How to Keep Your Gym Members Engaged During the Holiday Season
What’s the word that makes people give fist pumps and heave great sighs of relief? The Holiday Season. Well, three words to be exact.
After a whole year of hustling, everyone can now sit down, relax and rejoice with a glass of their favorite Christmas cocktail. Jokes are cracked, laughs are shared, and every worry of the world takes a backseat. But in the process of letting loose, your clients also temporarily forget about their fitness dreams.
All the hours that you put into training them are now replaced with the hours of them overindulging and getting a bit too cozy at home. Alexa, play cricket sounds in the gym.
But this doesn’t have to be the case this time around. With a little effort and the right strategies, you can keep your customers off the couch and engaged at your gym. After all, your wallet also deserves to be happy during the time that’s meant to be all about happiness.
So, how do you make that work? Let’s look at some ideas:
Introduce fitness challenges
Of course, your gym members want to look fit and amazing for the holidays. They have family reunions to attend and people to impress. Use this to your advantage and introduce a ‘Fit for the Holidays’ challenge. Run it through the weeks leading up to the holidays and throw in some attractive incentives like a customized nutrition plan, weekly check-ins, and one or two HIIT workouts.
Make it competitive
If a simple holiday challenge doesn’t work on some members, make it competitive for them to instill motivation.
Present them with a challenge that will have a winner at the end of it. You can present this challenge to all the participants of your dance or gym class. Explain how reaching the objective will win them points or prizes. People like winning and the recognition that comes with it. So, tap into that competitive instinct and think of some simple and straightforward challenge ideas.
Some examples are:
- Most miles run challenge
- Most calories burned challenge
- Total weightloss challenge
- Most gym visits challenge
- 15-day walking challenge
These are some pretty simple challenges and success can be gauged easily. These challenges not only push your customers to do their best but also make them feel like a part of a community.
Offer special seasonal classes
Everyone gets bored with routine. Bring something new to the table that’s appealing enough for your clients to leave the comfort of their homes.
Know what keeps them going, what makes them excited, and what they need the most at the time. Think Weekend of Wellness, offering meditative yoga classes to those dealing with holiday stress. Gratitude Week that’s focused on Turkey burn rides for those who have packed some pounds over dinners. Give them what nobody else is and watch your clients clamoring for more.
Bring a friend promotion
What’s a holiday season without the spirit of spreading happiness? The more, the merrier. Encourage your gym members to bring a friend to get free classes or discounted rates on your merch. Those incentives are tempting and so is the thought of training with one’s friend.
This will get you double the usual number of people at the gym. These are all potential clients who are getting the chance to know and experience your services better. Many of them might even come back to get your cash register running.
Keep the hours flexible for easy access
Holidays are not the best time to be rigid about the timings of your gym. People are busy shopping, planning, decorating, and out having fun with friends. They might not be able to visit at the time they previously used to.
By extending the hours, you minimize the chances of your gym members not showing up at all. The convenience of a facility that’s open 24/7 could be a huge motivation for your clients during the holidays.
The time is NOW. Grab their attention early and keep them engaged. These ideas are not only for gyms. Whether you’re a pilates studio, a dance studio, a yoga studio, a personal trainer, or a sports instructor, you can reap the fruits of these strategies and turn the slow season into a success.
