What's the Plan?

So you've decided that it's time to start a social media campaign for your business - what now?  You see your competitors and friends posting on many different sites, and you want to be in on the action - so let's just jump in, right?  

Wrong!  While it may seem very elementary, the first thing that you must do is create your game plan.  If you are new to social media marketing, you soon realize that there are thousands of resources available, and you should choose the ones that fit your marketing strategy.  If you need help creating that strategy, there are resources available that can help, such as "Developing a Social Strategy," a presentation led by Jeremiah Owyang and Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group.  Why is strategy so important?  Mr. Owyang provides an answer here: 

 Beyond the technologies and applications, you need to ask yourself, "What is is that I am trying to do with my business's social media strategy?"  Steven Grech, Head of Strategy at Lightmaker UK, offers this suggestion to help get started:  "Before you start working on your social media strategy, you need support from all areas of your business (sales, marketing, finance, legal, HR, customer services) including your CxOs. The aim is to understand the internal sentiment of your business with regards to social media and to present the steps needed to create your social media plan before you launch. Use this opportunity to understand what each department’s objectives are. Investigate their objectives from a social media point of view and also from a general point of view, i.e. whether it is to increase sales by x% over 6 months by increasing our digital marketing spend and/or reduce call centre costs by y% by launching more customer service information online."  

 Now that you have an internal view of your business in regards to social media, it's time to set your objectives and measurement plan.  What are the key metrics that you will be tracking?  Are you looking to increase traffic to your website by 20% within six months?  Or are you looking to increase sales by 10% over three months?  Jamie Turner's blog on "How to Calculate the ROI of Your Social Media Campaign," is a great resource.  

Now you are well on your way to creating your business's game plan!  By using the resources mentioned above, coupled with your own resources (don't forget about those millenials who work for you that are social media savvy - get their input, too!), you can begin your journey towards social marketing. 

Next week, we'll look at moving forward once your initial game plan is in place - where do you go from here?  

Kelli Hatton is an active fitness professional, consultant and speaker with expertise in employee development,  business development, marketing and management.  As a business development professional and consultant, she provides management, sales, marketing and customer service training to organizations looking to increase their productivity.  She also leads the Business Development team for Fitmarc, the South Central US Distributor for Les Mills Group Fitness systems.  To learn more, contact Kelli today.

Has your fitness facility's marketing become social yet?

Last week, I visited Denver and presented a workshop to fitness facility owners and managers on "Learning to be Social" as part of the Fitmarc Educational Series.  Our focus - setting up a social media marketing plan that not only increased market presence, but also increased membership sales and retention.  While many fitness facility owners have realized the marketing power of social media, many others have not, or have not taken the time to do anything about it.  For those folks who are waiting, take a look at this video, "The Social Media Revolution 2012,"  recently updated with current stats on social media usage.

While there are many astounding stats in this video, there are a few that really stood out:

• Over 50% of the world's population is under 30 years old
• 96% of these Millenials have joined a social network
• 78% of consumers trust peer reviews of products and services
• Only 14% of comsumers trust advertising
• 34% of bloggers post about brands and their opinions of them. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing ways to help plan and execute your social marketing.  We will also look at how you can move through several stages of engagement to truly connect with those consumers that are interested in your brand.

Is there anything specific that you would like to see explored during these next few posts?  Please let me know - let me know your challenges, your concerns and your success stories!  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, with your thoughts.

Kelli Hatton is an active fitness professional, consultant and speaker with expertise in employee development,  business development, marketing and management.  As a business development professional and consultant, she provides management, sales, marketing and customer service training to organizations looking to increase their productivity.  She also leads the Business Development team for Fitmarc, the South Central US Distributor for Les Mills Group Fitness systems.  To learn more, contact Kelli today.

Increasing Importance of Social Marketing for Fitness

In my last post I shared the science behind "social fitness," and how creating social environments in your facility will help retain members.  But what about bringing in new members, specifically those of Generation Y?  These are young people born between 1980 and 1999, and they outnumber both the Baby Boomers and Generation X.  According to an article in Athletic Business, the Sporting Good's Manufacturers Association "Sports and Fitness Participation Topline Report" shows that social networking is impacting sports participation patterns in the US.  "The most popular Generation Y category is fitness sports; 51.3 million are engaged in some type of fitness-oriented pursuit, and as a result of their strong social attitudes, they gravitate toward group exercise."

Check out this PSA created to help encourage college students to exercise:

The influence of friends, whether in person or via Facebook, Twitter or other social applications, has attributed to the growth of both team sports and group exercise classes in the last few years. 

Here's a great personal example - my niece, Taylor.  Taylor is 13, and has been talking with me about ways to exercise and keep fit now that she has left her competitive gymnastics team.  Last week, I told her about Lifestyle Family Fitness and their free teen memberships, given every summer to teens that want to remain active while not in school.  Her first question was, "How many of my friends can come with me, and can we take classes together?  We don't know how to use all that equipment..."  One group text from Taylor was all it took - I am chaperoning a group of she and five of her friends to our closest LFF this week to sign them up for their free memberships.  Geoff Dyer and his team at LFF recognize the need to market to Generation Y, knowing that, if they get started with exercise at a young age, they will be more likely to continue, and probably at their nearest Lifestyle facility. 

What is your facility doing to market to Generation Y?  Are you providing a social fitness environment, and are you getting the word out via social media channels?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, and your questions.