Special promotional events can be powerful tools to boost your gym’s profile, gain new prospects and members, and engage current clients to build real community around your fitness center.
Fitness event ideas aren’t hard to come by, either. Organizing and promoting them can be fun and help build a team spirit among employees and members alike. And they can spark unknown paths to even further promotional power through social media, traditional media and IRL (In Real Life) networking.
Sounds great, right?
Plan like a pro. Discover unique fitness event ideas that get people moving. Engage your audience, boost participation, and break a sweat.
Let’s dive in with fitness event ideas that will get your planning juices flowing.
1.
Know Your Goals
Don’t put the cart ahead of the horse, so to speak, by coming up with a “fun” event and then coming up with business goals to justify it.
Instead, start by thinking about what your business goals are and how an event can drive them.
· Do you want to raise your profile in general? Or with a specific part of the community?
· Are you trying to reach a certain number of new prospects?
· Or drive an intense burst of new memberships by a certain deadline?
· Maybe you’re trying to raise money for a charitable cause?
The goals can be short term or evergreen, focused on your business or elsewhere… doesn’t matter. Just start by clearly defining them.
Ryan Carver of Leverage Fitness Solutions near Salt Lake City had plenty of fitness event ideas for a party last month that had a few complementary goals. He had recently completed a renovation and chiefly wanted to recoup some costs by gaining new members, and say “thank you” to his members for their patience.
“It was wildly successful,” says Ryan, who also sold copies of his recently published book.
2.
New or Existing?
Next, decide if there’s an existing event you can join to reach this goal, or if you need to create something yourself.
Examples of existing events include: July Fourth fun runs; “Race for the Cure” events; annual neighborhood festivals.
Sometimes, you get more juice for your squeeze by joining something that already has PR infrastructure, name recognition, and built-in crowds.
3.
Know Your Audience
If you decide to build your own event from your fitness event ideas, then be sure to tailor your event to resonate with your target demographic. Consider the age, fitness level, and interests of your audience when planning activities, promotions, and giveaways.
Understanding your audience will ensure that your event appeals to potential members and leaves a lasting impression.
Who are you targeting? Where do they go? What do they do? Create your event to appeal to them and to make it easy for them to participate.
Carver primarily serves the over-55 market and incorporated their tastes into his fitness event ideas. He knows that they are hungry for knowledge and appreciate opportunities to learn. So he gave a presentation about common challenges facing this segment and how his training solutions could help them.
He knows they like being recognized, so he gave awards. “I wanted it to be like the mini-Oscars,” he said. “It was really classy” – but casual so that everyone felt included.
4.
Choose the Right Theme
A compelling theme can make your event memorable and increase its appeal. Whether it’s a fitness challenge, a themed workout party, or a wellness expo, select a theme that aligns with your gym’s brand and resonates with your audience.
Here are some fitness event ideas that might be fun and effective for you, depending on your goals, audience, and other factors:
· ‘80s day – workout to music from the MTV era with fun fashion throwbacks like neon tights, headbands and legwarmers.
· Eat local — Food tastings or cooking demonstrations with local chefs, farmers, and nutrition experts.
· Community service – Build an event around raising money and awareness for a local non-profit or charity.
· Fitness challenges – Think of active fitness event ideas that are fun, competitive, and relevant for your target audience. Stoke the competitive spirit. Invite teams from other businesses, organizations, and media.
· Member appreciation days – Host an open house with food, beverages, games and giveaways to thank current members and to show prospects how much value and community they gain by joining.
· Do something crazy for attention – Like, have a 24-hour “exercise-a-thon” to get people talking and maybe even attract free media attention. Make it relevant to something bigger than you or in the news. Promote the visuals of it to get TV and social media attention.
5.
Plan an Entire Experience
Think of fitness event ideas as the starting point – and a fully planned event itself as the goal.
Beforehand, make sure you have the right venue and date. Maybe your gym is the spot, but maybe it would be better outdoors – so how do you secure the right location and any necessary permissions?
Check calendars to avoid planning on the same day as a competing event or big local occurrence that could distract from yours.
Anticipate the needs of the people you want to come. Will they need extra parking? Daycare or doggie care? Extra water or snacks?
If you have a prominent person coming, schedule everything to get the biggest impact from that.
For fitness event ideas that include giveaways, do you want to save them all till the end… or stagger them throughout the day? Are you programming an event that has a definite start and finish, or is it more of an open-house style?
When the event is over, give your visitors something useful, fun and relevant – even if it’s as simple as a frisbee or a T-shirt. Ask them to post photos on social media, and make sure they have the right hashtags so you keep getting more bang for your buck.
Here, Carver was strategic about choosing the February date for his event. While the renovations were done in December, he didn’t want to compete with the holidays. And he knew January would be consumed by newcomers, so he gave himself plenty of time to plan and promote.
About 80 people came and found the gym decorated nicely, with a balloon tunnel and ambient lighting. They received awards in categories like “Most Improved” and “Most Consistent.”
They enjoyed a range of catered food. And they were happy to receive information from local businesses Carver recruited as paying sponsors.
6.
Leverage Partnerships
Collaborate with local businesses, fitness influencers, and health professionals to enhance your event’s reach and credibility. Partnering with complementary brands can provide additional resources, sponsorships, and promotional opportunities, ultimately amplifying the success of your event.
So, maybe consider where your prospects and clients go to get their hair styled? Where they buy their cars? Where they shop for their kids’ clothes?
Can you offer to promote potential partners to your vast audience in exchange for them promoting your fitness event ideas to theirs?
You have to ask! Don’t be shy. Call on friends and build new relationships, alike.
Carver had so much interest he offered three price points. “They covered 70% of the cost of the event,” he said.
7.
Share Irresistible Offers
Make sure you weave into your fitness event ideas exclusive promotions, discounts, and other incentives to join your gym. Offer limited-time membership deals, complimentary personal training sessions, or merchandise giveaways to incentivize sign-ups DURING THE EVENT.
Make sure these offers are compelling enough to convert event attendees into paying members. In other words, make it a great deal, not just a good one.
Get folks to sign up while they’re at the event, as much as possible. Create a sense of fun and of urgency with deals that are available only during the promotional event, or only for the first five people who register.
8.
Promote Across Channels
You want fitness event ideas that build buzz and attract the right people, so promote them everywhere those people will see it. That can mean the appropriate social media platform, your own email newsletters, banners on your websites, signs up inside your gym and throughout the area, and more.
Keep it up by engaging with your audience regularly leading up to the event to build anticipation and excitement.
9.
Perform Like Stars
Impress attendees with exceptional customer service from the moment they arrive. Make sure your employees know how to greet guests warmly, offer assistance, and deliver the right key messaging, whatever you’ve decided it should be to drive the goals.
This is like a party. Make sure your guests have a good time.
A positive experience during the event can significantly impact attendees’ perception of your gym and increase the likelihood of conversion.
10.
Capture and Follow Up
Collect contact information during the event to follow up with personalized offers and reminders.
Use this opportunity to thank attendees for their participation, share exclusive post-event promotions, and encourage them to take the next step towards joining your gym.
Effective follow-up can help convert event leads into loyal members. Keep them on your email newsletter list so they continue to get to know, like, and trust you.
11.
Evaluate and Adjust
After the event, evaluate its success based on measurable numbers such as attendance, membership sign-ups, and revenue generated.
Gather feedback from attendees to identify areas of improvement and make adjustments for future events.
Review everything with your staff and any partners to get their viewpoints.
Continuously refining your promotional strategies across the board. This will help in the long run, with both attracting new members and retaining current ones.
Carver’s event drew about 80 people. He got more new members than he needed, gave away promotional introductory sessions, and signed up enough newcomers to help with his renovation expenses. He even sold dozens of copies of his book.
Next time? “We’ll add video montages and encourage the honorees to bring more guests for their cheering sections.”
Overall, remember that fitness event ideas can lead to powerful promotional opportunities that can generate a ton of goodwill and business growth.
All it takes is a little vision, planning, and diligence to bring it all together for the greatest impact. You got this!
And to keep up your education on everything you need to know about running a successful gym, enroll now at Naamly Online University.