Bringing Members Back: How 3 Gyms Are Taking On The Challenge

As gym memberships declined throughout the past year, many people transitioned their workouts to home equipment or online workouts. With the vaccine rollout now in full force and many people back out and about, gyms, including Gold’s Gym, Life Time Fitness and Planet Fitness, are deploying strategic promotions to entice health and wellness fanatics (and the rest of their members) back to the gym. 

Gold’s Gym Offers A Free Trial To Get Members Back To The Gym

Although the Gold’s Gym website doesn’t offer a lot of overt information about COVID-19 protocols, the heritage franchise, around for more than 55 years, is offering a free trial to “get back to the gym.” In order to find out more about the free trial, interested consumers must fill out a lead form to be contacted. The collection of first-party data allows Gold’s Gym to bring members back into brick-and-mortar locations while building a subscriber list that can be regularly tapped by Gold’s Gym to send promotions and information about health and safety measures. Gold’s Gym also uses Instagram to promote their locations around the country, and in many of the photos, members are wearing masks while working out, offering a clear indicator that Gold’s Gym is taking gym safety seriously.

Life Time Fitness Details Safety Measures To Reassure Members

Website content should be updated regularly to reflect the current shopping environment and consumer behaviors. Life Time Fitness created a comprehensive landing page focused on the health and safety measures the franchise is taking in order to welcome back members. 

The full-service health club also offers Life Time Digital for fitness fans who prefer to continue working out at home with live streamed and on-demand classes. The Life Time app can also be used by members for contactless check in, class reservations and member info, like checking LT BUCK$ balance. LT BUCK$ are rewards earned by members for referrals and via in-club promotions and events. Rewards programs are very effective for building brand loyalty and increasing engagement, which is likely to be essential as gym franchises begin rebuilding membership and re-engaging members for in-person classes.

Planet Fitness Lets Members Decide If There Are Too Many People At The Gym

Planet Fitness, long known as an affordable gym, is offering rock-bottom prices to entice members back. The 2000-location franchise kicked off April with a no commitment, $1 enrollment, $10 a month limited-time offer, likely to appeal to consumers who aren’t sure how they’ll feel about returning to a bustling gym. Open-ended cancellation policies are popular with consumers right now, offering flexibility during this period of uncertainty. 

Additionally, the Planet Fitness app lets members see how many people are working out at any given location. The PF App Crowd Meter is “just one of the many ways we’re doing our part to ensure you can gym confidently,” explains Planet Fitness on their website. The Planet Fitness app can also be used to stream classes, track progress and refer friends. Fitness apps were among the most downloaded throughout the pandemic, with brands that were able to pivot quickly to online services and personalized outreach gaining followers and boosting brand loyalty.

One need only step outside to see that people are very keen to return to many of their pre-pandemic behaviors. Gym franchises that can offer enticements, like discounted memberships and free trials, reassure members that their gyms are safe and well-maintained and leverage digital strategies, like email outreach and app usage, are likely to find gym goers back at the treadmills and weight machines just in time to get in shape for summer.

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Digital Media Solutions® (DMS) leverages our first-party data asset, proprietary technology and expansive media reach to connect brands with consumers at the moments they’re most ready to take action. Our email subscriber acquisition campaigns are perfect for gym franchises and other advertisers seeking to build or grow email lists or customer loyalty programs with opted-in hand raisers. Contact DMS to learn more.

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