9 Gym Ad Examples That’ll Captivate Your Audience in 2025

The best gym ads are eye-catching and memorable. They resonate with potential members and compel the audience to act.

But what exactly do the best gym ads look like?

In this guide we’ll find that out, by taking a look at nine successful gym ad campaigns that can serve as inspiration for your own advertising efforts.

Why gym ads matter for business growth

Why should a gym bother with fitness advertisements? Short answer: advertising is the most efficient and effective way to make potential members aware of your gym.

The health and fitness industry is one of the world’s most competitive. Your gym is tasked with competing against other fitness businesses, usually in a limited geographic area, which means you’re fighting against those rivals for a finite number of potential gym members.

A well crafted gym ad campaign can be the difference between winning that business or not. It’s why gyms spend as much as 12% of their total revenue on advertising (though many successful gyms spend far less than that).

Fitness advertising and marketing can push your gym business forward in a number of ways. It can build brand awareness and credibility. It can foster familiarity and trust within the target audience. Ultimately it can generate leads and sales, in the form of new members.

What makes a gym ad captivating?

The benefits of advertising your fitness brand are compelling. But what exactly separates the best fitness ads from the rest?

The best ads are tailored to a clearly defined audience. They’re unique and eye-catching, designed to ‘stop the scroll’ and make people pay attention. And they clearly outline what you’re offering, why the audience should care, and what they should do next.

Key elements of successful ads

Let’s get a little more specific: what distinct parts are the most effective health and fitness advertisements made from? The best tend to feature most, sometimes all, of the following elements:

• Visuals: Bold, eye-catching imagery.
• Headline: A punchy, compelling, action-oriented title.
• Message: Clear, concise and benefit-focused ad copy.
• Offers: A free trial, discount or referral bonus to incentivize action.
• Call to action (CTA): A simple, direct and prominent ‘next step’.
• Branding: Alignment with your brand’s values and visual identity.
• Personalization: Ad creative customized to audience segments.
• Social proof: Real reviews, testimonials and endorsements.
• Interactivity: Fitness challenges, social media competitions.

A successful fitness ad campaign will be made up of a number of individual ads across a range of marketing channels. Some will be paid spots (PPC ads on Google, sponsored posts on social media) while others will be more organic (email marketing, uploading videos to YouTube).

Ready to shape your strategy, but looking for a bit of inspiration to get you started? Let’s take a look at how leading health and fitness brands have used clever advertising strategies to increase brand awareness, inspire people to commit to fitness, and increase their gym membership numbers.

9 gym ad examples to inspire your next campaign

Example 1: Gymshark’s viral TikTok challenge

While it’s an apparel brand rather than a gym, Gymshark’s use of TikTok offers some incredible lessons for fitness business owners. Take their 2019 campaign: the 66 Day Challenge. Followers were encouraged to submit ‘before’ and ‘after’ videos using the hashtag #gymshark66 and tagging @Gymshark. Ultimately posts with the hashtag generated over 193 million views, demonstrating the power of body transformations on social media.

Example 2: CKO Kickboxing’s postcard campaign

CKO Kickboxing of Texas went a little old school in their gym advertising efforts by focusing on printed materials. They created postcards with a map, a QR code and customer success stories, then did a letterbox drop to 30,000 potential customers in their local area, targeting 22-55 year olds who lived within three miles of the gym. The result: 18 new members, and a return that was double the initial investment.

Example 3: Gymbox’s “Cutting Through The Bulls**t” campaign

Gymbox is a brand that doesn’t shy away from controversy and challenges the status quo. Its ‘Cutting Through The Bulls**t’ campaign launched in January 2023, aimed at increasing brand awareness. It featured bold billboards that pushed back against gym cliches, and used humor to position Gymbox as the other, better option.

Example 4: BoostFit Gym’s influencer collab efforts

BoostFit Gym wanted to expand its reach and attract new members. They understood the power of social media influencers, so they worked with a marketing company to find and establish partnerships with select influencers, then engage with them to create and strategically distribute content. Ultimately the gym saw a 35% increase in new memberships during the campaign period - a number that far surpassed campaign targets.

Example 5: A Louisiana gym’s email marketing blast

A Louisiana-based fitness brand with two gyms wanted to capitalize on new year’s resolutions by launching a “New Year’s Exclusive Deals” email campaign aimed at boosting memberships. 50,000 emails were sent, targeting individuals aged 21–55 within a 3-mile radius of the two sites. With a 77% open rate and 6% click-through rate, the campaign far surpassed industry averages (15% and 2%), and resulted in 102 signups within just 45 days, at an acquisition cost of just $17.16 per new member.

Example 6: Planet Fitness’s “Judgment Free Zone” YouTube campaign

A lot of people, particularly gym novices, can feel overwhelmed, intimidated and a little self-conscious when thinking about working out at a gym. Planet Fitness recognized that fact, and intentionally targeted this specific type of customer with a campaign entitled “Judgment Free Zone”, featuring a series of funny “No Gymtimidation” YouTube ads. These video ads contrasted the stereotypical gym atmosphere - shouty, competitive, daunting - with the relaxed pleasure of the Planet Fitness experience, to great effect: annual membership increased by 8%, to 15 million members across 2300+ locations by 2023.

Example 7: Feel Fit Gym’s humorous social media posts

Short form video is on the rise, and the overwhelming majority of Tiktok and Instagram users go to these platforms in search of funny or entertaining content. Smart gyms are aware of this, and create funny memes that have a chance of going viral on social media. Take Feel Fit Gym, an independent fitness business with a soft spot for Steve Carrell - the actor is featured in a succession of relatable gym memes on the gym’s Insta feed that have helped to build awareness and expand the brand’s reach.

Example 8: FitLife’s free trial offer ads

Everyone appreciates getting something for nothing, so one proven marketing campaign promotion for everyone from boutique fitness companies to powerhouse gym chains is to offer a free trial period. It’s something that FitLife Gym did as part of an Instagram advertising campaign, using bold text and clear calls to action (CTAs) to drive a 30% increase in sign-ups during promotional periods. It’s important to note the importance of follow-up in free trial campaigns, however… as this Redditor found out, when 100 people signed up for their offer, but only 10 of those actually showed up at the gym.

Example 9: FitBit’s emotional TV spot

While not a gym or fitness club, consumer electronics brand FitBit does present a masterclass in storytelling in its “What’s Strong With You?” ad campaign. Spanning TV and online, these ads featured inspiring stories that emphasized mental strength over physical, and invited viewers to re-evaluate how they saw themselves, and take a healthier, more holistic view. Millions of views later, the campaign proved an unbridled success, and can serve as healthy inspiration for gyms looking to inspire members to better themselves.

How to apply these examples to your gym

Armed with real-world inspiration, you’re ready to create your own effective fitness ad campaign. So how do you do it?

The answer will depend on your goals, your audience, your budget and more, but the steps below describe the overarching process:

1. Define your objective: Clarify the goal of the campaign, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, promoting a new service, or attracting new members.
2. Identify your audience: Understand exactly who you want to target, segment them into groups based on demographics (age, sex, location, fitness level, interests), then work to tailor messaging to each.
3. Choose your angle: Decide on a relatable or inspiring theme, whether transformation, inspiration, body positivity, or motivating the audience to reach their fitness goals.
4. Pick the right channels: Focus on platforms your audience uses (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). Consider whether traditional advertising (broadcast, print, outdoor) is worth investing in.
5. Create authentic content: Use your staff and members to create compelling content, from testimonials to technique to transformation stories.
6. Keep it short and visual: Use eye-catching visuals for imagery, and focus on grabbing attention in the first five seconds of video.
7. Include a clear call to action: Tell the audience exactly what they should do next: sign up, try a free class or visit your website.
8. Test and track performance: Run A/B tests to optimize your ads, then monitor engagement, clicks and conversions to refine your campaign on an ongoing basis.
9. Repurpose content: Edit, slice and repost videos across different platforms (stories, reels, posts) to maximize reach and gain more value from each piece of content.
10. Stay consistent: Use clear branding and repeat key messaging across channels and ad campaigns to build brand recognition and trust within your audience.

Start captivating your audience today

The fitness and health industry is a hugely competitive space. Thankfully, as the ad campaigns above show, your gym isn’t short of ways to stand out from the crowd. But a truly successful gym ad campaign demands more than just a great idea. You also need to arm yourself with the right tools.

That’s where GymMaster comes in.

With the ability to track members, manage events, and send killer campaigns, GymMaster offers up all the functionality you need to create a truly captivating ad campaign.

Book a free demo today to find out how we can help you grow your gym in 2025.