10 Ways For Gyms To Flex Their Facebook Muscles

There are more than 50 Million people signed up for a gym membership in the United States alone. People that come and work out at gyms usually chat with other gym members about work and life in general, and often become friends with gym employees and managers. This makes gyms the perfect business for using social media to gain even more customers.

But what about all the time when they’re not at the gym? How do health clubs stay in touch with their customers?

Social Media. Just as they’re willing to make a commitment to a membership, most people are willing to follow their gyms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.

Here are 10 different ways you as a gym owner can effectively use these online communication channels to gain more customers for your business.

• Contests
  Almost everyone is up for a challenge or competition, especially those who are already motivated enough to work out on a regular basis. Put a prize up for grabs and watch your engagement rates soar. Encourage participation. Ask for fan input. Show people how much you appreciate hearing from them by rewarding them for their feedback.

• Tips
  A hard sell doesn’t work on social media. People don’t want to be promoted to by your account. They want to be informed, entertained, and educated. They want your knowledge, expertise, and advice. Share everything you know about injury prevention, weight-lifting, cardio exercises, running, stretching, nutrition, and more. Treat your fans and followers to a ton of terrific tips.

• Motivational Pictures
  The goal of any post on social media should be to appeal to the audience’s interests. If you can strike common ground with your customers and prospects, you can earn their trust. After all, like minds stick together. Memes. Graphics. Visuals. Add a few words of inspiration to a strong image of any kind and you’re in your audience’s wheelhouse. You have a chance of going viral.

• Nutritional Facts
  Food plays well on social media for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it’s such a universal pleasure. Who doesn’t like to eat? Pictures of food can be particularly colorful as well, so they stand out in a cluttered news feed. Healthy eating? Now that’s the perfect combo for this particular audience, people who can certainly appreciate good food, but who know that food that’s good for you…well, that’s even better.

• Employee Profiles
  With so many clubs competing for attention, sometimes the best mediators are the employees behind the scenes. Showcase the human side of your brand. Put those who work for you front and center. Introduce them. Interview them. Include them prominently in your social media stream. Remember that people do business with people, not brand names and corporate logos.

• Polls
  Do you ask your social media audience for feedback? When’s the last time you asked them a question of any kind? If you show an interest in what those on the receiving end of your communications have to say, not only will you boost the level of engagement you have with them, but you may even receive feedback that you can actually use to make your business better.

• Promotional Offers
  While there should be far less promotional content in your social media stream than informational, educational, and other types, that doesn’t mean you can’t tout your products and services on a regular basis. At least 10 percent of your content should be driving traffic to your business, maybe more, depending on your audience’s receptivity to such offers. Test for yourself. Incorporate discounts and deals into your messaging and see what sticks best.

• Customer Service
  Using social media to answer customers’ questions and keep one step ahead of their requests for support is a great use of these channels. As opposed to a phone call or live chat, it’s often a quicker and easier way to put out a fire. Pre-populate your streams with answers to FAQs. Enlist a variety of listening tools – such as Radian6 – to identify brand mentions and respond in a prompt, friendly fashion. In this day and age, real-time, social customer service is what’s expected of brands.

• News and Information
  Think of yourself as a publisher or broadcaster with each social media channel representing a near instantaneous way for you to get the word out about what’s going at your club. Hosting a road race on the weekend? Talk about it. Changing your hours of operation for the big holiday break? Announce them. Hiring a new fitness instructor? Introduce her. Don’t be shy with your updates. Stay top-of-mind with your constituents.

• Philanthropy
  Your facility may be involved in a number of different fundraising campaigns already, but you may not be publicizing such benevolence. Are you connecting with those local nonprofits that have a social media presence themselves? Are you leveraging online fundraising sites such as Firstgiving, Crowdrise, and Fundly to raise money among your network? Don’t hesitate to announce your cause marketing efforts to your social media connections. Doing well by doing good is the best of two worlds.

Follow these 10 tips and you'll be well on your way to a successful social media campaign!