Here at Ashbourne Membership Management, we have been helping gyms and fitness clubs plan, predict and prepare for the future for over twenty five years. In that time we have not only assisted countless gym owners in everything from payment collection to access control, we have helped gyms manage their finances, store-fronts, classes and apps.
As such, the expertise that helped build this blog and our entire business comes from knowledge of both sides of the divide, experience of running a physical facility and behind the scenes.
And our topic today is an interesting fusion of both. While social media is a medium that feels like it should be about instant reactions and trends, in order to be successful it requires meticulous planning. Anyone who has tried to run a social media campaign knows that it isn’t as simple as posting when inspiration hits.
What will we cover in this article?
(you can also click to skip ahead!)
Social Media Planning for Gyms and Fitness Clubs Requires:
Communication between members, the facility staff and the social media organiser/team
Preparation to generate materials and plan events ahead of time
Feedback, to understand what events members want to see
As more and more of the gym-going demographics fall into either Millennial or Gen Z generations, social media is becoming increasingly indispensable for gyms and fitness clubs.
No longer a simple tool for promotion, social media is becoming THE way for an independent gym to stand out in their crowded local area. It isn’t just enough to offer great facilities and classes, it is about getting images of that facility and those classes onto the phone of members and prospective members alike.
It demands a strategic approach to social media marketing that not only attracts potential members but also engages, retains and involves your existing membership. If done correctly, it can be a powerful tool to drive engagement and growth.
Why Social Media Planning Matters for Gyms and Fitness Clubs?
Social media has become much more than just a platform for sharing photos and updates, it’s a powerful tool for building relationships, developing and showcasing your brand and driving engagement into conversions.
Like any serious marketing campaign, it requires planning in order to be effective. Here’s why it is crucial for gyms and fitness clubs to plan ahead
Increased relevance is KEY to increased engagement:
Social media is all about “now”.
The reason billions of people keep logging on every day is the hype-relevance. Whether something is on the other side of the world or right next door, social media offers the ability to see it immediately.
As such, it is that much more noticeable when a social media campaign for a gym or fitness club is sluggish, out of sync or lagging behind. Even one day late to an event, a key date or a reaction can create a disconnect between the social media account and reality. There is a thin line between appearing genuine and appearing out of touch.
As such, planning for big events such as New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, the Summer Holidays and Christmas are vital. These posts need to go out at the time they are relevant and that window can be vanishingly small!
Maintaining momentum has several benefits:
Planning is vital for keeping the momentum up. Not only from an algorithmic standpoint, but in order to keep the appearance of a thriving and energetic social media account.
Large gaps between posts won’t only make a gym’s social media account less likely to hit the feeds of those members and prospective members, it will also look sloppy and sporadic to anyone who goes onto the account.
Social media is about keeping up appearances. Planning ahead of time to make sure a steady stream of content comes out is vital to ensuring the long-term success of a gym’s social media marketing campaign.
Community Building - Inside and outside the Gym:
Fitness is inherently social. Planning out the pace and structure of that socialising can help maximise attendance at events and engagement online.
Social media allows a gym to create a sense of community among their members, fostering loyalty and encouraging referrals. It is about building a community online and offline.
Brand Authority - Social Media is a vital part of the brand image:
Consistently sharing valuable content positions a gym as an authority in the fitness space, helping them stand out from competitors.
Conversely, posting low quality or poor posts will damage the authority of the brand and the gym:
Posting irregularly
Posting too regularly
Posting repetitive content
Posting poor quality or misleading content
Posting unprofessionally
Planning content that is professional, well-informed and well-composed will have a positive impact on the perception of the brand compared to an unorganised, irregular or uninterested social media presence.
Costing-Effective Marketing:
It is important for a gym or fitness club to consider their social media accounts as part of their marketing strategy. That doesn’t mean the tone has to be joyless and corporate, but a balance is necessary.
Compared to traditional advertising, social media is a more affordable way to promote your gym and reach your target audience. A gym should make sure they are reaching out to members and prospective members in a way that seems both structured, organic and genuine.
Member Engagement:
The final reason that independent gyms and fitness clubs should plan their social media is that all important topic we at Ashbourne keep returning to. Engagement!
Social media provides a direct line of communication with your members, allowing you to share updates, gather feedback and keep them motivated. This has a direct impact on everything from retention to growth. Engagement can be the difference between forming an energised community or a demoralised environment.
Plan out a social media content calendar so it can help play a key role to play in energising members!
Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Social Media for Independent Gyms and Fitness Clubs
Define Your Goals and Your Target Demographics/Audience
Before diving into detailed plans and content creation, it is essential to define your goals and identify your target audience and core demographics.
As we have talked about previously in several blogs, market research in the local/operational area is vital for an independent gym or fitness club.
Analyse the area your independent gym operates in. The type of people you are trying to attract. Are they students? Suburban workers? A mix of different demographics?
Are you looking to increase membership sign-ups, promote a new class, or engage existing members? Once you understand what you want to achieve, these goals will help shape your content strategy.
Target Audience?
Consider demographics like age, gender, location, and fitness goals. For example, are you targeting busy professionals, students or fitness enthusiasts? Perhaps specialist niches such as MMA, Yoga or Bodybuilding? Tailor your content to resonate with their needs and interests!
Choose the Right Platforms
Not all social media platforms are the same. Different content does better on different platforms. Focus on the platforms where your target audience is most active:
Answering the questions above about your target audience will make the decisions in this step all the easier.
- Instagram: Ideal for visual content like workout videos, transformation/journey photos, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your gym or fitness club.
- Facebook: Great for community building, event promotion, and sharing longer-form content.
- TikTok: Perfect for short, engaging fitness challenges, tips, trends and snippets of interviews. Also works well for short-form Question and Answer formats to keep audiences engaged.
- YouTube: Use it for in-depth workout tutorials, class previews, long-form interviews and member testimonials.
- LinkedIn: If you’re targeting corporate clients or promoting B2B offers and services, LinkedIn can be a valuable platform but has little appeal outside of that specific remit.
Create a Content Calendar
As we have reinforced throughout this article, consistency is key to a successful social media marketing campaign. A content calendar helps you plan and organise your posts in advance, ensuring a steady stream of engaging content.
As we covered above, relevance and pertinence are key on social media. Members and prospective members are more likely to connect with and share posts and content if it is relevant to the specific day or season (E.g Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas).
Here’s what to include:
- Workout Tips and Tutorials: Utilise and enhance the expertise and authority of your fitness brand. Share quick exercise routines, stretching techniques, or nutrition tips.
- Member Spotlights: Keep members engaged. Highlight success stories and transformations to inspire other members and prospective members.
- Behind-the-Scenes Content: Showcase your trainers, staff, and gym facilities to humanise your brand. Showing the facility is especially important, many people will only ever see the outside of your facility, show them inside, get them interested!
- Promotions and Offers: Announce membership discounts, referral programs, or free trial classes. If members know that genuine and valuable offers can be found on your social media accounts, they are more likely to return and recommend it to others!
- Feature User Content: Encourage members to share their workout photos and tag your gym.
- Trending Challenges: Participate in fitness challenges or create your own to boost engagement.
Leverage Visual Content
Fitness lends itself very well to visuals. People want to see demonstrations, impressive feats and new techniques.
So prioritise high quality photos and videos of the inside of your facility. Whether it is seeing the equipment in use, the positive atmosphere or classes in fullswing, a gym always looks better in motion.
Investing in good lighting, equipment and editing tools can help make your content stand out as well as helping to reduce and standardise the time it takes to make it.
Engage With Your Audience
Social media is a two way street and it is important to plan your content as such. Too often we have seen a content calendar that doesn’t include the followers!
Social media isn’t just a lectern, it is a conversation!
Don’t just post continuous content, engage with your audience by responding to comments, answering questions and acknowledging your members and non-members alike. Not only does this boost your content algorithmically, it also helps to engage and reward those posting. Hosting interactive content such as Q&A sessions, polls and contests to keep your followers involved as well as making them feel valued.
Use Hashtags and Geotags
Content isn’t just for your existing followers and the people they share it with. Hashtags and geotags are powerful tools for increasing your reach. Hashtags can help users interested in certain subjects and niches hone in on a topic, while geotags are perfect for independent gyms and fitness clubs operating in a specific area.
Doing research on the fitness hashtags that are most popular can help increase your reach in the local area and more broadly. Geotags can help you attract local members by making your gym more discoverable and help narrow down where your content is shown. While it would be nice to be very popular in London, not much point if your gym is in Inverness!
Track and Analyse Performance
Now this comes back to our roots as a data-driven Membership Management company.
Any gym or fitness club that isn’t monitoring their social media outputs is leaving valuable information on the table.
Regularly monitor your social media performance to see what is working and what isn’t. Many different social media management tools condense these metrics into usable data but it can also be tracked individually on the individual platforms.
Use analytics tools to track metrics like engagement rate, reach and those all important conversions. Adjust your strategy based on the data to optimise your results.
Tips for Social Media Success
- Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with local fitness influencers to promote your gym and reach a wider audience.
- Run Paid, Targeted Ads: Boost high-performing posts or run targeted ads to reach potential demographics, audience or locations in your operational area.
- Host Virtual Events: Organise online fitness challenges, webinars or workshops to engage your audience.
- Stay Authentic: Authenticity resonates with audiences. Share real stories, struggles and successes to build trust and connection.
What Do We Think?
Used correctly, social media can be a game-changer for gyms and fitness clubs looking to grow their membership, increase engagement and build a strong community.
But that all starts by defining your goals, creating engaging content and staying consistent.
Social media is a unique combination of genuine, heartfelt member stories and data-driven metrics that when harnessed can produce incredible results.
Here at Ashbourne Membership Management, we have been maintaining that balance between data-driven success and a genuine human approach for over twenty five years. We have helped countless gym and fitness club owners take their fitness facility to the next level through a combination of cutting-edge technology and innovative systems, all while never forgetting that it is people that make these facilities what they are.
If all this talk of planning, data and methodical approaches has got you thinking about what comes next, perhaps you are in the right place already. Book a demo with our demonstration team today and we can start to understand if Ashbourne is the right partnership for your independent gym or club.
More to Read...
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club,
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
