In the fitness industry, member growth ebbs and flows. Gyms and fitness studios see huge rushes of members at the beginning of the new year and after the summer as people write resolutions and return to their fitness journeys in the fall. But, more often than not, a lot of these resolution members start slipping away a few months later and eventually cancel their memberships.
If you ask studio and gym owners what causes this churn, they would probably say a mix of scheduling conflicts, lack of time, price, or changing priorities. However, if you ask the canceled members, they will likely tell a different story. Often, these members attribute their churn to the fact that they did not feel connected. Maybe they missed a class or two and then there was nothing pulling them back in.
At TeamUp, our goal is to help fitness studio and gym owners do everything they can to successfully run their businesses and build their community up so their members can have the best possible experience and continue coming back time and time again.
How can fitness studios and gyms engage their members and keep them connected?
Connection is key when it comes to member retention for fitness studios and gyms. Your members need to take time out of their busy days to come to your space. If they don’t feel connected and engaged with your studio or gym, they will choose to do something else with their limited time or even search for a different studio or gym, causing them to churn.
If you build a community for your members, they will want to keep coming back. Not only to keep up with their good habits, but also because they are meaningfully connected to your studio. When members are in your studio or gym, you should focus on making their experience as positive as possible, so they feel comfortable coming back. But, members only spend an average of 1 hour a day in your studio. What are they doing with the other 23 hours of their time? How can you reach them during the majority of their time, which is spent away from your space?
Out-of-studio engagement
To retain your members, you need to be able to connect with them outside of your space, as well. This out-of-the-studio engagement is sometimes even more important because it keeps your studio top of mind for your members and encourages them to continue coming back. When members engage with your studio from home, through fitness challenges, meal plans, on-demand content, and more, they start building a routine that becomes much more difficult to “cancel” than a subscription.
With a custom branded app, you can offer all of these touchpoints for your members and so much more. You gain the opportunity to engage with your members outside of your space and help them build positive habits that improve their lives and keep them coming back to your studio or gym.
How to use your app to engage with your members
Our top TeamUp fitness providers use their custom branded apps to create meaningful connections with their members outside of the studio, building their community up and increasing their retention at the same time.
Here are some of the best ways to engage with members using a custom branded app.
- Create a 30-day challenge with daily check-ins to build a habit
- Provide a newsfeed that encourages members to stay up-to-date on your studio happenings and community
- Encourage goal setting and progress tracking so members see their hard work pay off
- Make it simple for members to find and book classes right in the app
- Connect directly with members using personalized messages to encourage bookings, celebrate milestones, and more
- Offer meal plans that members want to follow
If you are ready to take the next step and build up your community in and outside of your studio or gym, setting up a custom branded app can be the answer. It’s quick to set up and there is no coding required! If you are looking for more information, TeamUp can help. Speak with one of our experts today to get started.
