The fitness club industry is poised for significant growth and gearing towards all inclusive memberships. With 2024 at the halfway mark, the fitness industry is bouncing back with new, innovative ways.
In 2019, the health club industry finished the decade with record performance: worldwide, industry revenue totalling $96.7 billion worldwide. In North America, one in five people belonged to some type of gym-based club. 2019 was an amazing year and showed a growth of 2.7% Yes, fitness clubs were on the grow in a big way!
Then 2020, which initially prepared for additional growth, took a nosedive and the health and fitness industry lost 13.9 billion in revenues between mid-March to the end of August 2020. It’s a shocking realization that the pandemic had such a huge effect on this industry.
How does this tie in with the now and your gym?
The gym industry quickly turned to online services, dramatically increasing demographics from a geographical standpoint. Accessing online services allowed gyms to survive and bounce back. Boutique gym and class bookings bounced back by 91% amid the pandemic. Fitness equipment and fitness app sales were driven up. You could see that amid this confusing time, fitness went through a huge transition.
What became evident is that community, regardless of the pandemic, is a huge draw for people, adding in innovation, and socializing and community to help meet fitness needs for all ages and lifestyles is now driving the fitness industry, Boutique gyms catering to the specific needs of their members are thriving.
As we move into 2024 fitness has become a focal point to health. To captivate this audience, Gym owners need to be looking at key elements in their socio-economics- demographics.
Learn your membership
For those gyms catering to in house, real-time memberships, knowing your demographics is crucial for success. Learn about the clients you have to cast a wider net into your community. Onboarding is crucial for retention just a 5 % increase in new clients can increase revenue by 25% If they are correctly onboarded then an average of 87% will stay on after the first six months.
Demographic targeting or demographic segmentation is becoming bigger
People follow similar people who are like them so, this type of fitness studio marketing strategy focuses on market segmentation for groups in your community according to family size, religion, gender, age, ethnicity, education, and even income. The data can effectively be segmented into different markets, helping companies target customers more accurately than ever before.
Importance of market segmentation in your fitness marketing strategy – Once you learn what you can of your demographic, now it’s time to import strategy into increasing memberships. By targeting your community.
- It will be easy to customize the marketing program.
- You can serve your members better based on their needs.
- By offering personalized service, you may retain your clients for a longer period.
- Also, you can create membership packages of diverse types.
- As you know about the age and demographics of your target audience, you can make your marketing campaign more effective within a short time.
Geography
Most members still live in very close proximity to the gyms they attend. This makes sense, considering that one reaps the most benefits with the consistent frequency of workouts. For most consumers, a convenient travel route with the least amount of traffic and easiest access is far preferable to a less expensive gym. In fact, health club members will pay $10 to $50 more per month for convenience.
Gym Members are getting younger
Every single person who desires to be healthy is a potential member but with social media influencers, we see an increase of younger people wanting to get into fitness, with the youngest usually starting at age 12, although gyms are getting smart by creating a family vibe and allowing children to attend workouts with their parents. Catering to men, women, children independently and then as families. Can increase your revenue tenfold.
By using a fitness marketing strategy, there are several ways of learning about the target audience.
- Website visitors filling up a digital form to reveal their interests
- Customers signing up for memberships in your gym center
- Direct interaction through social media and live chat
- Host a membership appreciation day and invite the community to come out and join the party, allow them to see, smell, touch and maybe host a tour.
If your fitness studio does not have a marketing strategy yet.
You may not have time to analyze your target market and potential customers. Using a professional in whose wheelhouse it is to find the answers to your marketing needs is key. Book a strategy call with us at fitnessstudiomarketing.ca/book