The five stages of the customer journey are an immense opportunity for gym owners to level up sales and marketing efforts. If you understand how to relate to prospective members in every step of the journey, you can significantly improve your strategy.
If you’re not aware of the five stages, it’s the path your prospective members take as they go from being a lead to joining your gym. The five stages are awareness, consideration, purchase, retention and advocacy.
The journey is important to understand, not only for analyzing how customers interact with your brand, but for determining the stages where you can improve.
We started with step one: Building awareness. Today, we’re exploring the consideration stage.
Four Ways Gym Owners Can Turn Consideration into Action.
1. Design Your Website for Prospects.
It’s not uncommon for gym owners make the mistake of designing their website for their current members, rather than prospects.
The reality is, current members have likely go to your gym’s website once. And that was before they actually became a member. Once they’ve signed up, engagement with your brand probably happens more through social media, your PushPress Branded App, email, etc.
Therefore, it’s essential to design the messaging on your gym website for leads. Once there, they should clearly understand the next steps you want them to take. Create a clear CTA (call to action) like booking a consultation or free trial. Then ensure the copy and design are all focused on directing people toward that CTA.
Pro Tip: Need help? PushPress Grow gives you a fully-optimized website, designed with lead generation and conversion in mind. Book a demo with our team today to find out more!
2. Strike While the Iron is Hot.
The moment someone reaches out for more info, gym owners need to have a system in place to respond immediately.
“You have to understand that the motivation for someone looking for fitness is typically not a two-week window,” said PushPress Director of Product Chris McConachie. “It is eating ding dongs on the couch at 10pm with great regret going, ‘I’m making some changes.’ They’re probably through two glasses of wine, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing it now.’”
For some gyms, the CTA is asking prospective members to fill out a form, then wait for a staff member to reach out. But the most effective strategy is to get them to commit to the next step right away.
If you use a gym CRM like PushPress Grow, you can use the power of automation to guide them through the process. That way, whether it’s 11pm or otherwise, the system responds immediately and encourages them to get started.
3. Put Effort into Social Media.
When it comes to the consideration stage, your gym social media can be one of the most effective tools for getting prospects to take action.
The good news for gym owners is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Think of it this way: People in this stage are already aware of your fitness business. In the consideration stage, they’re looking for content to help them decide if they want to take action. Here are three quick ways to do that:
- Keep your content fresh. Being consistent with social media posts allows people to see what’s been going on in your gym recently. If a prospect goes to your Instagram and your last post was in 2019, they may question whether you’re even in business. To save time, use the Social Planner in PushPress Grow to schedule your social posts.
- Show everyday people. Remember, prospective members want to see someone that looks like them in your gym. They’ll also want to know if the movements are feasible for them to do. Therefore, show your everyday athletes doing simple workouts. That way, your gym community will be perceived as inclusive and welcoming, in an un-intimidating culture.
- Highlight success stories. Hit the record button on your phone and let your clients shine. Ask people to talk about everything from putting diabetes in remission to hitting a weight on a certain lift. When outsiders see someone they can relate to seeing success, they can visualize their own success. And in the consideration stage, this can be a game-changer.
4. Position Your Gym as the Local Expert.
For some, seeing client testimonials or success stories is enough to take action. But others will be looking for additional proof that you can help them reach their goals.
Therefore, it’s important for gym owners to create educational content that positions the gym and staff as the local experts in fitness, nutrition, etc.
This step isn’t about listing credentials on your website or social media. Instead, think of various ways that you can provide valuable, helpful content. For example, consider starting a “fitness tip of the week” series on your socials. Share healthy recipes in your gym newsletter to encourage subscribers. Design a fun lead magnet or host an online webinar. The world is your oyster when it comes to creative options for sharing your expertise.
In Summary: Turning Consideration into Action is Crucial for Gym Owners
Gym owners have an impressive opportunity to improve sales marketing strategy by focusing on the five stages of the customer journey. After building awareness, the consideration stage is a multi-faceted approach for getting people to take action.
First, design your website for prospective members, not current ones. Second, use a gym CRM to respond immediately to people when they inquire. Third, put effort into your social media. And finally, use educational content in various forms to position your gym as a local expert.
These steps can work in tandem to usher prospective members through from consideration into the next phase: purchase.
