Marketing in the Fitness World

What can you do to make your fitness facility stand out in a class by itself? Taking a page from the sports marketing playbook, you can disqualify the competition and redefine the standards in order to transform the fitness game by hitting these main focal points.

Equipment – No one likes walking into a gym and seeing chipped paint, torn upholstery, and dirty floors. As it relates to fitness facilities, strive to make all of the equipment, exterior and interior, top of the line. Providing a facility that houses state-of-the-art equipment will generate respect as well as serve as a means of recruiting and retaining clientele. Try to outfitting your gym with equipment brands that project quality and professionalism. Brands such as Life Fitness and Iron Grip are among the top fitness products in the industry.

Staff – When I walk into a gym, the last thing I want is to be greeted by a rude employee. As a professional, it is imperative to take the time and effort needed to hire the right person for the job. Hiring the most qualified person who possesses relevant certifications or other relevant credentials is essential to creating a quality staff.  It is also important to look for individuals with a customer-friendly personality.  Physical appearance is crucial; in-shape, fit employees will give you the upper hand in the fitness world where image is key. The right staff will make people feel comfortable and make them choose your fitness facility over the competitors. A quality staff will generate happy customers who will 'spread the word' about your facility which in turn will increase your membership potential dramatically.

Apparel – Plain, gray, cotton t-shirts are not what people want to see in the Pro-Shop. Provide an inventory of nice, branded clothing for people to purchase, such as Nike or Under Armour.  When customers are wearing your branded clothing (your fitness logo), it serves as a secondary form of advertising.

These are a few ideas that you can incorporate into your fitness facility to make the opposition irrelevant and dominate the game of marketing in the fitness world.