Monday

Are The Ducks Still Flying?

You know the old saying “You only go hunting when the ducks are flying.” So why are many of you still loading up and trying to make it happen when the season is over? I don’t mean to be rude, inconsiderate, or disrespectful, but referring to ducks as potential members is my way of getting a point across.

If you’re one of the many clubs that just came off a great quarter, why are so many of you trying to recycle old ideas during a season that has historically shown to be slower?

The fitness industry is not any different than other businesses; it has its highs and lows.

What should you do to ensure you have the very best possible chance for success? You need to reach out with creative marketing ideas and approaches and spend your advertising dollar wisely so to ensure you have the very best possible chance for success as you head in to the slower months.

So if I've got your attention, and you’re open to new ideas, suggestions, and ready for a few changes in your old way of thinking, check out the following information and make it happen:

There’s more and more research that indicates that local Internet searches for small businesses will continue to trend upward, as more traditional forms of advertising trend lower.  And that’s good news for savvy business owners.

Consider this, according to the Nielsen Report; there were 277,436,130 Internet users in the U.S., representing 87.5% of the U.S. consumers. Americans on average own four digital devices and spend an average of over 11+ hours per day on these devices.

Figures recently released show newspaper circulations have been experiencing significant declines year after year. Radio and TV advertising effectiveness continues to decrease as more consumers listen to satellite radio in their cars, and TV watchers are tuning out the noise and commercials. With postage and telemarketing expenses continuing to rise, the fitness industry, along with every other business, is being squeezed.

Now that we’ve done the research (I’m assuming that you’ve read to this point) you might want to consider letting your business surrender to modern technology.

With local search on the Internet having the strongest impact on customers finding your business, it is imperative that your business is listed correctly and on any and all platforms that your potential customers might visit. One of the most important aspects of local search is ensuring that your business’ information is consistent, accurate and accessible throughout the web. Yet most of small businesses, including fitness centers, have inaccurate online listings, according to a resent survey.

Your business listing information is a platform that allows new customers who are searching for you to see key information. A potential customer probably won’t know to search for your website, but they may very well find your business in a local or industry directory. If your business name, location address, phone, hours of operation, and description aren’t readily available and listed correctly on 100+ online directories, the consumer will probably not find your business while conducting a search and move on to a gym that does appear.

Google and other search engines search third-party directories and databases to see where the business is listed and how it is listed. The more places it finds the business, the higher it will rank the site in search and make it more visible for the consumer to see.

So where does your gym stand in the online marketplace? Let us do a free search of your business on over 100+ listing site platforms with our trusted partner, Social 5, and we'll email you a report card and tell you how you're doing with no obligation on your part. The report is available by emailing your business name, physical address (city, state, zip) and company phone number to info@globalfitnessassociation.com. The report will be completed within 48 hours and returned to you at no charge or obligation.

For more information on this subject, give us a call at 925-672-4800 and we will gladly do our best to answer your questions. You can also visit our website at www.globalfitnessassociation.com/info. 

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