Gym advertising works best when it’s local, specific and measured. The ideas below are all things a small team can run, and each one includes how to tell whether it’s working. Start with the first one, because without it you can’t judge the rest.
1. Track where your sign-ups come from
If you don’t know which ads bring in members, you’ll keep paying for the ones that don’t.
- Add UTM tags to every link you put in an ad, email or social post (for example
utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=spring-offer). Google’s free Campaign URL Builder makes these. - Point those links straight at your online sign-up page, not your home page, so there’s one less step between the ad and joining.
- GymMaster records the landing page, referring site and UTM tags for each online sign-up, and you can filter reports by them. See Marketing Attribution.
- If you use Google Analytics, connect it to your Member Portal under Settings > Integrations > Analytics. See Track Signups with Google Analytics.
Judge each channel on members joined and what they cost you, not on clicks or likes.
2. Show up in local search
Most people looking for a gym search for one near them. Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing they see, before your website.
- Claim your profile at business.google.com if you haven’t already.
- Fill in everything: opening hours (including staffed and 24/7 hours if they differ), class types, parking, accessibility, and plenty of current photos of the actual gym.
- Ask members for reviews, and reply to them, good and bad. A good time to ask is a few weeks after someone joins. You can put your review link in an email template and send it with an automated task. See Automate Member and Staff Communication.
- On your website, make sure each page says clearly where you are and what you offer. A page for each main service (for example, “24/7 gym in [suburb]” or “spin classes in [suburb]") is more useful to searchers than one long page.
3. Run targeted social ads with a clear offer
Paid social works when the audience is tight and the offer is concrete.
- Target people within a realistic travel distance of your gym.
- Lead with one specific offer, such as a free first week or no joining fee this month, and a photo or video of your real gym and members (with their permission).
- Send people to a page where they can take up the offer immediately. In GymMaster you can set up online sign-up for selected memberships (Sign Up Online).
- Give each campaign its own discount code under Settings > Financial Configuration > Discount Codes. Codes are another way to see which campaign a sign-up came from. See Membership Discount Codes.
Run each ad for long enough to get a fair result, then put more money into what works and stop what doesn’t.
4. Get members to bring their friends
People trust a recommendation from a friend more than an ad, and referred members already know someone at the gym.
- Referrals: set up a reward for the existing member and an offer for the new one under Financial Configuration > Referrals. Members can send referrals from the app or Member Portal, and a reward delay means you only pay out if the new member stays. See Referrals.
- Guest passes: let members bring a friend for free or a small fee. Turn them on under Settings > Advanced Configuration > Membership Type > Enable Guest Pass, then add the allowance to each membership type. See Guest Passes.
Every guest is a lead. Make sure someone follows up.
5. Make simple, honest video
Short videos filmed on a phone often do better than polished ones because they show what your gym is really like.
Ideas that are easy to film:
- A walk-through of the gym, showing each area
- A trainer explaining one exercise or common mistake
- A snippet of a class, with members' permission
- A member talking about why they joined
- What a first visit looks like, for people who are nervous about joining
Post them on the platforms your members use, and pin or reuse the best ones on your website and Google Business Profile.
If you work with local fitness creators, choose people whose followers actually live near you. Give them a free membership or session to try, a short brief, and their own discount code or tagged link so you can see what they bring in.
6. Run events and challenges
Events give people who aren’t members a low-pressure reason to come in, and challenges give existing members something to talk about.
- Open days, bring-a-friend sessions and charity workouts: schedule them as a class in GymMaster and allow non-members to book online (Settings > Member Portal > Bookings). Everyone who books becomes a prospect you can follow up. See Create and Schedule Your Classes.
- Challenges: pick something simple, like most visits in a month, with a prize such as a free month or gym merchandise. GymMaster’s Awards can recognise members automatically for things like most visit days or class attendance, and friend leaderboards let members compare visits and streaks with each other.
Ask members to share photos and tag the gym. That’s free advertising from people their friends trust.
7. Follow up every enquiry quickly
All the ideas above produce enquiries. The money is wasted if those people don’t hear back.
GymMaster’s Prospect Funnel collects enquiries from your website, trial bookings and staff, and lets you attach automatic emails and staff tasks to each stage, such as a welcome email straight away and a phone call the next day. See How to Nurture Leads into Members and the Prospect Funnel guide.
For former members and prospects who didn’t join, a short email with a reason to come back can be worth more than a new ad. If you use Mailchimp, GymMaster can keep your lists in sync so you can email specific groups. See Mailchimp integration.
Pick two and do them properly
Don’t try everything at once. If you’re not tracking sign-ups yet, start there and add one channel. Once you know what each new member costs you from that channel, you can decide where to spend next.
To see how GymMaster handles online sign-up, prospects and marketing tools, book a demo.
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