Gyms and Fitness Centers thrive on being able to reach both potential and current members. But when emails are only opened 22% of the time, businesses need to turn to new methods to capture their members’ attention. That’s why more and more gyms are turning to SMS texting to send them updates on new classes they are offering, or to run renewal drives.

Almost 90% of club members say they value communication from fitness staff members. Texting can be used for marketing and pursuing leads in order to get more signups and to improve member satisfaction. Using text messaging for fitness centers is the best way to boost revenue and improve your member satisfaction. Let’s see how!

Why SMS for Your Fitness Center?

So why should your gym try texting? There are three great reasons:

1. Text messages have a 98% read rate.
2. People love getting free stuff.
3. Members love getting rewarded for their loyalty

And what are the rewards for great marketing and service?

1. Higher revenue
2. Increased retention
3. Better brand awareness
4. Higher engagement and renewals

3 Ways Text Marketing for Gyms Works Out

1. Keywords

The first step is your fitness center or gym needs a keyword to secure subscribers. You can display this in your gyms, collateral, or ads. Say your fitness center is called Comet Fitness. You simply reserve a text keyword like “GoComet” or “CometFit” that subscribers can text in.

When they do, they will receive messages to learn more about your gym and this will allow you to collect their contact information.

You can then use this information to sell your gym to possible new members. With over 35,000 health and fitness clubs in the U.S., the number of members are expected to continue growing. You can also filter these lists so you can message members about offers or classes that are relevant to what you know about them.

2. Auto-Responses

Once a subscriber opts themselves in, they will automatically get a response (AKA an “auto-response”) to confirm their subscription to your text messaging list. Auto-responses don't stop there.

If you choose Trumpia, you can send your customers additional questions to learn more about them, and each auto-response can ask a new question so that you can learn about what they are looking for from your fitness center.

3. Getting More Members

Let’s say that your gyms text messaging efforts secure you 600 new subscribers your first week. After you have gathered more information from auto-replies, you can then send them offers that are relevant to their interests of behavior.

This will help keep them engaged and make potential members more likely to join. This also allows you to up-sell current members on new classes or programs.

The top bullet point is there for a reason: mass SMS is the best way to generate leads. That’s because it’s easy to use, it has a near perfect read rate, and it allows you to carry out two-way conversations quickly.

Why Fitness Centers Choose Trumpia

Trumpia has been working with Fitness centers like the YMCA in Grand Rapids for years. That’s because our SMS automation is a cornerstone for fitness center communications, allowing you to do more without having to tie up your staff. Trumpia is perfect for:

1. Increasing Revenue

Imagine 98% of your members actually reading your marketing material. That’s what Trumpia can offer.

• Increase membership through text-to-join and renewal reminders.
• Increase class sign ups by automatically sending relevant offers based on the member’s interests and history.
• Create targeted drip campaigns to engage prospective members into joining.

60% would rather text than call for customer service.

• Solicit feedback quickly and easily from your members to improve how your facilities and classes operate.
• Text-enable your business landline number, allowing your members to text in their questions rather than forcing them to call and leave a message, get stuck on a call, or play phone tag.
• Mass send training tips or new class offerings.

Streamline your operations with our automation, which carries out tasks for you.

• Automatically remind instructors and members of class start times to reduce no-shows.
• Trumpia’s unique Smart Targeting feature will allow you to send out the most relevant offers. Based off of information you gather from your members, we can automatically send messages to members that best match classes or events that they are interested in.

SMS for Fitness centers is a proven and powerful way to boost your bottom line. Whether it’s alerts for current members or SMS marketing to get new customers, SMS has a read rate and speed that other forms of communication simply can't reach.

As long as your messaging efforts include incentives that lead to potential members to membership, SMS marketing will continue to grow your numbers and make sure your health or fitness club is successful from the New Year’s rush until December 31st!

Click here to talk to a Trumpia expert about how your fitness center can benefit from SMS automation today!