Supporting Gyms During COVID-19
Technology has never played a more important role for the fitness industry than it does today in a post COVID-19 world.
Fitness after COVID-19
Gym experiences you can’t recreate in your living room
If Joe Wicks can work out in his living room, then so can we, right? You need to think out of the box and create unique workout experiences.
Personalised digital fitness journey
Everything’s more personalised now and users are expecting to see content that applies to their goals and needs in their fitness feed too.
Building brand loyalty through digital presence
If getting your fitness brand online wasn’t a priority before COVID-19, it has become now. A social media challenge will go a long way to building a community spirit, even at a distance.
Trending Now
On Demand
From cardio classes to meditation podcasts, two words have never been more popular: “On Demand”.
Live Classes
Fitness classes can now take place virtually anywhere, anytime and on any mobile device.
Cult Following
Many PT’s have gained a cult following throughout the lockdown with their positive attitude, healthy lifestyle and tips.
Digital Mindset
Digital fitness will likely remain a popular choice even when gyms are ready to reopen their doors to exercisers.
Fitness Impact on Members
If the months of lockdown serve to show us something, it is that to this day there’s no bigger motivator for people than their own health.
In the COVID-19 aftermath, the motivation to stay fit and healthy will only surge. What you do with this knowledge can either help you grow to be a partner in your exercisers’ journey to staying fit and healthy, or alienate your members from your club.
The way you communicate your reopening strategy is as important as the way you welcome your members back to the gym floor. Keep in mind that technology is not only a facilitator, but a powerful medium of communication.
After months of social distancing, many people will not feel comfortable jumping back to their normal routines straightaway. Fitness clubs are expected to see at least a 50% drop in class attendance in the first few months of reopening. Don’t get discouraged. Position your marketing message as close as possible to the current motivation of your exercisers, but be prepared to offer more limited-contact options as a way to demonstrate greater financial flexibility.
While the gym has become synonymous with entertainment in the past decade, it is now more important than ever to move away from its social function and reinforce its health imput. The community spirit will remain a key characteristic of the gym, but achieving personal fitness goals will likely be a leading factor for higher gym attendance throughout the remainder of practicing social distance.
Ensuring a thorough cleaning of your gym will be a top priority. There are after all two types of people right now: the overly cautious and the careless. To attract and preserve both, you will need to outline clear health & safety guidelines that do not leave room for interpretation.
Here’s a simple formula to illustrate the way human behaviour works: Motivation + Beliefs = Behaviour
To put it simply, matching motivation and beliefs result in predictable behaviour. While it is true that we live in a very unpredictable world right now, you can work to create a safe environment that encourages members to behave the way you’d expect them to.
We know that exercisers are motivated by their desire to stay fit and healthy, but if they believe that returning to the gym is not safe yet, they will look for alternatives, such as On Demand content and Live classes. In other words, at-home alternatives will remain an important source of staying connected with your exercisers during the phased transition of going back to the gym.
Frozen or cancelled, members might have second thoughts about permanently returning to the gym yet. Be ready to prepare short-term contracts as the temporary norm at least in the beginning of returning to the gym.
Many big brands offered free subscriptions during the period of social distancing and successfully attracted plenty of new users on their mobile and social platforms. You can make use of the model to transfer some of those views to your mobile app, or introduce a subscription model in your own gym.
Another way to monetize your brand is to offer exercise wear. This will be a good opportunity to position your brand in the daily lives of exercisers.
We started the lockdown with shortage of bread and flour and are about to end it with shortage of home exercise equipment. Get to know the changing needs of your members and don’t underestimate the power of home workouts.
What have we developed to help you manage this change?
On Demand
Our team developed and delivered Membr On Demand to help you stay engaged with your members
Gym Floor Management
Control and limit the number of attendees at any point of the day to ensure safe social distancing.
App Access Control
With QR code entry system, you can offer contactless gym entry for all members.
Operational Emails
Demonstrate your business strategy and commitment by sharing your reopening actions ahead of time.
Online Sign Up
Encourage members to sign up online as a contactless method within the first phases of reopening.
Outside Classes
Offer outside classes using the Booking Calendar and promote workouts at a distance in the summer months.
Sleeping Status Reset
To support your marketing efforts, we can wake up members by resetting their status to before the lockdown started.
Member Tasks
Create member tasks to share the responsibilities across your team and manage the transition smoothly.
We are offering you further marketing & sales support
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Leads
- 6-week marketing campaign
- Full campaign content & video creation
- 1 x high converting landing page
- 6-week social Ads creation & management
- Valuable online tracking support
Leads +
- Online audit
- Prospect software usage audit
- Marketing evaluation & brand audit
- Google search campaign support
- Marketing print support and more
Sales
- 6-week marketing campaign
- Tailored conversion funnels
- Full campaign content & video creation
- 1 x high converting landing page
- Online tracking integration
- 6-week social Ads creation & management
- 6 x tailored SMS & branded email delivery
- Weekly support call
Sales +
- 6-week re-opening member campaign
- 4 x non paid social Ads creation
- 4 x tailored SMS & branded email delivery
- Development of a branded digital fitness solution
- Connected fitness App integration
- Member pathway development
From surviving to thriving
All gyms closed as part of the national lockdown.
Gyms and trainers are adapting to fitness in lockdown.
Start educating members on safety policy and changes.
Kick off your pre-sale and offer referral discounts.
Begin adding your classes for a diverse booking schedule.
Reopen your gym to members with social distance practices.
Get Ready to Reopen with Membr
Organised and delivered by:
Craig McNeil, Head of Digital FItness
Dan Jones, Product Trainer
Phase 1 Educate
18 JUNE 2020, 11:00 AM
Use On Demand
Learn how to use On Demand to educate members on health and safety policy as you work to prepare and communicate your gym reopening strategy.
Phase 2 Engage
25 JUNE 2020, 11:00 AM
Kick Off Pre-Sale
Learn how to make use of your marketing tools to attract leads and increase membership sales as you’re approaching your gym reopening date.
Phase 3 Empower
2 JULY 2020, 11:00 AM
Activate Bookings
Learn how to manage gym floor capacity using our Bookings Calendar, add your own restrictions and implement app access control.
Watch the recording now:
Register for the webinar:
Reopening Checklists
Get ahead in your planning. You’ll receive more information after every webinar.
Back 2 Basics with Membr
21 JULY 2020, 11:00 AM
How to Sell to Prospects
Reopening your club after the COVID-19 lockdown starts with attracting back members and acquiring leads. Combine your safety strategy with creative thinking to boost membership sales and drive exercisers back to the gym floor.
23 JULY 2020, 11:00 AM
How to Manage Members
Membership management can be a tricky challenge even for the most skilled at multitasking. Learn how to keep up impeccable admin work that saves you time, make the best use of packages, pathways and the profile tabs.
28 JULY 2020, 11:00 AM
How to Coach Digitally
Engagement doesn’t have to end with gym workouts, extend your fitness offerings with the help of digital coaching. Own your bookings calendar, create exciting On Demand content and drive brand loyalty with your own mobile app.
30 JULY 2020, 11:00 AM
How to Report Purposefully
Data is an important asset that can help you predict user behaviour and act proactively. Find your way with the Report Builder, learn how to filter, use and export data, and manage staff members with more transparency.
