You might think that your small gym isnt newsworthy. Think again! Do something to help others, and you in turn will reap rewards. Your health club marketing opportunities are only limited by your own imagination.
1. Establish a food drive
Promote an offer of something like, "Bring in 3 canned goods and pay no enrollment". Not only are you driving traffic, you're also helping those less fortunate. Local media such as news stations and newspapers love writing about positive things. Let them know that you're working with a local homeless shelter and donating all canned goods to them.
2. Write for your town's newspaper
Does your local paper have a weekly fitness editorial? Write one for them! Contact your local paper(s) and let them know you would like to write a weekly fitness tip/article for them. The worst they will say is no. What other publications are distributed in your area. Community newsletters? Free newsstand periodicals? What about online resources? Are there websites catering to your area? Write articles for them. If you cant write, have one of your staff members write.
3. Partner with your local radio station
You can have a radio station sponsor your 8-week weight loss contest. Get a DJ as your advocate. They can announce the contest to the listeners, have them submit applications, maybe even get teams set up between two DJs. All participants can have a free membership during the contest in exchange for lots of plugs for your club over the 8 weeks. Be sure to get contact info for anyone whose application wasn't accepted so you can give them a short term trial membership as well.
4. Conduct a charitable contest
Your members can get people to pledge money for the amount of exercising that you do. I.e. A dollar for every step you take on a stairclimber. You may not even have many people take part in the program, but it really doesn't make a difference. The radio station will still make a story out of it. Anything that puts some good news on the air is always welcome in our times of gloom and doom typical of media these days.
5. Host fitness seminars
Go to your local chamber and they will have a huge list of people in the area who present on a large variety of topics. There will be topics ranging from financial planning to scrapbooking. See if they already have someone who presents fitness. If not, see if they'll schedule you. If they do already have someone presenting a fitness topic, find a different fitness topic to talk about. They do all of the promotions for the events, but you should do some promotion on your own as well.
6. Create fame for one of your members
As mentioned before, your local media loves positive stories, especially when the story is on a person who did something great. Have ll of your members apply to be in the Hero of Your Town Event. Everyone can send in an article on their rise to success and how your health club has helped them achieve their dreams. You'll pick a winner and create a press release (or have one written). The press release can say something like, "local hero recognized at XYZ Fitness". For those people not selected, they will still get a prize. You could even have multiple heroes recognized at your health club. This is a great way to market your health club to new prospective members.
Free publicity opportunities are everywhere. You just have to recognize or create opportunities for positive press. Come up with unique ideas and you will find that the local media will look forward to the next story they can do on you.
1. Establish a food drive
Promote an offer of something like, "Bring in 3 canned goods and pay no enrollment". Not only are you driving traffic, you're also helping those less fortunate. Local media such as news stations and newspapers love writing about positive things. Let them know that you're working with a local homeless shelter and donating all canned goods to them.
2. Write for your town's newspaper
Does your local paper have a weekly fitness editorial? Write one for them! Contact your local paper(s) and let them know you would like to write a weekly fitness tip/article for them. The worst they will say is no. What other publications are distributed in your area. Community newsletters? Free newsstand periodicals? What about online resources? Are there websites catering to your area? Write articles for them. If you cant write, have one of your staff members write.
3. Partner with your local radio station
You can have a radio station sponsor your 8-week weight loss contest. Get a DJ as your advocate. They can announce the contest to the listeners, have them submit applications, maybe even get teams set up between two DJs. All participants can have a free membership during the contest in exchange for lots of plugs for your club over the 8 weeks. Be sure to get contact info for anyone whose application wasn't accepted so you can give them a short term trial membership as well.
4. Conduct a charitable contest
Your members can get people to pledge money for the amount of exercising that you do. I.e. A dollar for every step you take on a stairclimber. You may not even have many people take part in the program, but it really doesn't make a difference. The radio station will still make a story out of it. Anything that puts some good news on the air is always welcome in our times of gloom and doom typical of media these days.
5. Host fitness seminars
Go to your local chamber and they will have a huge list of people in the area who present on a large variety of topics. There will be topics ranging from financial planning to scrapbooking. See if they already have someone who presents fitness. If not, see if they'll schedule you. If they do already have someone presenting a fitness topic, find a different fitness topic to talk about. They do all of the promotions for the events, but you should do some promotion on your own as well.
6. Create fame for one of your members
As mentioned before, your local media loves positive stories, especially when the story is on a person who did something great. Have ll of your members apply to be in the Hero of Your Town Event. Everyone can send in an article on their rise to success and how your health club has helped them achieve their dreams. You'll pick a winner and create a press release (or have one written). The press release can say something like, "local hero recognized at XYZ Fitness". For those people not selected, they will still get a prize. You could even have multiple heroes recognized at your health club. This is a great way to market your health club to new prospective members.
Free publicity opportunities are everywhere. You just have to recognize or create opportunities for positive press. Come up with unique ideas and you will find that the local media will look forward to the next story they can do on you.
About the Author:
Curtis Mock has quickly become the go to person for gym marketing advice. You can sign up for his gym marketing tip of the week and be sure to take advantage of your trial membership to the powerful gym marketing resource site created specifically for fitness center operators.
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