You may own a gym that caters to hard-core workout enthusiasts, or your facility may cater to a less intense health-conscious crowd. Either way, bright, friendly images of your facilities and healthy, fit people in action are just the thing to motivate your fitness and exercise marketing prospects.
Jumbo postcards – 6×11 inches – are ideal for fitness and exercise marketing, because they really stand out in everyone’s mailbox and they give you lots of room to show pictures of your place and people. You may find a smaller size works very well, too, for certain types of campaigns.
What offers work best for fitness and exercise marketing?
Facilities differ, so your marketing goal is to tell people what’s special about your place, by promoting the specific benefits of joining and using your facility:
- Extended hours or convenient location(s).
- Wide array of training equipment.
- Special services such as personal trainers, classes, spas and massages.
- Extras such as a pool, sauna, Jacuzzi, or sports courts.
- Roomy locker rooms.
- Day care, after-school or summer “camp” programs for kids.
- Juice or snack bar.
Postcards can also educate prospects about the personal benefits of your latest workout procedure.
Of course it’s your special offer that moves people past “thinking about it” and motivates them to finally follow up. Trial memberships and discounted/waived initiation fees are proven winners when it comes to inspiring that kind of response in fitness and exercise marketing prospects.
Better postcards generate better results.
Customization at every step sets your postcard marketing apart from the competition. Merely pasting your logo and contact information into a generic template doesn’t work. Your postcards have to be as individual as your business and your members – and prospective members.
Professional quality design, photos and printing demonstrate to potential members that you’re detail-oriented, and that can be especially important when it comes to fitness and exercise marketing. People want to know they won’t be just another body if they choose you – that they can find a personalized experience at your facility.
You’ll build that trust and confidence by displaying short testimonials and icons of business associations you belong to, such as the Better Business Bureau or chamber of commerce.
Who should you mail to?
Most fitness businesses find that using a broad residential mailing list – sometimes called an occupant list – works very well when targeted to households near your facility. This type of mailing has an added benefit – you can get one of the lowest possible postage rates, making your return on investment even greater.
Typically, for gyms and fitness centers, it’s a good idea to start off with a series of three or four mailings, spaced about two weeks apart. That plants the seed with prospects by introducing your name and what you have to offer. You’re building a relationship with your prospects and tantalizing them with your special offer that sweetens the pot — telling them that now is the time to stop procrastinating and get moving before your offer expires.
To keep that initial response growing, you’ll want to follow your initial series of mailings with smaller monthly mailings that continue to attract new membership. You may also want to use additional postcards to promote your program to narrower audiences such as new area residents, busy professionals, retired adults or families with children.
Successful fitness and exercise marketing carries a promise of looking and feeling good – something most everyone aspires to. By systematically putting your postcards into the hands of your best prospects, you’ll gently remind them they can feel and look better. You’ll spur them to action, plus they will feel confident that they’ll be happy and comfortable working out at your facility.