If you’re a gym owner, you’re no stranger to the influx of memberships that happen in the new year. 48 percent of people say improving fitness is a top priority in 2024. Sounds like great news, right? You can sit back and relax knowing that the new members are just flowing in. Well, not quite. You still have to retain those members and make sure they keep coming back. Read on as we highlight some gym retention strategies that you might want to adopt this year.
First, let’s go over why retaining those clients is such a big deal. It costs 3 times as much to acquire a new member than it does to retain one. Now, you might be thinking "These clients came to me. I didn’t spend anything to acquire them." And you’d be totally right. However, Forbes found that the average resolution only lasts about 3.74 months. If you can’t entice those new year clients to stay, you’ll be spending money to replace them later.
Now that we’ve talked about why gym retention is important, let’s look at eight specific retention strategies you can implement this year:
You don’t need to move your gym to the busiest section of town to be easy to find. Tasks like setting up a Google Business Profile can help your location show up in one of the top spots on Google’s map section. The easier it is for customers to get to you, the more likely they are to keep coming back.
No one likes to walk into a business with an unfriendly atmosphere. Offering your members the best possible customer service helps them feel comfortable and valued. You’ll be able to keep customers coming back when you’ve created a safe environment where they know they’ll be treated right.
Every gym-goer has different needs and lifestyles. Choosing a tiered pricing strategy with costs based on different class offerings, training hours, etc. is a great way to stay inclusive. Make sure the pricing and what is included with each tier is clearly displayed on your website.
When members have to wait for a single bench to open up or have to alter their workout because you don’t have a deadlift platform, they might just walk out and never look back. Invest in the quality equipment and amenities customers are looking for.
Create a community that makes your members feel involved. Things like weekly email newsletters, blog posts and taking advantage of social media are a few great ways to start. Use these forms of communication to keep everyone up to date on any changes that might be happening or to highlight member success stories.
Other great ways to retain members are to offer incentives or implement loyalty programs. Create an automated email that offers a discount for renewing when a member’s contract is about to expire. Even something as simple as offering a free guest pass can increase gym member retention by more than 20%.
You can’t retain clients if you don’t know their reasons for leaving. Post QR codes around the gym or send periodic emails that ask your members what they’re loving and where you can improve. Then take the right steps to implement those suggestions.
Obviously getting clients into your physical location is the main goal, but sometimes life happens and that’s not always possible. Help your clients get more out of their membership by offering online workout plans, meal advice or video classes. This can even work in tandem with your location when you set up an online scheduling portal.
Whether you choose to action all these strategies in the coming year or even just a few, it’s a step in the direction of retaining your resolution client base. Several of these tips—being easy to find, optimizing your website for digital services and building a better social media presence—can be tackled all at once by creating a digital marketing strategy for your gym. Not sure how to get started with that? Try chatting with one of our experts to see how RevLocal can help.
Mideya Kinney, Junior Content Writer
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