Did you know that 67% of gym members in the USA and Canada keep their membership for at least 1 year? Owners understand the importance of developing and nurturing human connections with their gym members. If you have a strong member engagement strategy, then you can drive member retention. In this article, we will discuss the reasons why gym member engagement is important, and how you can achieve this through a gym management software.
What is the role of a gym management software in member engagement?
On average, gyms in the US and Canada have an annual attrition rate of 28.6%. There are so many reasons behind this, but most of the causes can be attributed to human nature. Engagement matters because consumer habits can change, but people remain the same.
Having a strong foundation for gym member engagement is very critical. Members at risk of canceling their memberships are less likely to quit the next month if they receive a successful commitment interaction than those who didn’t.
The industry is an ever-changing landscape – you don’t sell gym membership and then walk away. As a gym owner, you need to build a community. Building strong relationships with your members can help retain and build a community where they can come to you and feel supported.
The real meaning of engagement
Engagement can mean different things to different people. If you’re talking about your page or website, then engagement refers to the likes, comments, and views. It means that you need to build an online community. However, this isn’t the only part of member engagement.
Gym members pay to go to your gym to keep them engaged in person and online. When thinking about member engagement, you have to consider your touchpoints. These touchpoints depend on your members and how they want to be communicated with. These include your website, social media platforms, online communities, and a gym management software. All these elements provide different ways for members to interact and engage with you through these touchpoints.
Using a gym management software
It’s not too late yet to build a strong community atmosphere and improve gym member engagement. It should be a strategic priority for any gym to make use of a gym management software. Start by defining what member engagement is to you and your business, and then outlining your member engagement goals. Using such software, your members will feel more valued and are less likely to cancel their membership.
How does a gym management software improve gym member engagement?
Here are some creative and simple ways how a gym management software increase gym member engagement
Group exercise programs
Community is a very powerful tool to retain gym members. Having a gym management software in place helps improve gym member engagement through group exercise programs. These programs help connect like-minded people and create a sense of community. One of the main reasons a lot of fitness programs like CrossFit have a big impact is the atmosphere created by group instruction.
Regular communication with members
The relationship between you and the gym members continues even outside of the gym through social media interactions or your management software. Keep in touch with your members regularly to improve member engagement. You can achieve this through automatic e-mails and SMS notifications to stay in touch and update your members with news, offers, and events. You can also set up automated alerts to notify you if one member has missed a class or has been out for an extended period so you can reach out to them.
Having a strong analytics system
If you want to track member engagement and check where you can make necessary improvements, you’ll need a gym management software with strong analytics. Stay updated on everything that’s going on with your members, and monitor the data down to the smallest details. Once you have this information, you can make well-informed decisions to make the necessary changes, based on real-time data and feedback.
The software should be able to provide solid insights and analytics to help you understand everything about your members. You should be able to track helpful metrics, such as attendance rate, membership retention and sales, lead management and conversion, and total revenue. With this, you can make changes before any member walks away or cancels their membership.
User-friendly website and app
Remember that your website is one of the most critical touchpoints to help improve member engagement. It’s a key part of establishing your online community. After all, it is your brand and identity online, and it’s where your customers go to understand more about you.
Your website and app should provide helpful information to your members, and allow them to manage their membership. It should also allow them to renew their yearly membership and sign up for events.
Keep your website updated with fresh content every day. After all, all great websites share common features that provide the best user experience. The same should be the case for your app.
Track member performance and results
Members join your gym for a purpose – they didn’t just wake up one day and said “I want to go to the gym!”. Therefore, you need to track their fitness progress to help them meet their goals. Work with them to set realistic goals that they can achieve through your help. If you let your member work towards an unrealistic goal is a sure way of landing a very disappointed customer.
With the help of a gym management software, your members should be able to track their progress. There’s nothing more saddening than to put a lot of money and time into an activity and not see the results. Show them how much progress they’ve made, and it will motivate them to continue moving forward. This is an easy way for both employees and gym members to track progress.
Gym member engagement is very important to any fitness business. Focusing on what your members want can help you create a member engagement plan that fits your business. Create meaningful interactions and build relationships with your members to help increase member engagement. In the end, you’re not only helping them achieve their goals, but also keeping them from canceling their membership.