Use these 3 tools together to make your marketing finally do the heavy lifting and get your gym more clients.
Running a fitness studio takes a ton of time and work - but you already know that… which means you may also know that most studios struggle to find the time to market themselves effectively. But here’s a solution, and it includes 3 killer tools: Facebook advertising, landing pages, and email.
These 3 tools not only boost your marketing performance and bring in a ton of new leads for your fitness studio, but they’re also so simple and easy that you can do it in your sleep … literally. Recently one fitness studio used these 3 tools and got 427 new, unique leads in just 1 month for their 2 locations combined, and that’s just the beginning. Let’s break down each one.
If you don’t already include Facebook advertising in your marketing strategy, now is the time to start. It’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to bring in new members literally overnight, and with 1.04 billion daily active users — including 934 million on mobile — it’s a goldmine for new lead generation.
When creating your Facebook ad, use compelling images that give people a look at what your studio and classes are really like. So if you’re advertising a free week of barre, use an image that shows people doing barre at your own studio. Pay attention to who is shown in the ad too — if your goal is to bring in men, use a photo that features men — and use a strong call to action that is directed to your intended audience.
One fitness studio that used Facebook ads in combination with the other 2 tools got 16 leads overnight and only spent $2.96 per lead (most fitness studios are happy with anything under $20). Another studio, a local boxing gym, got 31 leads in their first 24 hours with a cost per lead of $2.94. That’s 15-30 new potential customers overnight for those fitness studios, and the owners didn’t even have to lift a finger - all thanks to Facebook advertising.
How is this possible, you ask? It all comes down to the offer.
An offer of 1 or 2 free weeks tends to work well for fitness studios like the ones above. One fitness studio not only got over 60 leads in 2 weeks using this offer, but was able to book 86% of those people to come into their location for their initial workout.
So you get more than just a ton of form submissions when you advertise this way — you actually get people through your door for an opportunity to show them what you’ve got.
When your beautifully designed Facebook ads route people to an ad-specific landing page instead of a generic one (or worse … your website), studies show that conversions increase by 115%.
A landing page is simple to create, especially when using a builder like LeadPages, which is great for fitness studios. Its new drag-and-drop builder is easy to use even if you’ve never designed a landing page before, and they have a ton of high-quality, customizable templates to choose from so that you can tailor your page to match your brand.
But taking your guests to a landing page is just the first step in getting them to convert. Most landing pages only see about a 2.3% conversion rate, while the top 10% of high-converting pages convert at slightly higher than 11%.
Remember the two fitness studios from earlier? The one that got 31 new leads in 24 hours had a landing page conversion rate of 22.1% — nearly twice that of the highest-performing landing pages. And the one that got 16 leads overnight? It came in even higher at 29.6% conversion.
And that’s only counting form submissions, not calls, texts, or any conversions that came from retargeting campaigns.
One unique feature of these pages was a video of the studio owner explaining the offer and how to claim it. Using video on your landing pages can increase conversions by up to 86%, and adds an extra layer element to grab and hold people’s attention. So really, this tool is more like 2 in 1: a landing page with video. The pages also included a countdown timer to create urgency and boost the conversion rate.
It’s also important that the meaning of your landing page text is super clear. People only read about 20% of the text on a page, so keep it brief and be direct. This page only includes about 35 words total, including the Call to Action button.
You’ve shown your Facebook ad in front of the right people and have gotten form submissions from your landing page. It’s a great start, but to really get those new members in the door of your fitness studio, we suggest one more step: email.
For fitness studio owners, the biggest benefit comes from its automation capabilities. When you use an email marketing software or CRM like Mailchimp or InfusionSoft, you can follow up with those new potential members immediately, no matter what time of day it is … and no matter what you’re doing at the moment. It’s a strategic and convenient way to capture those leads into new members while they’re still motivated. Again, this allows you to market to people and engage while you sleep - awesome.
Sohen people fill out the form on your landing page to claim your superb offer, they provide their email. Your email marketing software then sends them an automatic confirmation and their coupon in a message that looks something like this:
So if a night-owl sees your Facebook ad for the 1 or 2 free weeks and claims the offer at 3 a.m., they’ll still get an email from you right away. It catches them while they’re still excited about your fitness studio.
If you use a CRM like InfusionSoft, you have the added ability to tag those leads based on the offer that they signed up for. So if you run two ads (one for a free week of yoga and another for a week of barre), you can tag that potential member with “Yoga Lead” or “Barre Lead” so you always know which they’re most interested in. Then, down the road, you can send emails full of solely yoga tips to people tagged with “Yoga Lead” so your marketing is super niche. A CRM like this allows you to segment.
These tools are the essentials that every fitness studio should use to grow their membership. It's also important to note that Facebook ads, landing pages, and email work best when used together. But to really skyrocket your numbers, there’s so much more that fitness studio owners can do.That’s why we created an entire program around these 3 tools for fitness studios. It’s called Fit FLAVER, and it’s the kick-butt way that fitness studios all over the country (including the ones in this article!) are getting tons of new leads every month. So let us know if you’d like to add a little flaver to your studio.
Mike Arce is the Founder and CEO of Loud Rumor, an online marketing agency that helps local businesses grow and get more customers. Through our proven program, Fit FLAVER, Mike has been able to combine his passion for both the fitness industry and marketing. Using Facebook advertising, landing pages, video, and more, he and his team generate 100 - 200 unique leads per studio each month.
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