5 Ways to use SMS Marketing for your Fitness Club

Motivating fitness club members can be challenging, especially online. Member signups are inevitable, however, retaining and engaging those members regularly is the biggest hurdle for fitness studios.

Let’s use a ’30-Day Spring Shred’ challenge to demonstrate how you can use SMS marketing to help ensure that your fitness club members stay committed at-home or in-studio. Start getting your customers off the couch, and into your online classes or location with these five creative SMS campaigns.

1. SMS Alerts for upcoming events

Keep your members in the loop with upcoming events through SMS Alerts. Before kick-starting your 30-day Spring Shred event, we recommend sending out an SMS campaign to inform your clients about the challenge. Use SMS Keywords or 2 Way SMS to allow your members to confirm their attendance, and opt-in to any future promotions.

Here’s an example:

2. SMS for class reminders

People are forgetful since we are exposed to so much information. As marketers, we must account for the likely possibility of being forgotten, especially if classes are online.

In fact, the average person’s attention span is less than that of a goldfish at a mere 8 seconds. Automated SMS reminders can help prevent no-shows for both online or offline classes and personal training sessions. The convenience of these powerful SMS tools will help engage your busiest members, which can help boost your bottom line.

Try sending more personal SMS Reminders to help get your members on track, increasing their likeliness to form fitness-related habits.

3. SMS for personalised messages from your instructors

Bring a new level of personalisation to your classes with customised SMS messages. Let your instructors send tailored messages to your members and make them feel extra special. You could even include some SMS keywords that trigger that specific instructor’s teaching schedule for the upcoming weeks.

Implement customised SMS messages for all classes throughout your 30-day challenge. Remember the goal here is to have as many members engaging with your classes during and after. We recognise that classes can sometimes be overwhelming for some people, so bringing a personal touch can keep your customers coming back for more.

Here’s an example:

4. SMS for sales and promotions

Running a limited-time promotion on club memberships? Let your customers know by reaching them directly via text. During your 30-Day Challenge, run conditional promotions on memberships and your online store if you have one. For example, you can send out an SMS marketing campaign to all existing members:

5. SMS automation for member milestones and rewards

Reward your existing and VIP members for their dedication with automated SMS messages, which feature personalised variables specific to each member. Perhaps you want to reward members with a complimentary training session, or a free shaker bottle for attending 10+ classes per month. Starting conversations at scale on a personal level is quick and easy with the right online SMS service.

Following the completion of your 30-Day Challenge, schedule an automated update re-capping each participating member’s visits, classes completed, and overall time spent with your business during the challenge. Seeing these stats laid out visually should give members positive reinforcement, where they will want to keep up with the progress to see more results. Talk about a win-win for both parties!