The Not-So-Basics of Gym Lead Generation

From the early merchants of ancient markets, calling out their wares to passing traders, to the days of door-to-door salesmen in the mid-20th century, and now to the dominance of digital advertising, the methods for generating business leads have evolved continuously. From SEO tactics to influencer marketing and automated lead scoring, the strategies we use today are more varied and efficient than ever....but with consumer expectations shifting at the same rate as technological advancements but faster than fitness operators can accommodate, how is traditional lead generation sustainable? How can operators get better at it without throwing more money at it?

In this article, we’ll explore the fundamentals of modern lead generation for gyms and its key components...and then we'll look at why it's at odds with said consumer expectations and what you can do about it.

FYI: Throughout this article I have placed relevant sign-posts to blog articles that will help you dive further into this topic. If this is your jam, then you'll find this an absolute treasure trove!

What is Gym Lead Generation?

Simply put, gym lead generation is the process of attracting and converting potential members -  those who might be interested in joining your club. Contacts that you can capture, engage, and nurture - turning them into qualified leads, and then ultimately sell to. 

Here’s how the traditional process works: 

First, you attract potential members through your marketing channels, such as social media, email campaigns, or paid ads. 

Once they’re interested, they’re directed to a landing page on your website, where the hope is they will become ‘engaged’. 

I’ve italicized ‘become’ for a reason here. All will become clear. 

The landing page should include informative information like pricing and gym FAQs, as well as persuasive copy that encourages them to fill out a form, providing their contact details in exchange for an offer, like a free class or to book a gym tour. 

Capturing these details adds them to your list of potential leads.

At this point, you can retarget this individual with a series of marketing strategies, including email nurturing, retargeting ads, or personalized offers, to guide them into your club’s sales funnel. 

This process, known as the buyer’s journey, is supposed to move the individual from a prospective member (a lead) to a fully paid and engaged member of your fitness business. 

Like many things in business, lead generation it’s easier said than done.

The gym lead generation of 2024 (and beyond) requires more empathetic understanding of consumers expectations and demands, better strategic planning, consistent execution, and a willingness to embrace technological advancements to be truly effective. It’s not just about gathering names into a list; it’s about engaging with the right people, at the right time, and in the right way.

Now, let’s dive into the importance of lead generation for a fitness business. 

Effective lead generation can be the lifeblood of your gym or health club, ensuring a steady stream of potential new members, which is essential for maintaining and growing revenue. We could argue that gym member retention is a cheaper, more effective way to do this, by concentrating on safeguarding loyalty and increasing member life-time-value (LTV)...but if you are reading this article, you’re more interested in member acquisition than preventing membership churn, so we’ll keep on theme.

The theory here being, that by constantly bringing new prospects into your pipeline, you’re able to offset natural churn, nurture new relationships, and ultimately convert new people into long-term paying members.

The other side to the theory coin being - that without a strong lead generation strategy, your fitness business risks stagnating or falling behind competitors in a fast-moving market.​ This part we wholeheartedly agree with.

Why Do Gyms Need to Generate Leads? 

Every business needs to stimulate new custom. So, personally I think a better question is “Why Do Gym’s Need to Optimize Lead Generation?” 

Let me explain.

The fitness industry has grown increasingly competitive over the last few years. Whether you’re opening a gym or building a new fitness complex, you’ll likely find yourself up against a variety of other fitness businesses, all targeting the same local market. These competitors, from large franchise gyms to athletic clubs, are all vying for a similar audience and market share in your area. That is unless, of course, your prospects are looking for something niche, like a luxury health club for example, in which case the ‘competition’ is more nuanced. But for the sake of brevity, we’ll keep it mainstream here. 

To establish yourself, or indeed to grow, and sustain your business, you need to build a strong member acquisition process. Stronger than all the competitors in your local market. This is why you need to take an ‘optimization’ approach in your lead generation efforts. 

Some would suggest that you should focus on being aggressive in your lead gen, but actually that’s not true. Aggression suggests throwing the kitchen sink at your member acquisition strategy and hoping some of it will stick, and let’s face it, more often than not that means throwing more and more money at ad spend.

The fact of the matter is, more money spent on ads, does not equal more members joining your gym. 

In such a crowded space, exposing the masses to your brand just won’t cut it. You need to proactively target your ideal members across multiple channels, capture them and engage them. Engaging them is absolutely critical. We can't stress that enough. 

What Are Typical Gym Lead Generation Strategies?

Let’s take a look at two of the most common fitness lead generation strategies...and then I'll tell you why I think they are flawed.

• A lead magnet is something valuable you offer potential members in exchange for their contact information - this will likely come in the form of a free trial, free fitness assessment, or maybe even a downloadable guide on the latest trending workout routines. This approach captures their details and allows your gym's sales team to follow up and/or nurture the lead. 

The downfall of this approach is that you could be capturing leads that have no intent to join and simply want to take advantage of a free pass, or the workout guide. So, the prospect’s intention to join is low despite the effort you have put into attracting them and capturing them (and potentially paying for)….not to mention the resources you might commit to ‘nurturing’ them.

• A lead generation channel is the method or platform you use to promote your lead magnet and attract potential members. It’s where your message reaches your audience, whether that’s through paid ads, social media, email campaigns, or SEO-driven content.

Lead generation channels are necessary but they are not without pitfalls. The way most fitness operators use digital lead generation channels is to broadcast an offer or their unique selling point, and yes they might include a lead generation form or the magnet we just discussed, but once collected, the leads are still sitting there waiting to be engaged. 

Why is this a problem? Because it’s too passive. 

Timeliness.is.absolutely.crucial. 

If you aren’t responding to interested prospects where and when they reach out to you, you’re letting valuable, and expensive, opportunities fall through the cracks. 

In North America over 50% of email and social media membership inquiries are left unanswered. Imagine how much is spent on attracting those leads?!

Now, ask yourself if you’d be comfortable with your Cost Per Lead and Cost Per Acquisition, knowing that it was unnecessarily inflated because of poor lead engagement? Isn’t it just a little bit crazy to have been so ‘aggressive’ about your lead generation, kitchen sink and all, but fail to consider how, where, and when you will engage with the leads themselves?

FYI just because you’re not in the Unites States or Canada, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook…In the UK between 42% and 54% of all email and social media membership inquiries go unanswered. In Australia over 18% of emails, 26% of Instagram, and 33% of Facebook inquiries go unanswered.

With traditional gym lead generation you’re just collecting data. You might have a smart lead scoring system in place hooked up to automated text messages and email campaigns to keep these prospects on the hook, which is great…but stand-alone this approach still relies on open rates and the small likelihood that the communication catches them at the right moment….in addition to the hope that your prospect has genuinely high intent and wasn’t just momentarily seduced by your colorful branding or emotive social media graphics.

What Is The Most Effective Gym Lead Generation Strategy?

Ok, so I’ve spent a good chunk of time tearing down ‘the way it’s always been done’, and at this point I wouldn't blame you if you were pretty mad right now. Nobody wants to hear they’re doing it wrong, do they?...And very few of us want to embrace new ways of doing things until we see it being done all around us. But therein lies another problem.

If you sit back and wait for everyone around you to use the latest gym lead generation technologies and member acquisition strategies before you give it a go, you’re basically saying you’re happy for your competitors to do it first and get the jump on you. 

We are in an era of rapid change. Every industry is changing and evolving at break-neck speed thanks to AI. The AI revolution, otherwise known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is moving at a pace that none of us alive today have ever seen before. The machine learning and open-source AI that you and I mere mortals use on-the-daily, has improved immeasurably in just the last 12 months alone.

This fact has not escaped some of the big fitness brands out there, and it is being capitalized on, massively. Consider this your call to arms. If you don’t embrace what technology is making possible for you, particularly in the fitness lead generation arena, you will be left in your competitor’s dust. 

Remember when I said I'd italicized ‘become’ engaged for a reason? Well, this is it. This is the truth of the matter...

Leads do not become engaged on their own. Well some do, because they have probably been considering you for a while, in which case they are really just self-servicing their conversion; but most don't. You must actively ensure each and every one of your leads is engaged. Instantly. Where and when they reach out to you.

So, the strategy you should be turning your attention to is this:

Instant, multi-channel, multi-language gym prospect engagement. 

I could sit here and type out another 200 words explaining how you do this. Instead, I have two videos to offer you that explain it all. 

The first is a 7-minute pre-recorded demo about Keepme Antares. Keepme CEO & Founder, Ian Mullane doesn’t just explain the strategy, he shows you exactly how it works across every channel. 

If you've made it this far then you've already proven you're committed to this learning curve - so click play:

And video number two shows you exactly how Keepme Antares can engage your prospects in whatever language the prospect chooses!

Any questions?

Feel free to reach out to us or book a demo to learn more

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