The lull after Thanksgiving is the optimal time to get people excited about working out before the holiday season. On Black Friday, you can sell more products, attract new members, and strengthen relationships with current clients. Here’s how.
SWEAT THE REGRET
It’s no secret that Thanksgiving is one of the most indulgent holidays. You can use this to your advantage by pushing out nutritional programs and burn-the-calories workouts on Black Friday for the week after Thanksgiving.
One approach is a detox with a list of recommended foods and healthy, easy recipes delivered via email everyday for a designated number of weeks. You can advertise the program by making a sample recipe available on social media and on flyers at the studio. You can also offer giveaways to people who post photos of their progress and the food they make with a hashtag designed for the cleanse.
CLASS PROMOTIONS
Black Friday is one of the most popular times for gyms to attract new customers so you have to be creative and proactive about the promos you offer. A tested strategy is running a 48-hour sale which gives three months of free classes to clients who pay for a one-year membership upfront. Other options include waiving the enrollment fee or offering 50 percent off the enrollment fee with the first month free. Regardless of which strategy you choose, you can capitalize upon the urgency of Black Friday by limiting the number of offers available.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Thanksgiving provides an opportunity to spread the word about your studio and build stronger ties with the community through some good deeds. An easy and effective way to do this is by holding a food drive. You can put boxes in the entryway of your studio or gym for donations. The U.S. Hunger Relief Organization (www.feedingamerica.org) will help you find your local food bank.
Then, you can promote the drive after classes and through flyers at cafes, restaurants, and other businesses in the area. Locals will likely be open to helping you promote the drive as it’s for the better of the community and people who would not have come to your studio otherwise might check out your classes while they’re making a drop off.
If you want to turn the drive into an event, you can ask regular clients and teachers if they want to volunteer on Black Friday to collect and drop off the donations. While the volunteers are helping out, you can give them Black Friday t-shirts from the studio, play music, and offer snacks to create a festive mood. During the event, you’ll likely sell more Black Friday specials too if you strategically place your products and flyers next to the volunteers.
It may seem counterintuitive to ask clients to help out as a promotional tactic, but it’s a good way for them to bond with your studio. If they feel they’re a part of what you’re doing, they’re more likely to promote the drive to friends and family.
MERCHANDISE DISCOUNTS
Black Friday is, of course, a great time to sell your products. Make sure your deals are well advertised in your window and on social media with popular Thanksgiving hashtags. If you have an online store, you can offer 20 percent off orders plus free shipping. It’s worth investing in some targeted ads on Facebook as millions of people will be shopping for the holidays online. A popular offer which can also get you new members is a $100 gift card for the price of $80.
PROMOTE THROUGH GRATITUDE
Building loyalty with current clients is just as important as getting new ones. Consider putting together little gifts for people who work out with you the week prior to Thanksgiving. If you hold mindfulness classes, you can give out a bit of sage or incense. If you do more cardio-based classes, you can give away energy bars.
Ideally, your giveaway should be something that can be purchased at the studio so that if the client likes it he or she can get more. Along with the care package, you can include flyers with Black Friday specials and any branded items you might have already (pens, towels, t-shirts, etc.). This is an effective and subtle way to let people know about the deals you have planned for the upcoming holiday.
