer and you generate qualified leads for your business.

3. Retention

Retention is just as important as generating new leads. Retaining your existing members is the lifeblood of your business and crucial to being successful.

One of the best ways to help with retention is making it easy for members to book classes or PT sessions. With a mobile app members can book directly from the app making it easy for them to plan their training and commit to each session.

The class booking page can also include a counter which can be used if you have a limited number of spots available per class. As each person books the counter will count down showing how many positions are left. This creates a sense of urgency for members and they will also receive an email confirming the session.

Another great benefit of the app is to be able to send free push notifications out to your members to notify them about upcoming events, classes, news and promotions. This gives you the ability to communicate with your members and build a sense of community. It also maintains connection with expired members who still have the app which increases the chances of getting them back on board again!

4. New Age Marketing

Effective marketing of your gym or PT business is extremely important. Many businesses use old, outdated methods such as letterbox drops and newspaper ads which are both expensive and hard to track. A mobile app gives your Gym or PT a new age way to market your business effectively and get your business in the pockets of your perfect prospect.

You can market the new app using Facebook posts, YouTube videos, banners in your gym, emails to current members, letter box drops as well as referral marketing which we covered in point number 2. Another great strategy to market the app is using Facebook ads.

You can create Facebook ads to download your app directly from Facebook. This is a huge benefit for your business because when people click on the ad, the link to download your Gym or PT app will be on their phone, ready to download. What’s the first thing they do when they download your app? They sign up for a free trial. This method of marketing is not only extremely cheap, but also very effective.

With your Facebook Ads you can target your marketing so your Ad only appears for the exact people you want to reach. You can target people by their location, age, gender, likes, interests and a range of other criteria. So rather than wasting a ton of money on things that produce little to no results such as a letterbox drop, you can advertise directly to your target market for cents on the dollar.

Another great strategy is to do some offline marketing in shopping centres or other locations where you speak to the public directly. Rather than hand them a flyer you can get them to quickly and easily download the app and apply for the free pass straight away. You will then have their contact details and can also keep in contact with them with push notifications in the future.

5. Additional Features

A custom mobile app offers many additional features to benefit your members and keep them using the app over and over again. The key is to keep them coming back so they remain connected and also continue referring all of their friends.

Some additional features and benefits include:

• Meet the Trainers - You can upload profiles of your staff members including image, qualifications, interests, training areas, etc. People can view all of the trainers to find one that suits their specific needs. They can then fill in a free consult form to speak to that trainer!

• Image Gallery – People love to get a feel for your gym or PT studio. The image gallery gives you the ability to showcase your services and facility and create a great first impression.

• Blog Feed – Imagine linking up your website blog with the app so people can read the latest news directly from the app! The key is providing consistent, ongoing value to remain connected with your members.

• YouTube Videos – You can also feed your latest YouTube videos directly to the app. Videos can be a great tool to provide tips on nutrition, recipe ideas, meal plans and the latest training programs.

• Contact Details – Members can view all of your contact details at the tap of a button including phone, address, google map, enquiry form as well as all of your social media sites.

• Advanced Features – The best thing with mobile apps is that they can be customised to suit your specific requirements. Private Facebook Groups, PDF Downloads for members, Instagram photo feeds, shopping carts, PayPal integration. The sky is not the limit, the only limit is your imagination!

Conclusion

The fitness industry is booming and there is so much opportunity to create an incredibly successful business. However, the market is crowded with competitors and it is likely that 90% of business owners will fail within two years.

What are you going to do differently to ensure you achieve success?

Effective marketing is all about branding and creating an amazing first impression. Creating a professional presence and being at the forefront of innovation and technology is a key element in being able to attract new members to your business. When people see that you have a mobile app they will automatically assume that you have a quality business. It could be the difference between choosing you or choosing a competitor!

I estimate that 99% of Gyms and Personal Trainers don’t have a mobile app for their business. There is a huge opportunity to get ahead of the pack and start utilising a mobile app to attract leads, referrals and to add value to your current members.

If you want your business to stand out from the crowd and gain an edge on your competitors, visit www.marketingforgyms.com and submit an enquiry form for more information.

1st July 2014 - MARKETING FOR GYMS SHARES ADVICE ON KEY FEATURES FOR GYM WEBSITES