It is no secret that Facebook ads are long past the peak of their power. Not only are they harder to use than ever before, we are hearing more and more from independent gym owners that it is becoming increasingly difficult to extract ‘performance’ from them.
This represents a large and continuing question for Independent Gym Owners.Thousands of clubs up and down the country have made paid social media advertisements part of their plan to reach out prospective members in their area and the Facebook/Instagram duo (under the ‘Meta’ banner) have been a key part of that strategy.
Two issues have meant that the attractiveness of Facebook ads have dropped significantly.
This isn’t a surprise. While Facebook’s decline has been steady overall, it has been rapid with the younger generation, a key sector for any independent gym given the average age demographic of prospective members.
But with the fall of every ‘staple’ comes new opportunities, and so today we will be looking at how independent gyms can diversify their advertising operations in order to more reliably target and attract new members from a variety of platforms.
Don’t worry, we won’t be suggesting you go to Twitter (does anyone actually call it X?), but there are still plenty of sites out there being used by the people you want to get into your gym.
There is no point going down with a sinking ship, and we fear a sole-reliance on Facebook ads might be just that.
So let’s get down to business and see which of these can pick up the slack in your independent gyms marketing operations.
If you are an independent Gym Owner or Manager and you are looking to reach out to a younger audience, you won’t find them on Facebook anymore.
Not to say that everyone under 35 has left. But it has certainly developed a reputation amongst the younger generations these days. Let us say that it isn’t a positive association.
What has risen in its place? Well, several sites. Perhaps the most visible and well-known has been TikTok.
Currently one of the most popular and ‘trendy’ social media sites. In 2021 it had 700 million users, by 2023 estimates vary between 1.2 and 1.7 billion. It is quickly catching up on Facebook.
But more importantly it has the demographics that we in the fitness industry are trying to appeal to. Estimates vary by region and country but it is generally understood that under 35s account for between 70% and 80% of the gym-going population.
And TikTok is where you can find a good portion of that demographic.
A vast number of those users are of a gym-going age, and with reports that Gen Z and Millenials are now making up the vast majority of gym-users, there has never been a better time to get on the TikTok train.
Couple that with a much more concise and honed medium, short videos, and the appeal becomes undeniable. Whereas Facebook ads have always stood out, the ads made on TikTok are designed to mirror the rest of the content on the site.
With a little bit of youthful expertise, independent gyms can be organically reaching the phones of a local audience that has otherwise either long since left Facebook or never been on it in the first place.
Add in that it actually allows you to track purchases across all device types and offers enhanced metrics, it is a no brainer for your next social media operation.
To take it from one speed to another, LinkedIn is very much the opposite to the fun and fancy-free TikTok.
Linkedin may have a reputation for being a very serious and dedicated business social media platform, but that doesn’t mean it lacks advertising opportunities.
Unlike the ultra-competitive Facebook ad circuit, there are comparatively few independent gyms and health clubs on LinkedIn.
We’ve spoken to a few gyms that have tried this approach with great success, and even ran some experiment of our own.
Long story short, LinkedIn is in a similar state to the Facebook golden age of ten years ago.
There is an active and engaged user base who have incorporated it into their daily routine, they are often highly driven and high-earning. The ad costs are cheap and the audience reach is large. Add in location metrics, money to spare and a responsive feed system and it is a no-brainer.
If advertising to the young-uns on TikTok isn’t your gyms speed, LinkedIn might be a way to target a working age audience with purchasing power and a professional community focus.
While Google Ads aren’t a social media site, they are an advertising opportunity for independent gyms that is too good to pass up.
Working entirely on search terms rather than the typical social media affair, Google ads offer a unique chance to harness search terms and location-centric marketing.
We probably don’t need to introduce the concept at this point. If someone googles the term ‘Independent Gym’ and your gym has paid ad money, your name will either be at the top of the list or very near it.
And as anyone who has ever used Google knows, that is a very powerful edge on the competition below. First result has to be the best right?
This is a great way to engage in marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing. By boosting your gyms profile when prospective members are searching for gyms in the area, you are practically guaranteed to boost engagement and membership.
Even by selecting just a few terms such as ‘Gym in AREA’ or ‘Best gym in AREA’ or ‘Cheapest Gym in AREA’ your gym can make significant headway in some very common search terms.
And your initial forays into Google Ads need not cost the earth. Set up a small budget and watch as your gym balloons up the order of Google searches in your area. It is a surprisingly underutilised technique given its simplicity and efficiency.
While we will write a full blog about Google Business Profile one day soon, it is important we include it on our list now for two reasons.
First, it is an incredibly effective service, for reasons we will expand upon below.
But second, because we have come across so many independent gyms not using it! Hundreds of otherwise professional, competent and successful gyms leaving money on the table and their web-presence incomplete due to neglecting one simple online service.
Some of you will be keenly aware of what we are talking about already, and this section isn’t for you.
For those that don’t, it is this: –>
To the right of nearly every Google search done for a business, you have this listing at the right of the page, giving you a host of information.
This is known as a Google Business Profile and is run by a system called Google My Business.
As you can see above, it provides nearly a dozen vital data points for a member or prospective member in the blink of an eye.
Website link
Directions
Location
Address
Pictures
Q&A
Opening Times
Currently Open or Shut
How Busy It Is
Reviews
Millions of people have come to rely on this box for any business they google. If this box is left in an incomplete state or doesn’t exist at all, it communicates a poor impression regarding the business.
Google My Business allows you to enter this information regarding your gym directly into Google, which is incredible for a host of reasons.
Not only does it help your business show up on Google maps and Google searches, it also allows anyone that finds your gym from those searches to instantly know this information.
Not only that but it allows Google to categorise and classify your Gym more easily, resulting in better results for those searching.
So please, don’t leave your Google Business Profile half-complete and derelict, and certainly don’t leave it up to the robots to try and workout what your gym does! Start this process today and rest assured that every google search your business appears on thereafter will be that much likely to result in a member!
It might sound a bit old fashioned, but message boards are a surprisingly efficient way to get in touch with your local community. Sspecially if you live in a larger town or city.
And perhaps the largest website currently hosting a form of message board hosting by location is Reddit. Reddit has come a long way from being a den of nerds. Now it is used by over 75 million people daily with many of the biggest ‘subreddits’ being based around large towns and cities.
These communities have gained a sense of authority in recent years, to the point where many Google searches are often punctuated with the term ‘reddit’ as they know the dedicated town/city subreddit will have the most pertinent or correct answer.
For those who have never used Reddit, it claims to be the largest website in the world and is made up of small communities known as subreddits. Everything from “News” to “cute cats” have their own community and you’ll usually be shocked by how many people have gathered around some esoteric community names.
These local community subreddits are used to trade recommendations and advertise local products. Your gym certainly won’t be the first or last to be advertised on a community subreddit.
We don’t need to reinforce too much what an edge it is to have easy access to a large range of people who have formed a community in your local/surrounding areas. It is a great boon to any business frankly.
But the good news doesn’t stop coming, because Reddit also has a user-friendly ad platform which allows you to target specific subreddits, which you can use to advertise to people in your area about your independent gym.
Currently this is a bit of a wild west, in the best possible way. It is a technique that isn’t being utilised very heavily by anyone other than the most savvy of local businesses. As such, it is the perfect way to get your gym in front of a huge range of demographics who all live locally pretty much uncontested and for a very cost effective advertising cost.
Unfortunately Instagram is owned by Facebook and suffers from many of the same ailments that we discussed earlier regarding Facebook when it comes to advertisements. It uses the exact same algorithm and you’ll find many of the problems to be the same.
Perhaps the only distinguishing feature would be that it is still used by a significant number of Gen Z and Millenials when compared to Facebook.
And so we will end this blog by saying that Facebook Ads needn’t be a prison for an independent gyms marketing campaign. We hope this article has encouraged more independent gyms to step out of their comfort zone and see what going to different platforms can accomplish.
For the same price or perhaps even less, you can start to access new audiences that have long since left Facebook.
Trust us, we know it can be easy to get into the comfortable habit of using the same social media site to run everything from. But this sort of comfort can be a trap that prevents growth and aids stagnation.
Facebook Ads may feel like a safe and reliable form of advertising, but it should be a cautionary tale about how both demographic shift and feature decay can change an advertising powerhouse to a potential growth inhibitor.
So hopefully we have convinced you that the time is right to strike out and try one of the new platforms we have recommended. By just running a few low-cost experiments, we’ve seen independent gyms vastly increase their advertising reach.
By diversifying away from one site, gyms can spread the word to audiences within their local area that would previously have been entirely inaccessible. We wish you luck in your experiment and look forward to hearing how it went!
If you have any questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to message!
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