Let’s take a look at four benefits of storytelling in fitness marketing to set you on the right path as you continually strive to improve your advertising efforts.

1. Give Life to Your Brand

In the past, a brand was little more than the logo that represented your company. Whether it was seen on the website or at your retail location, it was basically the only factor that allowed customers to recognize a business. But as time moves on, branding has transformed into every aspect of the logo, website, content, storytelling, and other front-facing parts of a corporation.

When marketing for gyms, the benefits of storytelling can be seen across each platform as your brand expands beyond the basic logo and name of your gym.

2. Invoke the Reader’s Emotions

A world-famous quote by Maya Angelou says “that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” This mindset works in every aspect of life, from personal relationships to business connections. Telling stories through your marketing efforts makes the content relatable, understandable, and entertaining.

People who read or watch it will be much more likely to remember your fitness center if you bring the viewers’ positive emotions into the mix.

3. Build a Relationship With Your Customers

More than ever before, customers want to feel like they are more than just a number on a page or a name on a client list. As you take them through the customer journey, consumers need a feeling of importance as though they are part of the family and storytelling can reach them on a personal level to give them that impression.

The benefits of storytelling for fitness marketing will lead those who see your content to become more loyal to your brand and remain a customer for life.

4. Makes Your Content Memorable

Reverting back to Maya Angelou’s great saying above, as you develop your fitness marketing plans, ensure the message is one they will remember. That way, even if they decide not to become a member right away, your content will stick out in their mind whenever they are ready.

Whether you are promoting written content or focusing on using powerful videos when marketing for gyms, ensure it has memorable dialogue, images, and statistics.

Let Us Help Share Your Story!

If you are struggling with incorporating storytelling into the marketing for your gym or fitness center, we would love to help! Our team understands the importance of high-quality content and the benefits of storytelling in this competitive industry.

Get in touch with soOlis today at tel: 877-789-8773 or fill out our contact form to receive additional information!

In this post, we’ve put together three ways that content can benefit your business. You’ll learn how it can help your SEO, boost audience engagement, and provide a solid ROI. Take a look and see what a few blog posts can do for your future success.

1. Key Part of SEO

While written content isn’t the only piece involved in optimizing your SEO strategy, it is certainly one of the most important. Options like pay-per-click (PPC) and paid ads can be costly investments. Some companies spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars to rank high on search engines like Google, while others use the power of content to find their place at the top for free.

Following productive keyword strategies and sharing informative, useful content can be just as effective as any other marketing tactic out there. By sharing details that answer questions and relate to your readers, you’ll see SEO benefits without paying for extra services.

2. Engaging with Your Audience

The value that comes with using content marketing to share engaging, powerful posts on your blog and social media profiles can’t be overstated. It gives your company credibility in the industry and builds trust with followers of your brand. These articles can be used for a range of strategies from educating your audience to promoting new products or services.

In the realm of fitness content marketing, it is a great tactic to share innovative workout routines, discuss popular health supplements, and even talk about effective exercise equipment.

3. The Gift that Keeps Giving

If you do a few internet searches on a handful of random topics, it’s likely you’ll find various date ranges for many of the articles that show up in the results. While most content can become irrelevant after a while, high-quality posts can remain on the first page of Google for years to come.

Whether you write the articles yourself or hire a content marketing expert, the ROI can last far beyond the brief moment other marketing strategies offer.

Give It a Try!

Now that you know what content marketing can do for your fitness business, why not try it out?

Share a blog or two. Post on social media. Put together a content schedule and watch your website rise in the search rankings on sites like Google.

Learn more about the importance of content and other marketing tactics by checking out our blog.

AI might not be a requirement for a fitness business yet, but savvy entrepreneurs should already be considering how it will impact businesses in the coming years. Here are a few impacts we will see over the next couple of years.

Personal Fitness Trainers Go Artificial

Over the next few years, entrepreneurs should keep their eyes peeled for more automated workers in the fitness industry. Already, most people are familiar with AI voice bots like Siri and Alexa. An AI-based personal assistant or trainer will be like an ultra-enhanced version of these bots.

Many tech analysts already think that AI personal assistants will be available in 2019. By 2020, these Next-Gen assistants will start to become more complex and will be used in more technical fields. Artificial intelligence for conversational apps will be used for customer service, business operations and workflows.

Consumers Are Getting Used to Voice AI

Many consumers are already transitioning to voice commands. In a recent study, the PWC Consumer Intelligence series found that 57 percent of smartphone users already used voice commands. Among users of laptops, desktops and tablets, this figure is at 29 percent.

There are still plenty of consumers who are unaware of artificial intelligence programs or how to use them. As awareness about AI starts to grow, the percentage of people using AI will only increase.

How Voice AI Will Impact Businesses

Whether you run a fitness business or a smoothie shop, voice AI can potentially be a game changer. According to researchers, 85 percent of customer interactions will be managed without an actual human by 2020. Meanwhile, 80 percent of executives believe that AI has the power to improve business productivity.

Conversational will handle task-based processes like buying replacement soap, preparing insurance claims, troubleshooting computer problems and sending out billing reminders.

Another major change is in how automation actually presents itself to consumers. Instead of the robotic voices people hear on a voicemail platform, AI will have human-like feeling and programmed empathy. Because of this human touch, brands will be able to use AI with customer service, business transactions, making appointments or enrolling in new programs.

WIll artificial fitness trainers arrive in the next year? Probably not. While AI may wait to take on more complex jobs for a few years, simple tasks like customer service and client billing are definite possibilities in the near future.

If you want to find out additional information about fitness equipment, gym marketing and more, contact soOlis today.

The Statistics

This first stat is sure to pique your interest; the TurnTo Network found that 90% of all consumers in the US find UGC to be the most influential when making purchasing decisions. This tells you that people are paying attention to what their friends, family, and acquaintances are doing. You want your users to show they are enjoying your space virtually.

When people see others that they personally know using a product or service they are more likely to use and trust the brand. As you can see in the image below UGC plays a significant role in user decisions as well as their overall reported experience.
Read more!

Credibility and Customer Experience

As mentioned above, when people see others that they know benefiting from things they may be interested in doing they are more likely to choose the products their friends use over others. This occurs because people making decisions about products or services want to know they are going to have a good experience. When they see their friends having a good experience, they want the same for themselves.

This, in turn, enhances the new customer’s experience because when they come into your gym, they already have expectations. If you can meet and exceed those expectations, you may just have a new customer for life.

Free Marketing

There is nothing better than a free lunch; you savor every bite. For every minute of work, you put into your social media accounts you will be paid many times over. Encourage customers to interact with you on social media by tagging them in photos, liking their posts, or even holding photo contests.

When customers post photos of themselves in your gym with tags, you have access to new possible members. Businesses that run social media accounts for different amenity services will look into the demographics of your followers and tailor social media posts specific to their interests.

You gain exposure to the community as well as a list of new possible members. Using UGC will give you a leg up on the type of people you should be marketing to in addition to some free ad space.

Interacting with the Community

It is hard for small businesses to keep up with their communities. A gym should be part of the lifeblood of a community, where people interact and meet on a daily basis.

Your personal interaction with UGC and your customers will help to keep your finger on the pulse of the community. You will know what they need and be exposed to creative ways to get more of the community’s attention using UGC.

Increase Membership

UGC is a hands-on well-loved way to garner attention for your establishment. It is all in the statistics above. If you can generate quality UGC, people will be influenced to come and at least check out your fitness space.

Once you have new people in the door, it is up to you to get them excited about enrolling and coming back. In addition, customers that are influenced by UGC to join your fitness center are more likely to add to your treasure trove of UGC customers than ones attracted by a sign or coupon.

Using UGC will establish your credibility as a gym that people want to go to. It will solidify your place in the community. You will gain membership and free marketing from using it. Every penny and second spent on your social media accounts to gain UGC will benefit you greatly in the long run.

Click here for our samples user generated content collector!

For more information about user generated content, contact soOlis at info@soOlis.comor 877-789-8773.

Digital Marketing Trends for 2019

Significant trends in cities will continue working to build an experiential conversation with consumers along with featuring specialized group activities for younger generations to share in. User-generated content will also continue to be an essential marketing tool for fitness boutiques and centers.

In 2019 fitness centers should work to draw both younger and older populations through digital marketing. From apartments to gyms, to dining, and shopping the growth of the experiential customer has become a trend. Communicating that your gym caters to this need will be most easily done via social media marketing using a combination of user-generated and your own content.

Creating conversations around the actual experience will be important in both cities and rural areas to attract younger crowds into gyms. Digital trends for 2019 include:

• Social Media Marketing
• User-Generated Content
• Blogs or Other Posts that Give Consumers a Feel for Your Gym.

Crafting online personas gives people the opportunity to get a feel for your gym before they enter it. This idea is similar to how Maytag built trust through commercials using the Maytag Man that no one ever needed because the appliances are so trustworthy.

You should plan to create blogs, YouTube videos, a Twitter personality, or another way to get the feeling of your gym across to the public so they may experience it before they walk in the door. The point being, in 2019 you will need to communicate your niche and why people should come to your gym over others, beyond saving money or losing weight.

Combining Traditional Coupons with Digital Marketing

Let’s be real; people don’t have a ton of extra cash to spend on things like memberships, especially people that are living on fixed incomes. Most people these days have Facebook accounts, email addresses, and the like. Once you start building your digital marketing community, you can use that data to find new customers or give incentives to customers you already have.

While it may sound old school, to offer coupons or other incentives to get people in the door and coming back, it works. A post about social media advertising by divvit.com suggests that your ads should be tested and proven for the best click through rates and return on capital. Rather than tackle this learning curve on you own, hiring someone to do it for you will lower the cost to entry and keep things easy for you in the longer run; you do have a gym to run after all.

Overall in 2019, the communication of your gym’s specific niche and experience will be very important for fitness industry marketing. Your marketing plan will depend heavily on your location and the type of members you attract. Unless you already have a great social media marketing plan in place, think about using a marketing professional. Digital marketing professionals can inexpensively get your social media marketing efforts producing new members and improving member retention right away.

For more information about fitness digital marketing contact soOlis at info@soOlis.com.

When the customers of your gym share pictures and experiences at your gym with others it is a form of free and influential advertising. This type of marketing content is called user-generated content (UGC), and you should be working to get customers to create as much of it as possible. Here are some reasons why you should encourage your users to generate content about your gym.

The Statistics

This first stat is sure to pique your interest; the TurnTo Network found that 90% of all consumers in the US find UGC to be the most influential when making purchasing decisions. This tells you that people are paying attention to what their friends, family, and acquaintances are doing. You want your users to show they are enjoying your space virtually.

When people see others that they personally know using a product or service they are more likely to use and trust the brand. As you can see in the image below UGC plays a significant role in user decisions as well as their overall reported experience.

How UGC Influences Customers

Image From: TurnTo Network

It is clear from the user statistics that UGC can go a long way if you manage to do it right. Utilizing UGC will build your credibility, enhance the experiences of your customers, provide you with free advertising, help you interact with your community, and increase membership.

Credibility and Customer Experience

As mentioned above, when people see others that they know benefiting from things they may be interested in doing they are more likely to choose the products their friends use over others. This occurs because people making decisions about products or services want to know they are going to have a good experience. When they see their friends having a good experience, they want the same for themselves.

This, in turn, enhances the new customer’s experience because when they come into your gym, they already have expectations. If you can meet and exceed those expectations, you may just have a new customer for life.

Free Marketing

There is nothing better than a free lunch; you savor every bite. For every minute of work, you put into your social media accounts you will be paid many times over. Encourage customers to interact with you on social media by tagging them in photos, liking their posts, or even holding photo contests.

When customers post photos of themselves in your gym with tags, you have access to new possible members. Businesses that run social media accounts for different amenity services will look into the demographics of your followers and tailor social media posts specific to their interests.

You gain exposure to the community as well as a list of new possible members. Using UGC will give you a leg up on the type of people you should be marketing to in addition to some free ad space.

Interacting with the Community

It is hard for small businesses to keep up with their communities. A gym should be part of the lifeblood of a community, where people interact and meet on a daily basis.

Your personal interaction with UGC and your customers will help to keep your finger on the pulse of the community. You will know what they need and be exposed to creative ways to get more of the community’s attention using UGC.

Increase Membership

UGC is a hands-on well-loved way to garner attention for your establishment. It is all in the statistics above. If you can generate quality UGC, people will be influenced to come and at least check out your fitness space.

Once you have new people in the door, it is up to you to get them excited about enrolling and coming back. In addition, customers that  are influenced by UGC to join your fitness center are more likely to add to your treasure trove of UGC customers than ones attracted by a sign or coupon.

Using UGC will establish your credibility as a gym that people want to go to. It will solidify your place in the community. You will gain membership and free marketing from using it. Every penny and second spent on your social media accounts to gain UGC will benefit you greatly in the long run.

For more information about user generated content, contact soOlis at info@soOlis.com or 877-789-8773.

To attract more potential members and increase your enrollment, start to plan your marketing activities ahead of time so you can reach high-quality prospects when the “New Year’s resolution craze” kicks in.

Here are the key areas to cover in your gym’s comprehensive digital marketing plan:

Social Media

People are on social media to share their holiday season experience with their friends and family so what better way to reach them than to meet them where they’re at?

Use visual content (e.g., workouts videos, photos of your gym, motivating quotes) to attract attention and spark conversations. Post client testimonials as social proof and share healthy recipes to add value.

Create a Facebook event to attract more prospects (e.g., a free trial class) and use the appropriate hashtags so more potential clients in your geographic location can see your posts.

Content Marketing

Sharing valuable and relevant content is a great way to build trust and cultivate relationships with your audience while positioning you as a subject matter expert.

Research your ideal clients’ biggest fitness challenges and create content to attract the right potential clients to your website.

Your content should also address the objections and concerns related to each stage of your prospects’ customer journey so you can accelerate the sales cycle and improve your conversion rate.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Most people start their search for local businesses online so getting found on Google is key to attracting more new prospects to your gym.

Make sure your website is optimized for the right keywords, mobile-responsive, and easy to navigate. Claim your Google My Business listing so it will be listed in the local pack, which is shown at the top of relevant search results.

Pay-Per-Click and Remarketing

You can use online advertising strategies to drive more traffic to your website. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, such as Google Ads and Facebook ads, is one of the most common forms and you only pay for visitors that click through to your website.

To optimize the ROI of your PPC campaigns, you need to optimize your targeting and bidding strategy. Also, use the right keywords and messaging that match your target audience’s search intent so you can get high-quality clicks.

In addition, most visitors who come to your website the first time aren’t ready to convert. Use remarketing campaigns to display relevant ads to these prospects so you can stay top of mind and drive them back to your website.

For more information about internet fitness specific marketing, contact soOlis at 877-789-8773 or info@soOlis.com.

Digital Data and the Numbers

You have a website, and maybe you track some things on Google Analytics, but you don’t really know what any of it means or how to use it. If you do have a website or use social media to promote your gym, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know the demographics of people that are engaging with my marketing materials?

Do I have a way to understand the interests of the people that interact with my marketing?

Am I really capitalizing on my social media marketing budget?

If you do not know the answers to these questions, you may want to consider what you can do to answer them. Digital data is a goldmine if you know how to use it. Research has shown that AI can help to convert 216% more customers and increase sales by 21%. For fitness centers, one establishment that has had great success with AI marketing tactics was able to boost leads by 218%.

How Does it Work?

AI for fitness marketing simply takes all of the data from the hard work that you put into your current marketing and makes it more useful. Using a system that is specially designed to see into the future of fitness marketing essentially takes all of your user and interaction data, pools it together and then parses it for positive patterns.

Think about it like this. You have a Facebook user at your gym; they often like your Facebook posts. This particular user posts about one of your classes and their friend, Jill, likes the post then goes to your website and signs up for a newsletter. From here your specialized AI fitness marketing system will go through Jill’s public data such as Facebook posts and likes and construct a personalized marketing plan for Jill only.

A fitness marketing AI system can also enlighten you to what types of media posts are the most popular, what promos work the best, etc., without having to do the footwork yourself. AI will save you a lot of time and therefore money planning out new social media campaigns and other ways to generate leads.

Again, do you have a good handle on your user and interaction data? Are you using it to your best advantage? Get on board with the AI fitness marketing wave, and you will quickly generate more leads than ever before. Unless you are incredibly fortunate and have movie stars in your classes day after day, an AI marketing system is an excellent investment for your gym marketing budget.

For more information about artificial intelligence for gyms contact soOlis at 877-789-8773 or info@soOlis.com

One effective way to generate more interest and boost your visibility is to set up a booth at trade shows. What can you do before, during, and after the event to make sure you’re getting the most out of your time and efforts?

1. Set Goals and Plan in Advance

What business objective do you want to achieve by attending this trade show?

Make sure your marketing materials, messaging, and targeting is in alignment with your overall business objectives so you can attract the right visitors to your booth.

Knowing what your goals are can also help you map out pre- and post-show promotional activities so you can drive more traffic to your booth and follow up with the leads strategically.

2. Complement Your Marketing and Product Launch Calendar

Do you have any new product launch coming up?

Trade shows are perfect venues to drum up attention and excitement around your new product launches. Take a look at your marketing calendar and see what new products you can promote to attract visitors to your booth.

If you don’t yet have a new product to show but got something in the works, you can offer a “sneak peek” to pique interest and entice visitors to get on an early notification list so you can nurture the leads and continue the conversation.

3. Create a Post-Event Follow Up Strategy

What are you going to do with all the business cards and emails collected from your booth visitors during the event? Well, the work has just begun!

A well-designed follow-up strategy consisting of email, social media, and remarketing can help you make the most out of the event by building relationships with the prospects you have met. For example, add them to a new segment on your email list so you can send them a personalized message, a piece of high-value content, and a lead nurturing campaign.

You can keep the buzz going by sharing valuable content and offers through your email, blog, and social media channels (e.g., by setting up a custom audience or through remarketing campaigns.)

For more information on fitness marketing contact soOlis at info@soOlis.com.