Recently I was trying to put together a list of all the fitness marketing tactics that we’ve tried to generate Clients & Members in our training businesses and health club – and I figured it might be something you’d want to see. I’m not sure I got everything listed, but here’s a pretty comprehensive list of 107 things we’ve personally used in our own businesses. Hopefully there will be a few ideas you can try…
1. Referral Contests – Everyone Wins – I prefer this over all other fitness referral contests…everyone gets something for providing a referral or a lead plus are entered to win a bigger prize. One or two people take away the Grand Prize(s).
2. Referral Contest – Limited Winners
3. Point of Sale Referral Request – Probably my favorite lead generator. See my T-Shirt Offer for more on this incredibly easy lead machine.
4. Pay Per Referral – We’ve offered $50 Bills for short 3 day referral promos and it worked pretty well.
5. Gift Per Referral
6. Face To Face Referral Request
7. Letter Requesting Referral
8. Email Requesting Referral
9. Greeting Card Requesting Referral
10. Phone Call Requesting Referral
11. Gift Per Lead For Clients & Members – Very similar to #3, except the offer is made to all clients or members.
12. 1 Session Free Trials – We’ve tested a variety of Free Trial offers and we’ve seen that the longer the trial, the more people that actually take you up on the offer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of the lead for a longer trial is as good as quality for a shorter trial – it just means you’ll get more prospects in front of you. If you’re having trouble getting trials to show – make the trial offer stronger. If all you get is tire kickers – shorten it up.
13. 2 Session Free Trials
14. 3 Session Free Trials
15. 1 Week Free Trials
16. 2 Week Free Trials
17. 21 Day Free Trials
18. 1 Month Free Trials
19. Lead Boxes
20. Lead Bowls
21. Flier Drops – We’ve put fliers on car windshields, in newspaper bins, in teachers’ school mailboxes and any number of other places. Lead boxes, door hangers, fliers and other low cost tactics require little money but a little hustle and can pay off if you’re willing to do the work.
22. Radio Ads
23. TV Ads
24. Pay-Per-Click Ads
25. Craigslist Ads – As opposed to what some may think – I don’t hate Craigslist ads. I think they can be a solid part of a marketing plan provided you remember 2 things: 1. People that are on Craigslist are there looking for something cheap. 2. If you think Craigslist Ads can be the centerpiece of your marketing efforts – I have a great piece of oceanfront property right here in Kentucky I’d like to sell you.
26. In Club Signage
27. Plastic Gift Cards – I like these better than the other gift cards and gift certificates since they have a higher perceived value.
28. Billboards
29. Magazine Ads
30. Newspaper Ads
31. Health Fair Booths – At all booths, your job is simple. Get contact information. That’s it. You don’t need to sell or even really educate on the spot – there is almost always too much going on at the time to really build much value in what you do. Get the contact information and follow up.
32. Facebook Ads
33. Fitness Studies
34. Transformation Contests
35. Business of the Month Offers – This is a popular one for some of the Bootcamp Blueprint members and has sold us a couple hundred gym memberships.
36. Business of the Week Offers
37. Client Appreciation Events
38. Three Letter Sequences
39. Postcards
40. Greeting Cards
41. Invitations
42. Business Cards – My key to having success when handing out a business card is pretty simple…get the contact information of the recipient in return and follow up.
43. Bridal Fair Booths
44. Charity Walks
45. Charity Runs
46. Charity Contests
47. Fundraiser Sales – This is a fitness marketing tactic I dreamed up after spending a decade as a coach. Find an organization that needs to raise money and let them sell short term memberships to your program or facility and keep all the proceeds. You get the leads and they raise funds.
48. Paid Clinics
49. Free Clinics
50. Mini-Clinics
51. Fundraiser Clinics – All of the clinics are geared at building a youth based business. This is a favorite of mine…offer to do a clinic for a local youth sports league and donate the proceeds to them. They have to promote it and provide the space. They raise some much needed revenue and you get a ton of qualified prospects.
52. Community Events
53. Lunch and Learns
54. Speaking to Groups
55. Speaking to Businesses / Corporations
56. Speaking to Schools / Churches
57. Brochures
58. Business to Business Calls
59. Residential Calls
60. Yard Signs
61. ‘Train Them Until They Buy’ – Back when I managed about 70 trainers, I had a simple system for them to generate business is things were slow. Always be training. You should always be training someone. It can lead to them buying, generate referrals (you can make that the stipulation for you training them) or just help you create a buzz. If you’re in a club, people will most likely have more interest in working with the busy trainers – so stay busy.
62. Radio Offers At Half Off And Keeps The Proceeds – We’ve done this fitness marketing tactic and had solid results with it, but our MM Group members Kevin & Kristen Harvey are the real experts on this promo and kill with it in Chattanooga.
63. Trade Outs For Leads / Referrals
64. Booths at Fairs
65. Booths at League Sign Ups
66. SEO
67. Online Local Listings
68. Endorsed Mailings
69. Endorsed Emails
70. Email Newsletters
71. Email Broadcast Offers
72. Email Autoresponders
73. Print Newsletters
74. Low Cost Entryway Program – Our 21 Day Drop a Dress Size program and other low risk offers like that will appeal to people your normal programs might not reach.
75. Low Cost Paid Trials
76. Networking At Group Events – Chamber of Commerce, BNI and all the normal group networking events are all great resources, but also consider expanding to other more niched groups (we had good results with the Women’s Junior League among others) and online groups like MeetUp.
77. One-on-One Networking – Probably the most important thing you do. It can not only lead to direct sales, but referrals, public speaking opportunities, corporate deals, Joint Ventures and pretty much anything else you might be trying to do to grow your business.
78. Wine Tasting Event
79. Radio Remote
80. Doctor Referral – Every month we get a couple of new health club members that are referred from a local physician. It may take a bit of work to establish a relationship with a local doctor – but it’s well worth the effort.
81. Corporate Discounts
82. Corporate Programs
83. Group Special Offers – Teacher’s Appreciation Week, Administrative Professionals Week and any other day / week / month that highlights a certain group is a great excuse to make an offer specifically to them.
84. Automobile Signage
85. Door to Door Sales – Yep, we’ve event sent people door to door selling 3 month gym memberships. If people can sell magazines and all-purpose cleaner we figured we’d give it a shot –and it worked pretty well.
86. Door Hangers
87. Gift Memberships for Silent Auctions
88. Cross Promotions with Other Businesses – Health food or exercise equipment stores handing out your gift cards when their customers make purchases is an easy way to get in front of good leads.
89. Paid ‘Ambassadors’ – If you can find someone that is willing to promote on your behalf, give them some trial passes or gift cards and tell them that for every one that is redeemed you’ll pay them $10. You can obviously up the payout if leads convert.
90. Lead From New Member Sales
91. Calls to Former Members
92. Emails to Former Members
93. Letters to Former Members
94. Calls to Missed Sales – We work out list of missed sales and former clients / members pretty regularly, making different offers and reaching out at the peak seasons when people are most likely to be interested (January, Fall)
95. Emails to Missed Sales
96. Letters to Missed Sales
97. Voice Broadcasts
98. Bring a Friend Events
99. Bring A Friend Periods (Week / Month)
100. Val Pak
101. Raffles
102. Gift Certificates
103. Home Association Newsletters
104. League Sponsorships – Probably not a big winner by itself, but if you’re offering youth programs and want to build a relationship with the league, offer to do a sponsorship if they allow you to do a clinic or will email their list for you.
105. Wall of Fame – If you have your own space, use it for in club promotions of your ancillary offerings and to showcase your success stories. This is one of my favorite low cost marketing tools.
106. Testimonial Book
107. Payroll Stuffer
Are there any good ones you’ve done that I’ve missed? If I remember any other tactics for fitness marketing we’ve tried, I’ll add them in the comments. If you have a lead generator that’s worked well for you, do me a favor and share it below too.
Dedicated to your success,
Pat Rigsby
Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.
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Hey Pat
These are all awesome marketing tactics. One in particular caught my eye and that was the wine tasting events. I was wondering how you market of really utilize these events
Did you miss anything??? Heck, this is an A-to-Z Blueprint of how to run your marketing program on rocket fuel! Awesome job, Pat. Thanks for sharing.
Pat,
Great list of marketing ideas.
Rick Kaselj
http://www.ExercisesForInjuries.com
Great Content ! So many ideas to jump start any business & create instant success.
whoa! Great work Pat!
Thanks Pat, its just what I needed right now!
Hi Pat,
Awesome list, I love it!! Unless I skipped over it, clothing is a great passive marketing method. We sell sweatshirts and long sleeve tshirts as well as hand out gray shirts to all campers after they finish their first month, and special ones get a black tshirt when they meet specific criteria.
This is pretty much gold my friend! Thanks for the tips.
I’m gonna print this one off and put it in my “get it done binder”
Thanks for taking the time Pat,
Unreal! If you implement half of these your biz will be a gold mine!
Take Action!!!!
Thanks PAT!
Awesome as always! Picked out about 4 I plan to implement starting next month!
Thanks Pat!
Wow Pat!
Simply an amazing post. These are the ideas that most of us pay to find out.
I am definitely printing this out and using as many of these as I can.
Thank you
Some great ideas, definitely got me thinking. Thanks Pat!
Hey Pat and others,
These are all awesome tips, we actually started a new marketing campaign… We had custom water bottles made and labeled with a coupon for a free trial on the water bottle… So when we talk to people at events we will hand out these water bottles and tell the people that this water bottle will change their lives… Most people are intrigued to ask why then we tell them our 30 second commercial… Most important is being memorable and when you hand someone a bottle of ordinary water and tell them it will change their life, they won’t forget who you are or what you do…
PAT, GREAT LIST.. WE DO A 6 POINT REFERRAL SYSTEM..WHEN A MEMBER BRINGS ON A NEW PERSON THEY GET ONE POINT…IF THAT PERSON SIGNS FOR A SECOND MONTH BLAM A SECOND POINT…FIRST CLIENT TO HIT 6 POINTS WINS….A $1000.00 BUCKS…THIS WORKS GREAT FOR BRINGING ON NEW CLIENTS IN THE SLOW SEASONS…ALSO GREAT FOR RETENTION BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO MISS OUT ON THAT PRIZE MONEY… HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND..
These are all excellent ways of marketing a business! Keep up the fantastic work.
All good marketing tactics especially for someone like me just starting out! Thanks!!!
Hi Pat,
Just wanted to thank you for sharing these great marketing tactics.
Looking forward to read more good posts like this one.
Rick Kaselj
http://www.ExercisesForInjuries.com
We give the gift of fitness. When we send out our Christmas/Holiday cards we include a GC for them to give to a friend to be used in January. People are getting together with friend over the holiday season so it i s a great time for them to give it to someone they don’t see as often.
This post could be an entire members only website, but instead you just rattled off a goldmine for free.
What do you think about giving out giftcards at charity car washes? Just popped in my head.
Charity bootcamps!