In this video, I show you the marketing strategy that I used to grow my group fitness classes from 4-5 members to consistent 20-30 members in EVERY class, and it only took me 2 Weeks!
Step By Step Marketing Plan:
Step#1-Get a SlickText Text Marketing Account- Click HERE
Use my promo code: GROWBIG and get your Slicktext account up and running. This will only take you about 5 minutes. You can even start out using the FREE account, but you will have to upgrade if you need to send out more than 50 text messages per month. Come up with an easy to remember KEYWORD, the word that your customers/members will use to text in to sign up for your reminders, and announcements. Make sure it’s easy to spell too! Once you got that, then you can move onto promoting this and start posting your Facebook Post on your Facebook Page!]
NOTE: I also recommend PROTEXTING for your text marketing. They don’t offer a free plan, but have a very easy to use system. Check them out HERE and save 35%.
With your text marketing set up, you will now share your KEYWORD along with the 5 digit short code in your Facebook POST that you will create in STEP #2. As people see your post and start signing up for your text reminders, and notifications, you will get a good idea of how many people will be interested in attending your group classes.
Selfie with my class on day 1 after marketing campaign ended!
Like I mention in the video, I find it to work really well to run my group classes in cycles of 8 weeks with 1 full rest week. This gives you a break as the instructor, and also gives your members a rest too. This cycle also helps with keeping people hooked, and will help you with marketing to NEW people. During that rest week is when you want to really be focusing on your marketing strategy here! Once you have a good size text list, you can re-market to those individuals who have been faithfully attending your group classes to remind them to come back after the break! Read my full Slicktext Review and get a slicktext promo code and start growing your business today.
Other great features that you will be able to implement with your TEXT MARKETING software is the Text-to-Win contests! Your members will LOVE This! I personally do a FREE CLASS give-away after EVERY class. This is also a GREAT WAY to know about how many people to expect to show up for each class. I let my class know ahead of time that as soon as they receive the text message about class for that day, they can text-in to win a FREE class. You have to set this up in the SlickText dashboard, but they make it SUPER simple.
Screenshot of my contests in SlickText Dashboard Showing # of entrants for that class
The members simply text in before class, and the system randomly chooses a winner at a time and date you specify. I have it set to pick the winner about 10 minutes before class ends. At the end of class, I remind them to check their phones to see who won! This is another great way to keep people hooked up and coming back! Who wouldn’t love a chance to win a free class!
-Now lets talk about growing your Text list! The most important element to this marketing strategy.
Step#2- Create A Facebook POST on Your Facebook Page ( If you don’t have one created already)
Make sure that you take time to create a custom business Facebook page with all your information present. Add details about your classes and anything else about yourself as an instructor. Upload pictures of your classes, links to your website, testimonies, and any other helpful facts or tips for your reader and potential customers to WANT to choose you.
Once you have your Facebook Business Page created, we will create a detailed Post about our class. Make sure to use a catchy phrase or image to grab their attention, but keep it relevant to your classes. Next, describe in detail, the information about your classes. Explain what they will need to bring to class, where the class is, how they can contact you for more information and most importantly……Explain to your members that they will need to sign up for your TEXT Reminders/Notifications! This is what we call LEAD Generation! We NEED to be getting them to sign up for your text list so we can continue to market to them!
Sample Facebook POST/AD:
Are you ready to get in the BEST Shape of your LIFE!!!? My YOGA class will be starting a NEW 8 week cycle on the 1st of This Month! Your FIRST Class Is FREE! Make sure to sign up for my TEXT LIST by Texting the word YOGA to 12345. I will be sending out class reminders and doing FREE class giveaways so make sure you sign up! I look forward to seeing you on the 1st!
Sample Text Message:
I’m looking forward to my new Yoga class starting back up soon! Make sure to get a yoga mat and water bottle B4 class on the 1st! Have a great weekend- (Your Name )
Step#3-Create a Facebook Ad: (Boost Your Post You created In Step #2)
The post you just created in step #2 is what you will use to boost your post. Go into your Ads manager, and select “Create Ad”, then choose “Engagement”. You will have to decide according to your location how many people and the types of people to target for this post. There are plenty of Youtube videos out there on how to do this if you are unsure. I ran my successful campaign on only $1 per day! I spent only $14 to make an extra $100 per class! Test your ads out with a small amount before upping your budget. Don’t waist your money. Remember, if no one is signing up for your text list through your ad, then you are either targeting the wrong people or your ad is not grabbing their attention. Let your ad run for a full week before deciding to change it.
5 Months after running my first campaign and I’m still getting over 20 members!
Tips:
Consider running your classes in cycles. This will help with retention, (keeping people interested and coming back) and will also give newbies a better chance of joining. I personally run my classes for 8 weeks with 1 full week off. About 1 week before the break, I start my Facebook ad, and usually pull it after the 2nd week of the new cycle. It’s up to you if you want to just let your Facebook ad run 24/7.
Conclusion:
With these steps implemented, you will no doubt have a huge response, and you will know how the ad and interest level is being received by how many people are signing up to receive your text messages. Be patient, let your ad run for at least a full week before deciding that it isn’t working. Sometimes it just takes awhile for your post to start reaching the right people. They will then start tagging their friends in the comments and sharing your post. Watch your group classes grow and watch your income double! I wish you the best of luck!
Other Helpful Apps For Your Group Fitness Classes:
-Session Tracker App:
I love this app! Search in the app store for “Session Tracker” and look for this Icon. It’s a great way to keep your clients sessions organized if you do PREPAY and need some way to keep track of how many sessions they have used. If you are an independent fitness instructor like myself, you will love how easy this app is to use. All you have to do is enter the customers name and add how many sessions they have. When they show up to class, just click on their name, and hit the “USE” button. It creates a log of the DATE and TIME for easy recording! You can even have it set up to email the customer every week letting them know how many sessions they have remaining. I have all my clients sign a book when coming in and even have them pay online at my website via PayPal. This makes it easier so your’e not dealing with money right before class starts.
-Power Music 1:
If you struggle with coming up with NEW music for your classes, this app is a great choice! You can create custom playlists from a HUGE library of music. The app blends the music for you so there is no DOWN time with your playlists. The app does cost $15/month, but I found it to be well worth it. If your music isn’t changing on a regular basis, you will burn your members out! How it works is you create a playlist right in the app just by clicking on songs. Once you have your songs added, you can then finalize your playlist and it downloads the songs to the app, so you don’t need WiFi or use your data to play your music. I find this app a must have. Just search “Powermusic 1” in your app store.
-Joe Gustafson- Owner of Joetopia! Fitness & JG Marketing
