So, you want to learn how to grow your fitness business. Congrats!
The effort you have put into your fitness centre has finally paid off. And we feel you; few know how to get into the fitness industry and succeed. The fitness industry is booming at a 33.10% growth rate, indicating fierce competition. But don’t fret, there’s room for expansion for you as well. All you need is a winning business strategy and some effective management tips.
In this article, you’ll learn how to grow your fitness business in a competitive industry environment. Whether you are trying to increase memberships or branch out, we have a few tips that you’ll find handy. So, sit tight and keep reading as we discuss them one by one.
But first, let’s answer the most crucial question.
Is It the Right Time to Grow Your Fitness Business?
The answer depends on how you look at the numbers and your fitness centre’s performance. Stable revenue, ample clients, enough memberships, and high member retention rates are green signals of your growth. The good thing is that right now, the fitness industry in the UK is also thriving.
According to Statista, the number of fitness centres has crossed the pre-covid years now.
The total revenue of the UK’s fitness industry in 2021 touched 3.56 billion euros, which was considered a good omen. As of 2023, around 10 million population in the UK have gym memberships. But this only makes up 14% of the total population, so plenty of clients are up for grabs.
Learning How to Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023
Now, let’s take a look at 7 business strategies that can help you take your fitness business to the next level. We’ve covered all the necessary aspects, from management to marketing and everything in between.
Automate Fitness Management Tasks
Paperwork is a distraction that not only consumes valuable time but also kills productivity. Therefore, your first step when moving towards growth should be automating repetitive tasks. This is where good fitness management software with useful features comes in handy. You can use the software to:
- Manage members and staff
- Customise memberships and packages
- Schedule bookings and classes
- Track billing and financials
- Manage equipment and inventory
With management software, you can offer an omnichannel experience to your members across different channels. You can also share and compare membership costs to attract potential clients.
Establish Online Presence
If you aren’t already marketing online, you are missing out big times. Believe it or not, people search the internet for almost all kinds of needs, including how to start a business with no money, and fitness is among them. Therefore, your fitness business must have a user-friendly, interactive website. You should enlist your services, write expert tips for the audience, and do SEO (search engine optimization.
With a website, you can engage people who are looking for similar services or a good fitness centre. The best part is that you can target specific areas to market to the right audience through digital marketing. Whenever potential clients search online for the best fitness centre, they’ll see your fitness training services. Thus, digital marketing will help you generate high-quality leads that you can turn into regular members.
Offer Courses and Classes
Marketing won’t work if you aren’t offering something special to your members and potential clients. People love centres where they can join classes and training sessions to boost their fitness. So, if you are trying to grow memberships or want to achieve a higher retention rate, offer training classes.
You can offer group classes or on-demand individual training sessions for club members. You should try offering multiple classes at different times of the day throughout the week. Strength training, yoga, dance, spin, and Zumba classes are very popular today. However, the trick is to have skilled trainers who can turn your members into a community. Also, hire knowledgeable staff who have done relevant fitness industry courses from reputable institutes.
Get in Front of the Camera
People love watching videos, and according to HubSpot’s study, it’s a highly effective marketing recipe. So, if there’s one thing that can put you in front of the audience in 2023, it’s visual content.
To grow your fitness business, you must focus on creating valuable content. However, your primary objective shouldn’t be promotion, so avoid aggressive marketing at any cost. People don’t like businesses that are all about branding and ignore customers’ needs. Instead, your aim should be to produce informative content to help them stay in shape.
Setting up a YouTube channel or podcast to share your professional opinion on fitness is a great idea. This will help you humanise your business and give your brand a voice in the digital noise. Share simple home fitness tips, diet plans, or cardio exercises that people can act on anywhere.
To address a wider audience, you should share visual content on social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are suitable channels for fitness businesses. Engage users by providing useful content to create brand awareness and entice them to join the community, i.e., your gym.
Do Influencer Marketing
Right now, the best approach to generate quality leads in the fitness industry is influencer marketing. Influencers have their own audience and loyal fanbases, which you can capitalise on to grow revenue. One sentence from a local fitness influencer can draw attention and traffic to your fitness centre. However, partnering with the right influencer for mutual benefits is the key to success.
You can do influencer management to:
- Create brand awareness
- Gain credibility
- Engage potential customers
- Sell a particular training or service
You should aim to target local influencers with 10k to 100k followers. Micro-influencers often have a highly active fanbase, charge low for promotion, and offer a higher engagement rate. You can collaborate with them on content production to promote your fitness centre within the desired area.
However, keep in mind that the best business advertisement doesn’t sell services but addresses the problems at hand. So, while doing influencer marketing to promote and grow your fitness business, create awareness and discuss the benefits.
The Bottom Line
Learning how to grow your fitness business in a competitive industry environment isn’t easy. You must show diligence and may have to put your nose to the grindstone to increase memberships. Then comes the struggle to maintain a high retention rate, ensuring sustainable revenue. Automating your business using fitness management software, offering new programs, and using influencers for marketing can make things easy for you.
In addition, as a business owner, you must also understand how business structures work, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and LLCs. LLC is one of the most important structures. An LLC gives you protection from personal liability, tax benefits, and credibility. It reduces the owners' financial risk by protecting their assets from business debts. Managing and distributing profits are also flexible with LLCs. choosing the right legal structure is a crucial step. Once you have drafted your business plan, don't forget to register an LLC and choose a registered agent. As an example, if you own a business in Texas, you need to research how to form an LLC and how to choose a Registered Agent in Texas.