Using News to Generate Club Sales

By Casey Conrad

The targeted direct mail piece you did last month generated a palsy 4 new members in the community you have been serving for the last 15 years and cost you upwards of $3,000. The ¼ page newspaper ad you ran with the $20.08 enrollment fee generated some phone calls but certainly nothing to brag about. Meanwhile, a no-name kid from a high school in VA gets on the Today show by posting a voice mail on U-Tube. The boy had called his principals’ house wondering why there wasn’t a snow day and received a nasty, return message from the principals’ wife chastising him for calling.

How, you ask, is one related to the other and what does it have to do with generating more membership sales at your club? Simple, in today’s fast paced world and over-crowded, over-saturated marketing landscape it is the timely, newsworthy and often the entertaining or downright bizarre news pieces that get picked up by the media and seen by the consumer. The question operators should be asking is, “How can clubs tap into this modern marketing strategy? Simple: by following a three-step strategy.

Step One: Identify the News that Can be Used.

Step Two: Identify the Angle that You Want to Leverage.

• Rubin Studdard, American Idol
• Kirstie Alley, weight loss
• Biggest Loser Couples

Step Three: Choose the Medium You Wish to Utilize.

• Press releases
• Blogs
• U-Tube/Facebook Marketplace