Health club marketing opportunities are everywhere and are only limited by your own creativity. Your small club is definitely newsworthy, whether you believe it or not. Your health club will always is rewarded when doing something to help others
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
You can volunteer to write up a fitness tips section for your local newspaper. There might even be multiple opportunities if there are other smaller newspapers or local newsletters or area magazines you could write for. And don't forget websites. There are probably some local sites that would appreciate free content from you. If you write poorly, it shouldn't be hard to find a colleague, significant other, or employee to write for you
3. Run a contest with a 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
These can either be onsite at your facility or at a community center. If you call or visit your local Chamber of Commerce and ask about a listing of presentations, you will be amazed. People give presentations on anything from basketweaving to coding HTML. If they dont already have someone regularly presenting on fitness-related topics, just ask them to put you on the schedule. They announce all upcoming presentations to their member and email list.
6. Create fame for one of your members
Media loves success stories, especially ones that involve someone overcoming incredible odds. You probably know someone like this in your club, but why not allow members to submit applications to be SmithTown Fitness Hero. Have everyone submit a 300 word article on how they have overcome the odds and how your club has helped them. Once you select a winner, send a press release to the newspaper, Local SmithTown citizen wins Hero award. Of course, give something to everyone who submits an application. Perhaps frame and post all of the success stories and create a SmithTown Fitness Wall of Heroes at your club to let all of your members be inspired. Think of how powerful this would be to show a prospect as youre touring them!
Of course, these 7 strategies only scratch the surface of how you can get free publicity in your fitness facility. Be creative and you will see your club become more popular the more proactive you are in your PR efforts. - 15433
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
You can volunteer to write up a fitness tips section for your local newspaper. There might even be multiple opportunities if there are other smaller newspapers or local newsletters or area magazines you could write for. And don't forget websites. There are probably some local sites that would appreciate free content from you. If you write poorly, it shouldn't be hard to find a colleague, significant other, or employee to write for you
3. Run a contest with a 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
These can either be onsite at your facility or at a community center. If you call or visit your local Chamber of Commerce and ask about a listing of presentations, you will be amazed. People give presentations on anything from basketweaving to coding HTML. If they dont already have someone regularly presenting on fitness-related topics, just ask them to put you on the schedule. They announce all upcoming presentations to their member and email list.
6. Create fame for one of your members
Media loves success stories, especially ones that involve someone overcoming incredible odds. You probably know someone like this in your club, but why not allow members to submit applications to be SmithTown Fitness Hero. Have everyone submit a 300 word article on how they have overcome the odds and how your club has helped them. Once you select a winner, send a press release to the newspaper, Local SmithTown citizen wins Hero award. Of course, give something to everyone who submits an application. Perhaps frame and post all of the success stories and create a SmithTown Fitness Wall of Heroes at your club to let all of your members be inspired. Think of how powerful this would be to show a prospect as youre touring them!
Of course, these 7 strategies only scratch the surface of how you can get free publicity in your fitness facility. Be creative and you will see your club become more popular the more proactive you are in your PR efforts. - 15433
About the Author:
Curtis Mock has quickly become the go to person for fitness center marketing advice. You can sign up for his fitness center marketing tip of the week and be sure to take advantage of your trial membership to the powerful fitness center marketing resource site created specifically for health club and studio owners and managers.
