How to Use Proximity Marketing to Increase Your Health & Fitness Club Member Retention
Did you know: 45 million people in the United States have a health & fitness club membership. But‌ 80% of people cancel the membership in the first half of the year! This is obviously a big hurdle when it comes to retaining clients. Luckily, we are going to introduce you to a piece of technology that dramatically improves the customer experience, allowing you to increase customer retention. As you probably know, the use of devices such as smartwatches, Fitbits, and other fitness trackers are rising in popularity.
Your health and fitness club can jump on this bandwagon to take advantage of the popularity of this technology. Beacons are a piece of technology that you can install in your facility in order to track all smart devices entering the transmission range of the beacon. Once the beacon is triggered by a device, it can send messages to all smart devices within range. Let’s check out some of the ways you can increase client retention below.
Workout & Equipment Information
There are limitless options with beacon technology, giving you ample opportunity to give your members a unique experience that keeps them coming back for more. One way to do this is to create digital personal trainers. The location-based service that beacons provide is so accurate that it can track exactly where each member is located in your club. Sync the beacon with a custom-branded mobile app to provide usage information for each member depending on the type of equipment they are using.
This creates an educational and interactive experience for your members. You can also place small beacons on your gym equipment that triggers instructional videos when someone approaches the beacon. With a video of a personal trainer, your club members will feel motivated and held by your facility. Statistics show that video beacon marketing campaigns increase the engagement rate by about 23%. Did you know‌ One of the main reasons that people quit their exercising efforts is due to muscle soreness that causes them pain after a workout. With beacon technology, you can inform them of the proper way to stretch and loosen their muscles, decreasing their pain and increasing the probability that they will stick it through. Your members can also easily give you feedback on your equipment, proximity campaigns, and anything else about your club that can help you implement changes that your members appreciate. This increases trust, loyalty, and cultivates an intimate relationship with your members.
Social Media
Social media is known as an excellent source for client acquisition. However, it is also excellent for customer retention. Social sharing is a prime motivator for many people. If they feel incentivized to share their progress on social media channels, they’ll feel motivated to keep coming back for more in order to receive the praise and encouragement they can get from social media. As members leave your club, you can trigger a beacon to encourage them to share their experience on social media as they walk across the threshold. Plus, with GrowSalesIQ’s cross-channel campaign platform, those notifications can be sent directly to their social media channels, making it incredibly easy and intuitive for clients to share. They can also be sent notifications with referral codes that they can share with their friends on social media in exchange for discounts or other rewards.