Tuesday, September 29, 2009

How To Sell Gym Memberships Back To School Ideas


Most kids in the United States have recently started school, and as a result we're happy to report that we have some new back to school ideas to help you sell more gym memberships!

Let's begin stating the obvious:
1) Your health club is first and foremost a LOCAL health club. The only members you're going to get are LOCAL members.
2) The schools around your gym are LOCAL schools. In other words, the kids who attend the local schools live nearby.
3) Each child that attends a local school, and thus who lives nearby, has a family.

Our point here is that back to school ideas should be popping in your brain right now. The kids in the local schools are a great way to reach local families, if you approach it the right way.

One of the best ways to advertise and market using the schools is to send home some marketing materials with the kids. When something is sent home from school, most parents pay attention! They read anything and everything that comes home with Junior.

So why not get something sent home with the local school kids? This is a POWERFUL way to advertise to only local households, without spending a dime on postage!

This marketing idea is so amazing that some of the biggest companies in the nation are using it, including Nestle. Many (if not most) school districts in the United States recently sent home a Nestle booklet titled "Happy New School Year" (see picture above). This booklet contains coupons for Nestle products, information on a sweepstakes, and a lot of promotional information about Nestle!

Consider the opening paragraph from the Nestle booklet: "Dear Parent, Your commitment to your family's well-being may start with good food, but it also includes a solid educational foundation. At Nestle, we share the same values." Now if that's not pure marketing, we don't know what is!

So how do you get the local school(s) to send some of your marketing materials home with the kids? That's the million dollar question!

First and foremost, you have to make it valuable to the school. One idea is to create a promotion where you will donate all the registration fees to ABC Elementary during a specific week. In other words, for an entire week you'll donate 100% (or 50%) of the registration fees you collect. You can call this "ABC Elementary Week" and create a send-home handout with this information. Be sure to require that, in order for the donation to be made, the parent(s) must bring the form with them when they join.

The school will be willing to send home this marketing material because it's a fundraiser for them. The families will read it because it came from the school. You win because it's a no-cost promotion for you: if nobody joins during that week, you don't make a donation. You have zero downside risk and unlimited upside potential!

That's how to sell gym memberships during these back to school months!

Of course, this idea is just one of many. Need more ideas? You'll find them by clicking here.

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