Using E-Marketing to Drive New Sales

By Casey Conrad

Here’s the brutal reality of today’s health club market: We are operating in a hyper-competitive marketplace where the small box clubs, low cost clubs and niche facilities are eating away at your member market share.  Marketing is becoming less and less effective which; in turn results in fewer tours walking through your club doors.  Club operators report that they are fighting for every possible lead.  Regardless of what the government or the press is saying, the economy isn’t helping matters with low consumer confidence and spending.  Finally, expenses are up across the board; good employees cost more, benefits cost more (even for mediocre employees), and fuel and operating costs are greater, just to name the larger expenses.

All in all, one might surmise that it sounds pretty gloomy for health club operators.  In some respects you could look at it as a war.  Whatever it is, you have a choice; you can sit around moaning and groaning about the situation or you can do something about it.  Personally, I believe in the fight, and for club operators who want to be pro-active in winning their market share back I have some powerful suggestions.  These come as the result of a yearlong course I am personally taking in internet marketing.  Although simple to explain, these strategies are not currently being used by our industry.  I believe if you want to thrive, and not just survive, you better overcome your apprehensions or fears about using the Internet to drive business.

Below I will briefly outline two E-strategies that when used will help you create the one thing that is most precious to the success of your sales growth—a list.  That’s right; if you create your own list of interested prospects in your community you won’t have to rely solely on traditional marketing efforts that have diminishing returns.  I recently gave a 90-minute presentation on this topic at the annual IHRSA show in San Diego.  If you would like a complete PDF of the entire presentation, simply go to www.smartclubmarketing.com for the instant download.

One of the simplest ways to begin using technology to build your list is to offer e-booklets that educate the consumer on the products and services you offer.  These e-booklet offers can be added to traditional marketing, like flyers, newspaper articles and banner ads.  This simple addition can dramatically increase the “response rate” of your ads.  Yes, your goal is to get prospects to respond with buying but for those prospects that aren’t quite ready, offering the e-book creates a very low-barrier offer.  Most importantly by getting them to request the e-booklet you now have at the very least an e-mail contact for additional follow up.  Examples of e-booklets I have used in the past: The Beat the Bulge Holiday Survival Guide; The Looking Your Best for Special Events Guide, and; The Take It Off, Keep It Off Weight Loss Guide.  As a club operator make the titles appropriate for those interested in an exercise program.

Another way to use e-booklets is by adding them onto your website for visiting prospects to request.  Again, if a prospect visits your site, likes what they see but just isn’t ready to call for an appointment, getting them to request an e-booklet takes them one small step closer to making a buying decision.  As was mentioned earlier the e-booklet should educate but certainly can have a variety of club references and even free or low-cost offers to trial products and services.  In addition to prospects, your website can also have a place for members to send e-booklets to friends and family members.  For example, with our Take It Off Weight Loss Program, all licensees are given a fabulous e-booklet on how to lose weight that can be placed on their website.  A member who may not need to lose weight might have a friend who is trying to lose; when it is available to them it can be forwarded.

Finally, a third way to utilize e-books is to create a “squeeze page,” which is nothing more than a website whose sole purpose is to capture e-mails by having the visitor fill out their first name and e-mail in order to obtain the free information.  Squeeze pages work best in combination with other guerrilla marketing efforts like a tri-fold brochure or lead boxes.  For example, with our Take It Off Weight Loss Program brochures or lead boxes catch a prospects attention and tell them to visit www.AskMeHowToTakeItOff.com for the free e-booklet.  It isn’t rocket science but it works because people want relevant, free information.

A second way to grow your database is through teleseminars.  These are exactly as they sound; seminars that are done over the phone.  Teleseminars work for several reasons.  First, they are low barrier; someone can listen in without making a purchasing decision.  Second, they are convenient because people can attend without having to go anywhere.  Third, they are easier than webinars; no one ever said they couldn’t figure out how to dial their phone.  Fourth, they are educational, and; fifth, they help establish a relationship between the caller and the presenter/organization.  With the Take It Off Weight Loss Program, we offer monthly teleseminars where myself and someone from our medical advisory board answers questions about weight loss.  Licensees can promote the free teleseminar ahead of time through fliers and e-mails to prospects.  Those who register for the seminar can submit any question to be answered.  This is a tremendous value for the consumer who begins to associate a positive relationship with the Take It Off Weight Loss Program.  Follow up materials help drive prospects back to the club.

Clubs have an unlimited number of ways to use teleseminars for list building.  Because so many chronic conditions are affected by regular exercise an entire series of calls could be scheduled; How to lower your blood pressure; How to lower your cholesterol; How to control your blood sugar; How to increase stamina, etc.  Best of all, if a club partners with a local medial group they can probably get the physicians to be guests on the call, adding a tremendous level of credibility.

Although capturing e-mails requires a small investment to have your designer add a registration box to your web site or independent URL (domain name), the long-term benefits dramatically outweigh the initial costs.  (This should not cost your more than a few hundred dollars to have done.)  Setting up an “Ask” campaign would add another couple hundred to the project but then the entire system is set up for all calls.  For most club operators it will only take one membership sale to recover the cost.

What is great is that e-booklets and teleseminars are just two of many different e-tools that can be utilized to build a powerful, qualified database of local prospects that will drive more tours through your doors and result in more sales at a lower cost.  Of course, this assumes that you actually use your database once you have collected the names!  So, in next month’s article I’ll specifically address how to manage and work your lists.  In the meantime, if you would like more information on how to use technology to drive your business, please visit www.SmartClubMarketing.com.  And, if you would like to learn more about how to add a weight loss program to your club that will add an ancillary revenue stream to your business, please contact us at www.TakeItOffWeightLoss.com.