With so many social media options available to health clubs, it can be difficult to know which one will actually make a business impact. Much of it takes trial and error to decide what works best for you and your health club. I interviewed clubs across the country to see where they spend their time on social media. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Erin Murphy from Sweat Fitness says:
“We get engagement from all platforms but largely on Instagram. There is a growing trend on Instagram that is related to fitness as people strive to create healthier lifestyles. People want to hold themselves accountable by checking in and posting when they hit the gym. This allows us to cheer members on and interact with them in other ways.”
2. Claudia Kalin from Studio South Fitness says:
“We definitely get the most engagement with Facebook; we have had Facebook the longest & our clientele are not on Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter very much considering their age (most of our members are ages 45+). So Facebook is our best way to get in touch!”
3. Youfit Health Clubs says:
"While we see high engagement across all channels, the gold standard for reaching the right person with the right message at the right time is still Facebook. The targeting ability of the platform as well as a 7x share count make Facebook invaluable to us for both current member engagement and prospecting."
4. Bryan St. Andrews from CrossFit Nittany says:
"We feel like Instagram & Facebook are by far more engaging than other social networks. A few reasons this might be...
- The nature of health and fitness, and crossfit and bootcamp in particular, is such that great action shots of fit people moving well occur regularly and make for great pictures and videos.
- The relationships that are developed in a facility like ours tend to be very strong and the people genuinely take an interest in each other. As a by product we have relatively high level of interaction and engagement still when members are at home or work.
- If you create added value on those networks for members and teach them how your best clients are actively participating on FB or IG the newer folks learn to do the same and it becomes a part of the culture."
5. Spectrum Fitness & Medical Wellness Denham says:
“Our members interact the most on Facebook. The sense of community our members group pages along with the responsiveness it allows our staff is what sets it FB apart.”
6. The Sports Club of West Bloomfield says:
“We use both Facebook and Instagram. Between both Social Media networks, we have more communication with messages on Facebook and more pictures posted and liked on Instagram.”
As you can see, Facebook and Instagram are both at the top of the list for these health clubs. It will be interesting to see how these trends change as the months go by. We'll be keeping an eye on it and doing more posts to see if there are any changes soon. Stay tuned!