Ignite generate more than £155,000 in gross gym membership income in seven weeks

I COULD write a full essay on how Ignite has ‘got it right’.

But one aspect I wanted to highlight is their fantastic marketing and sales process.

With a full calendar of marketing activities, top-notch design, relevant and sleek social media content and an onthe-ball sales team, they have a steady stream of new members joining their gym year-round.

Despite this, at a recent Fitness Expo in London, owner Andrew Charalambous discovered there was a part of the market that they still weren’t maximising.

Those deconditioned, hard-to-reach members of the community who typically haven’t used a gym before.

After speaking with Harry Ainslie from Creative Fitness Marketing, Andrew decided he had nothing to lose and put the wheels in motion for a membership drive campaign kicking off in August last year.

The campaign was extremely successful with 127 new members joining on the Health Awareness campaign, worth a total of more than £155,000 in gross membership revenue. This was over a period of seven weeks and was over and above his regular monthly sales targets.

What was the secret to the campaign’s success? It started with winding back the clock a couple of decades on the marketing front and implementing a wide range of both traditional and digital marketing mediums. CFM know it is not enough to focus purely on digital marketing and the odd stint of outreach to attract new members.

Marketing manager Mike Hawes provides some insight into the campaign.

“We know that on average it takes around five exposures to advertising before someone decides to act, so our multi-faceted marketing strategy is the key to reaching ‘newbies’ or those ‘procrastinators’ who have been ‘thinking about joining’ for the last five years,” he said.

“Once they come through the door the next piece of the puzzle is to ensure they feel comfortable, ask them the right questions, and show them how the club can help them reach their goals.”

On working with CFM, Ignite owner Andrew added: The service we received from CFM was outstanding.

“Mike was a fantastic onsite manager; he was always present and knowledgeable, while leading us through the process. They were able to easily integrate into our team and put everyone at ease.”

To find out more about how Creative Fitness Marketing works, visit www.cfm.net or call Harry or Jonny on 0115 777 3333.