Top Marketing Tips for Gyms and Fitness Professionals During COVID-19

We live in strange and challenging times.

COVID-19 has practically turned our world upside down.

Between government shutdowns, mask mandates, and a general sense of trepidation about shared public spaces, businesses of all shapes and sizes have felt the negative effects.

Meanwhile, consumers are faced with financial uncertainty, and are far less likely to venture out and/or be able to spend money on services like personal training.

Gym owners and fitness professionals have been hit especially hard. Not only do gyms tend to require a lot of close physical contact, they also rely on their existing and potential clients to have enough discretionary income to be able to afford memberships fees.

But is all hope lost? We certainly don’t think so.

People will always need exercise and desire physical fitness. And many of them will require some help and guidance. And with these crazy months we’ve had, people may in fact be in need of a health and wellness boost more than ever.

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
–Albert Einstein

There are so many opportunities for fitness businesses. Some of them simply involve changes to the status quo, others are perhaps new areas to explore altogether.

As the saying goes, nothing in life is certain. As business owners, we need to remain ever ready to face difficulties as they arise and be prepared to adapt to change.

Make Your Gym as COVID-Conscious as Possible, and Let People Know About It

We can only hope that these current circumstances in which we live will one day feel like a distant memory. In the meantime, there’s not much else we can do but weather the storm.

While it often seems as though there is conflicting information as to just how dangerous and deadly COVID-19 really is, we do know that our best defense is a good offense. This means diligent and thorough sanitation, strict handwashing and mask-wearing that aligns with state and local regulations.

The CDC themselves recently published guidelines for gyms and fitness centers operating during this time.

Most of it is what you’d expect, and likely in-line with what you’re already doing. However, it may come down to more of a marathon than a sprint.

As we head towards winter, things are uncertain at best and fairly bleak at worst. It’s of course a difficult time for employees as well. You certainly don’t want any of your staff or customers getting sick. Your whole team must remain diligent to help enforce these protocols for the duration that this quagmire lasts.

Here are a few things you should implement in your gym right now, if you haven’t already:

• Enhanced cleaning and disinfection of all gym equipment, surfaces, bathrooms, etc., regularly throughout the day
• Temperature screenings and verbal “…have you been exposed…” confirmations from patrons and staff
• Rearrangement of gym equipment as needed to optimize for social distancing regulations
• Hand-sanitizer and/or handwashing stations in multiple locations
• Increased and optimized ventilation in the building
• Flexible sick leave and supportive policies and practices for staff members

It’s not enough to just do these things. You should actually be promoting that you have stringent cleaning protocols on your website and in all of your marketing content. Describe the lengths your gym has gone to ensure sanitation.

Stay Active on Your Social Channels and Sensitive to the Social Climate

With so many people working from home and minimizing unnecessary venturing out in public, we are spending a lot more time on social media.

Now is the time to make sure your organic social media presence is dialed in. Organic social is everything that is done on social for free: shared content, interactions with people, responses to comments and messages, etc.

This is very important at all times, but especially important during COVID. Let people know they can reach out to you at any time with comments, questions, and concerns, and show them that you care by responding promptly.

Facebook has some great tips on how fitness & recreation centers can adapt and respond during this time.

From a business standpoint, it is risky to take firm stances on social and political issues. While it’s good to have a clear brand identity and brand voice, oftentimes it is best to remain neutral in your outward expression.

2020 has been a tense year on many levels. and the last thing you need on your Business Page are heated disputes. Whatever your personal viewpoints are on COVID, it may be better at this time not to express them blatantly on your business’s social media channels.

The best thing you can do right now is remain a caring, conscientious, neutral party that will do everything in their power to ensure the safety of its patrons, but not get caught up in arguments about what is right or wrong.

Branch Out Into Outdoor and Virtual Training

Where there is change, there is opportunity. During the pandemic, we have seen an explosion in live-streaming, virtual learning, on-demand services, and the like.

This has been a consistent area of growth in the last couple of years, but was greatly accelerated by COVID-19. Some of these trends will long outlive the pandemic.

In fact, the virtual fitness industry is projected to grow by leaps and bounds over the next decade.

High-speed internet is taking over the world, along with an ever-expanding base of technology to match it. Anyone can create a high-quality and complex live-streaming setup for relatively little cost.

There is truly no telling where the world of virtual and remote fitness will go. Now is a great time to establish yourself within this niche, if you so desire. You’ll still be a very early mover into providing these types of services.

There are countless other ways you can add value to your online presence. Maybe it’s time to shoot that YouTube fitness series. Or film a few branded videos to use in email marketing and social media advertising campaigns.

All of these types of investments enhance your brand and business, enable you to reach more people, and foster stronger, higher-authority connections with your audience.

For fit pros that aren’t particularly tech-savvy or have no interest in that, another area to consider is outdoor group training. This will continue to be a big trend each summer and throughout the year, weather and climate in your respective area permitting.

There are so many unique possibilities that lie in wait for fit pros inclined to pursue them!

Make Sure Your Marketing Dollars Are Spent Wisely

We already talked about the importance of a strong organic social media presence during this time. It goes without saying that a focused strategy with your paid advertising is also critical.

Facebook Ads can have a tremendous impact on the success of your business — when used wisely.

For better or worse, Facebook makes it as easy as possible for anyone to run ads and spend money on their platform.

In the right hands, it is an incredibly powerful tool. When done haphazardly, it is easy to waste a lot of money on ads that don’t move the needle for the metrics that matter most to your business.

If you are interested in running Facebook advertising campaigns yourself, it’s worth the time to explore Facebook’s internal training resources, called Facebook Blueprint.

If you are interested in a done-for-you Facebook Ads service from a company that has spent many thousands of advertising dollars and already has discovered highly effective systems for lead generation with Facebook Ads, then look no further!

We would love to have the chance to talk with you today.

To echo an earlier sentiment, let’s hope this all soon becomes a thing of the past, and we can go back to living our lives freely, and helping people to achieve fantastic health and fitness results!