When used well, text message marketing can be a valuable tool. You can reward members, make announcements, and increase engagement and brand awareness. You have the power to boost sales and member retention with text message marketing.
It’s no secret that customer retention is one of the biggest obstacles for fitness businesses. Gyms and fitness studios face an ongoing struggle to retain members and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. SMS marketing is a cost-effective way to get in front of your members with your message. If you need a little inspiration, here are 10 gym offer message sample ideas to get you started.
- What is SMS Marketing?
- What are the Advantages of Using Text Message Marketing?
- 4 Essential Elements of a Great SMS Marketing Strategy
- 10 Gym Offer Message Templates to Engage Your Gym Members and Boost Retention
What is SMS Marketing?
It’s common for businesses to use SMS marketing for time-sensitive messages, updates, and alerts to customers who have opted in to receive your messages. SMS marketing uses text messaging to send transactional and promotional messages for marketing. In 2021, SMS marketing remains as important as ever, with 98% of US adults having access to a mobile phone with text messaging.
Today’s consumers have the world at their fingertips and can perform all kinds of tasks from their smartphones. By delivering your messages to a place that is beyond easy to access, you offer complete convenience. Communicating with your members correctly is the best way for any business to thrive.
The two main components of SMS marketing are the keyword and the shortcode. On a basic level, this could look like “Text NEWS to 444444 to sign up for our newsletter”. The keyword is “NEWS.” This is what the respondent would text to sign up for your newsletter. The shortcode is 444444, which is the number that will show up in the recipient’s inbox. This is a basic example of SMS marketing, but you can use messages and updates in different ways as well.
What are the Advantages of Using Text Message Marketing?
There are several advantages to using text message marketing in your fitness business. It’s easy to think that certain types of marketing have had their time, but SMS marketing remains relevant, and you can use it to engage with members, grow your business, and drive revenue. Here are four advantages of using SMS marketing.
High Open Rates
The average open rate for SMS marking campaigns is 98% compared to 20% for email marketing. Statistics show that of the messages opened, 90% are read within three minutes. When it comes to digital marketing, those are some staggeringly high numbers.
Cost-Effective
SMS marketing is a very affordable form of marketing. It costs virtually pennies to send messages. Depending on the platform you use, you will pay slightly different rates. In general, you can expect to pay between $5 and $25 per keyword. So, you’re looking at about $0.01 and $0.05 per text. This makes it a great option for a range of businesses, from start-ups to fully-fledged fitness franchises with multiple locations.
Measure Success
The only way you can find out if your marketing campaigns are successful is to track certain metrics. With SMS marketing, you can measure response rate, click-through rate, return on investment, subscriber growth, opt-out rate, and more. All this helps you to determine if you’re investing your time and money into the right marketing strategies.
Good Conversion Rates
Your texts are not only more likely to be opened, but your messages are more likely to produce results. Studies show that conversion rates can be as high as 45% in SMS marketing campaigns. With high open rates and strong conversion rates, you can see why text message marketing continues to be so popular in 2021.
The Fitness Founders Podcast has a good episode on cutting through the noise with your marketing. David Steel. He is the Chief Viral Officer of Sneeze.it, a social marketing and consulting firm, talks about how to craft the right messaging for your campaigns.
4 Essential Elements of a Great SMS Marketing Strategy
A great SMS marketing strategy delivers results, increases engagement and supports your members. SMS can enhance the member experience and give you the ability to communicate in a way that’s entirely convenient and relevant to your membership base. Here are four key components of a strong SMS marketing strategy.
1. Get Permission
Just because you have someone’s phone number doesn’t mean you should use it. Before sending any SMS marketing messages, you should get permission. You need to have permission to use a phone number for marketing purposes. You can do this by creating an opt-in campaign or by including a tick box in the paperwork during your member onboarding process.
2. Add Value
When a member signs up for your messages, they expect your communication to be relevant and useful. You need to add value to each message. Whether it’s a class reminder so they don’t miss their favorite HIIT workout or an opportunity to join your latest stream with a star guest fitness instructor, you should make your texts valuable.
3. Clear Call-to-Action
There should be a crystal-clear call to action within your message. This is the part that encourages the user to take the next step. Without this, it’s difficult to judge how well your SMS marketing campaign is performing. Adding phrases like “book your next class” or “sign up to our referral program here” both provoke action.
4. Keep it Short and Personalized
A text should be short and sweet. You don’t need to ramble on through a lot of characters. Instead, get to the point quickly and be sure to use personalization. You have about 160 characters to work with, so keep it simple. You can send extended messages over 160 characters, and they will look like they are from one message but will be charged as two separate messages.
10 Gym Offer Message Templates to Engage Your Gym Members and Boost Retention
SMS marketing can engage your current members, attract new customers, and add value. Gym text message marketing is a cost-effective form of marketing that has several benefits. Here are 10 gym offer SMS templates to start gaining traction.
1. New Fitness Instructor Announcement
Guest fitness instructors and recruiting new permanent instructors is a fantastic way to keep your workouts fresh and exciting. Keep members motivated with a new spin on your workout and bring in a sought-after fitness instructor. Make the event feel time-sensitive and limited to make it feel like a premium workout option.
Try this: Hey [NAME], it’s [GYM NAME] we’re excited to announce that [INSTRUCTOR] will be streaming a limited class on [DATE] at [TIME] Reply YES to reserve a spot!
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Discover more 2. Fitness Challenge Update
Fitness challenges can supercharge member retention and give people the motivation they need to hit their goals. Fitness challenges have several benefits. They can increase the feeling of community, create user-generated content for social media, and give members the opportunity to try something new. It’s a great way of adding value while helping members to see results at the same time. Whether you’re launching a digital fitness challenge that members can do at home or a gym fitness challenge is down to you.
Try this: Ready to hit your fitness goals [NAME]? Sign up for our free fitness challenge. More details at bit.ly/fitnesschallenge [GYM NAME]
3. New Member Message
Automated messaging is a great tool during the onboarding process. Retaining members is just as important, if not more so, than attracting new members. You can use text messages to streamline your onboarding process that will make it really simple for new members to sign up to classes, visit your fitness center, and start using your services. Communication with trainers and instructors as well as consistent interactions can help to prevent members from canceling their memberships. You want to start off in the best possible way.
Try this: Hey [NAME], welcome to the [GYM NAME]. We’re ready to help you hit your goals and transform your life. Reply with BOOK to schedule your free personal trainer session.
4. COVID-19 Protocol Update
The good thing about text messages is that you can communicate with members quickly. You can send out a news blast and within minutes your message is right in front of the people that need to see it. Creating confidence and reassurance around returning to the gym is a key part of reopening and running a COVID-19-compliant business. Update members with your new coronavirus protocols so they know exactly what to expect from your business and what you expect from them.
Try this: We are doing our best at [GYM NAME] to keep everyone safe at this time and kindly ask that you maintain social distancing and adhere to our COVID-19 guidelines: bit.ly/coronavirus
5. Class and Training Session Reminder
Your text messages can help streamline the user experience. Sending class and appointment reminders not only helps to give members a gentle reminder, but it also helps to avoid empty classes. By creating class reminders, you can do everything possible to keep classes full of paying members as well as improve the overall member experience. If you have limited capacity, use automated reminders that encourage members to confirm bookings as well.
Try this: Ready to get shredded [NAME]? Don’t forget your HIIT class at [TIME] on [DATE]. See you there, [GYM NAME]
6. Quiet Gym Capacity Update
If you have some members that prefer a quieter environment or perhaps you have a last-minute class cancellation, text messages can provide real-time communication with clients. Keep members up to date on your latest changes. This gives them the opportunity to visit you or join a previously fully booked class. By sending messages that provide value and are informative, members will continue to opt-in to your messages. It’s important that you always add value with your texts, otherwise, you could quickly lose subscribers.
Try this: Hi, [NAME]. We have an opening for today’s spin class at [TIME]. Reply with JOIN to register your spot. [GYM NAME]
7. Encourage and Celebrate Fitness Goals
Encourage members to come back and celebrate their accomplishments and fitness goals. Words of encouragement and motivation are fantastic for member retention and improve the overall member experience. You can make these types of messages personal and send them at the right time. Perhaps after a certain number of classes or streams, or through tracking health data.
Try this: You’re killing it [NAME]! You just finished your fifth class in a row! Keep up the good work, [INSTRUCTOR NAME]
8. Gym Membership Renewal Reminder
Text messages can make certain tasks much quicker. You can set up text automation for gym membership renewals. It’s easy for members to forget to renew memberships. The key is to make the process as simple as possible. You can request payment and send renewal reminders to anyone who has opted in to your subscriber list.
Try this: Hey [NAME], it’s [INSTRUCTOR NAME] from [GYM NAME]. Your gym membership will expire on [DATE]. Would you like to renew your membership? Reply with YES or NO.
9. Refer a Friend Program Message
You can promote your referral program via text messaging by sending an update. Referral programs are simple ways to expand your membership base. You also get the opportunity to measure member satisfaction. Create a program that rewards both the referrer and the referee, so you can turn your members into brand cheerleaders.
Try this: Hey [NAME], refer a friend before [DATE], and get a free personalized workout and nutrition program. More details at bit.ly/referafriend
10. Latest Deals and Promotions
Lastly, you can use SMS marketing to promote your latest deals and promotions. It’s important that you don’t send too many promotional messages in a short space of time. This will likely result in a lot of members unsubscribing. Instead, send deals and promotions relevant to that target audience.
Try this: Our summer sale starts now with 30% off all yoga mats and blocks! – [OWNER] from [GYM NAME] Text STOP to unsubscribe
In Summary
SMS marketing campaigns can deliver good results with strong open and conversion rates. It gives you the opportunity to communicate with your subscriber list in real-time and add value. You can deliver quick bursts of useful information that can help to improve retention, member experience, and re-engage customers.
