There are lots of interesting ways to do promotions. Once again, with the holidays upon us, I think it’s time to take another look. One of the most accessible is selling gift cards as part of your retail operation. Even if it means just a desktop display at your reception you can boost your return on investment by offering this popular, high margin product to your membership and the general public.

Promotions With Gift Cards

• Sell gift cards in your gym
• Sell gift cards at the local sporting goods store
• Distribute them through your trainers

There is a reason that you see so many different types of gift cards at the grocery and drug store checkout. Consumers love them. People like to give and receive them. They are inexpensive advertising. Once you have mastered the process behind this stream of income and it’s paying for itself you might consider using it for promotions and marketing in more creative ways.

Apart from putting them on a shelf in your merchandise section you can sell them at a discount to businesses such as locally owned sporting goods stores. You’ll be getting cash up front and it brings people in so you can help them figure out what they really need.

Alternatively, offer the cards on consignment; give them out with an agreement to share the proceeds and collect the leftovers the next month, along with your share of the revenue. You can do the same with your associated trainers and local studios that specialize in such things as yoga and boxing. It helps your peers because they can provide expanded service, it helps you by bringing customers to your door.

The Good Stuff

• Data, information and numbers
• Public Relations and word of mouth
• To sell guests anything they first need to show up

The most important factor in data collection for gym owners, who may have a small membership base and a low turn over, is time. If you can look at the numbers over a couple of years you can find the same sort of insight that big national chains get to direct their marketing strategies. Data can help you focus your efforts. When you see patterns of who takes up the offer and who doesn’t then you have some great information that is more than data.

As a small business owner you must always be prepared to pivot and move in more valuable directions.

If the numbers tell you that a different demographic than you anticipated is most responsive to your offering, you owe it to yourself to change focus and pursue that market. If that isn’t where you see your business going then it might be time to prepare to sell the business, the more data you have the easier that will be.

How To Use Data In Marketing

• Learn where you get the best returns
• Find new opportunities
• Document the value of your business in preparation for a sale.

At the end of the day you win when you get your name out there and potential members come in to sample your offering. You make connections that help make new members members and you get a priceless volume of market data. If you have an opt-in for your mailing list as part of the process, many recipients will accept that and not opt out. You can apply the same process if you use text messaging.

Any time you make a connection it is an opportunity to start to build a long-term relationship. The long term is very important, if members only buy one service a year, you want to look at the long-term trend and see how many come back the next year.

The sort of information you can gain from promotions is so incredibly valuable. When you have been doing it for a while you can start to look inward into the gym industry. There is always a demand for learning and knowledge about the success of others. You can package the experience and systems you have developed from your years in the business. The best thing about marketing and promotions is that there are a very large but finite number of possibilities: You could spend several lifetimes learning whether each approach works for you.

Bibliography

Fagan, Lawrence. “Capitalizing On Gym Guest Passes.” Gym Insight Blog. June 12, 2014. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2725-capitalizing-on-gym-guest-passes/ (accessed November 30, 2014).

-. “Gym Brand Products Promotions.” Gym Insight Blog. Oct 30, 2013. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2092-gym-brand-products-promotions/ (accessed November 30, 2014).

-. “Health Club Promotions That Give Back.” Gym Insight Blog. May 12, 2014. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2657-health-club-promotions-that-give-back/ (accessed November 30, 2014).

-. “Of Marketing Gurus and Gym Promotions.” Gym Insight Blog. January 13, 2014. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2388-of-marketing-gurus-and-gym-promotions/ (accessed November 30, 2014).