Since the world is shifting trends, gyms are transforming significantly. An evolution that is bringing new meanings of doing fitness together. As we speak statistically, around 174 million people worldwide are associated with any active club as a member. However, every member has a journey and a story to tell. A while ago, gyms were just considered wellness and fitness centers. Alternatively, gym members are now blooming by sharing their journeys. It’s about a collective journey and shared goals with each.
Globally, the calculated worth of the gym industry in 2020 was 83.24 billion; however, it increased to 88.50 billion in 2023. And if everything stays like this, it is estimated that the market value will reach 125.23 billion in a decade.
Gyms are a place to spend hours exercising but where people transform their bodies and personalities. Additionally, a feeling of belongingness is what keeps a person intact. Slowly, gyms are becoming a place to socialize and bring life to the fitness industry.
Since the pandemic, the focus on wellness and fitness has increased tremendously.
Gyms as social networking platforms
Gyms are hyped as the platforms for social networking. Well, why not when a bunch of people is gathered at a place with similar goals, and they are fully encouraged and motivated? They must interact.
Being a gym owner, what more do you require? Since the feelings of belongingness and connection lead people to a place and motivate them to achieve. Additionally, as a gym owner, this is all that you need. Such bondings lead to a decrease in the number of no-shows and follow schedules.
However, building a complete fitness community is not child’s play for anyone and requires some real techniques. Whatever techniques you apply, keep in mind the main goal is to keep the clients happy, satisfied, and encouraged. And build a thriving motivation so they keep coming back for more. The key to any service-based business is the rate of retained loyal members. Being a gym owner, you must learn the tips and tricks to make your client stay connected.
Understanding the niche of your fitness community
Here are some key points to understand the type of fitness community you are looking forward to building. Only if we talk about fitness centers in recent years are they flourishing more as people become more aware of fitness and its importance. If we look at the statistics, the industry size was valued at 96.7 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach 131.9 billion in the upcoming 6 years. The fitness industry’s need has increased with the evolution of the era.
Discovering the niche is very important as it allows you to make your whole fitness community stand on it.
Here are some of the major niches of the fitness industry upon which you can identify the factors that might affect fitness community building.
Yoga fitness niche
The yoga community is all about versatility and finding calmness inside you. However, it is expansive and enthusiastic. If you have a yoga studio and are looking forward to building a fitness community. You need to keep in mind the variety of ages you will be dealing with. Making a community of diverse audiences is even more challenging.
Fitness niches of gym
There are various gym niches, including weight loss for women, bodybuilding, and many more. However, this niche represents motivated and highly goal-oriented people. As for the women looking forward to losing fat, they have a journey that is more than shedding pounds. It’s their journey to find their real identity and transform them into confident ladies, which leads to a sense of community.
Similarly, talking about bodybuilding is where men redefine masculinity by pushing their limits and achieving their goals. Providing them with the right community to fit in is very important. Additionally, it’s a place where spirits are usually at the 7th sky, and motivation tries to break through every record.
CrossFit fitness niche
Like current fitness trends, crossfit offers you a High-intensity workout with intervals for strength building and extreme fitness. It helps to condition the body with a diversity of fitness regimens. The togetherness of athletes pushing their limits to achieve high fitness is another sight.
How do you build a fitness community for your gym?
The following are the keys to building a gym community.
Integration of gym software
A variety of gym software provides targeted marketing features that help gather similar audiences on one platform. This feature helps the gym owners gather personal data to provide personalized experiences to each community sector. Integrate gym membership management system like Wellyx for your fitness business to provide ultimate satisfaction and a feeling of belongingness to your clients.
Align your website
Everything is digitalized, and it is very important to have an online presence, especially a strong website. It is at the forefront of your fitness community where they can connect. Special guides and blogs regarding fitness must be uploaded using SEO techniques, creating similar interest topics. Keep the website simple and easy to use and provide a platform for your members to share their insights. It is essential to keep getting updates on their preferences for anything new.
Enhance your social media presence
Well, the biggest mistake any gym owner could make is that they make everything about their gym. However, when it comes to building a fitness community, engage the individuals in real-time. Make some social media posts about them regarding their success so they can feel connected, valued, and motivated. It will help other clients to get the influence of good.
Showing your community that they can even achieve their goals will form a more authentic bond within your community. Ensure your customer service is available 24/7, and your client doesn’t have to wait for any reply. Make sure your staff is available all the time for your clients. If you are spending money on your social media, it’s not lost. It helps to bring back the leads and new clients. Well, it doesn’t directly affect the approaches you take to build your social media.
Retain your existing clients
The fitness industry has evolved, and the challenges are rising intensely every minute. Investing to catch new leads in this tight-packed working market is usually tough. Regardless, every gym owner needs to enforce the guidelines in their gym to retain their existing customers.
Statistics show that even if a gym retains 5% of its members, it adds up to 95% of the profit rate. There are multiple ways to build a long-lasting client association, guiding brand loyalty and higher income generation. Following are the few factors to retain your clients;
- Customer relationship management is the key to operating a profitable business.
- Boost your trainer’s morale.
- Infuse good automation software.
- Ensure convenience.
- Provide leverages.
Gym community building is very important to ensure your clients retain it as it builds up trust and bonds that are continuously working out together. Following the above tips might help your client build a good bond with the gym, which is the basic essentiality of any community.
Collaborate to provide convenience
Collaborating with other big businesses is a big part of building a fitness community. At a small level, you can collaborate with coffee shops, restaurants, spas, or any available small businesses to provide convenience. Not only does it help to build your customers’ loyalty towards the gym and community, but it also attracts new clients and increases the client rate. It is considered a very effective method to ensure your clients are satisfied.
Keep your client status in check
To maintain the members’ loyalty, knowing their financial contributions and the details of the other expenses they are doing in the same service they’re getting from you or the others is fundamental. Suppose you can get to know their additional fitness-related Costs. In that case, you may bring them your unique and targeted proposal and demonstrate its alignment with their fitness journey.
To gain an inclusive picture of your business’s status and position, you must be aware of all the other expenditures your members make in the same fitness-related services they’re getting from you.
They might be subscribed to other gym memberships, going to some other boutique fitness studios, taking part in some yoga or Pilates classes, or even hiring some other fitness trainers besides you. To be a competitive fitness business owner, you need to comprehend your members’ complete fitness journey and the part your fitness studio has in that journey.
Collecting data on your members’ wallet share in their fitness journey is easy by doing short surveys. Inquire them about their engagement in other fitness activities, whether or not they’re subscribed to other gyms and fitness clubs, taking some other classes, or if they’ve hired a personal trainer for their fitness activities. Moreover, you may inquire about their other fitness-related expenditures, like if they’re taking any supplements or using any specific equipment.
Conclusion
Building a sense of community nowadays is very important among the members. However, it helps your clients reconnect with the gym more easily than looking out for another option. Communicating with your members after the fitness classes will help build strong bonds. Organizing events so members can bond with each other is one of the ways to maintain unity. Making online Facebook groups and organizing online seminars is also a great way of building a fitness community.
