Do You Have the Right Platforms?

What goes around comes around, right?  Who would have thought that in the second decade of the 2000's, we'd be loving our platforms again the way we did in the 70's? 

While platforms may be a part of the fashion scene again, we have another type platform that is more important in terms of our social media marketing - a "platform" is "a type of software or technology that enables users to build, integrate or facilitate community, interaction and user-generated content." (according to www.wikianswers.com)  While each of us has our favorites, choosing the platforms that will best reach your consumer should be your ultimate goal.  Remember creating your social media plan?  Refer to it to guide you through your decisions.

Based on data and personal experience, the following platforms are must haves: 

1. LinkedIn - Used primarily for professional interaction.  Connect and communicate with people in your industry, and share ideas.  This is also a great platform for finding new talent when you need to add to your existing team.  On Jan 5, 2013, LinkedIn announced that is has reached the 200 million member mark.   This study by Lab42 gives an interesting infographic on how those members are interacting with the site. 
2. Twitter - Twitter is misunderstood by many who think it is simply 140 characters worth of "what's going o right now."  Twitter gives business the ability to send information out to followers that takes little time, but can produce great results.  It's also a way for your customers to connect with you - more than 175 million tweets are sent daily, and 56% of customers tweets to companies are being ignored.  
3. Facebook - If you are trying to get your business's name in front of consumers, Facebook is the place to be!  80% of consumers prefer to connect with brands through Facebook over other social networking sites.
4. YouTube - Think people like videos?  With one hour of video uploaded to YouTube every second, you'd better believe it!  Check out this website, www.onehourpersecond.com, for perspective (just make sure your volume is not up to high!), grab your video camera and start filming!  Create your own channel where you can posts videos of events going on at your facility, classes that you may be running, and tips to share with your customers.  This allows engagement with your customers both inside and outside your walls, strengthening their loyalty and trust in your brand.

There are other platforms, too, that can be used based on your goals.  Some of the most widely used are:

1. Blogging (WordPress, Tumblr)
2. Pinterest
3. Google+

While these sites have gained popularity and are very well-known, there are new site being created all the time.  To keep up to date with the newest social media news, visit www.mashable.com.  

What platforms is your business currently using, and how effective have your efforts been?  Please let me, Kelli Hatton, know your thoughts and experiences!

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.

How is your fitness business different?

Last week, we began our social media marketing series with information to help your business plan your social media strategy.  As the first and most important step, planning will determine whether your attempt at social media marketing is ultimately successful.  Once you have decided on your plan, where do you go from there?

2. DIFFERENTIATE

 As you start diving into your strategy, you must find a way to differentiate your business.  What exactly does that mean?  According to our friends at Merriam-Webster, to differentiate is "to mark or show a difference in : constitute a difference that distinguishes."  In discussions with many fitness center owners or managers, I've heard them say, "How can I be different from the guy down the street?  We are both fitness centers - in how many ways can we really be different?"  

Define your brand!  You have to think about more than the physical offerings at your fitness facility to answer this question...when a customer walks through your doors, what are they going to see and experience at your center that is different?  Look at your programming, your special service offerings and other amenities at your facility - who is your target market?  Once you've determined who you are targeting, then you must create a value proposition that will speak to that market - use that to help you create your differentiation! 

For example - take The Health Club for Women in Houston, Texas.  Their website states their value proposition on the homepage: "The Health Club for Women has been developed to differentiate itself by appealing to women of all ages who prefer working out, group fitness and personal training services in an affordable, Houston area upscale women's health club designed with a clean, friendly, non-intimidating environment."  This facility knows that it's marketing to women, so their focus in their social media marketing is specifically to that target market - it doesn't matter what men think about their marketing, because men are not in the demographic they serve.

What makes your facility different?  Have you developed a strong brand that is based on differentiation?  I'd love to hear your comments and questions, and examples of how you have used differentiation in your marketing.  Please contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know how your business is different!

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.

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.

Focus, focus, focus

During a visit to Louisiana last week, I had the chance to talk with several fitness facility owners - a few that have had their facilities for a long time, and some that are in the planning stages and will be opening soon.  These visits are the most rewarding part of my job with Fitmarc - allowing me to learn more about challenges in our markets and how I can help.  Many of the challenges deal with focus - if a facility is focused on creating a great customer service experience, then  membership sales and retention numbers are easier to grow. 

One of my best visits was with Troy Archer of Spectrum Fitness in Baton Rouge.  Troy has several facilities that have been Fitmarc customers for years, and we met at his Southdowns facility that will be a customer soon.  We spent 45 minutes focused on how Fitmarc could help Southdowns connect with his members and prospects in a more meaningful way - the type of conversation that let me know his focus is in the right place.  From walking through his group fitness room to plan a more member-friendly workout environment, to discussing different ways he could reward members for promoting Spectrum in social media, the focus was all about the members.  I was able to share resources with Troy that will streamline the way Spectrum communicates with and services their members, which will be a key to his facility's growth over the coming years.

So why should a fitness facility's focus be on members?  If they aren't, then your business won't succeed.  Industry consultant Thomas Plummer said in his latest blog post, 

"Why do so many people that hate working with people open clubs? This is the worst part of our business; we are service intensive and no matter what you do as an owner you are wrong to many of your clients. But that, on the other hand, is the nature of being in small business and is no different than being in a restaurant, bank or any other service business. Making people happy, getting results and making money from that combination is what we do for a living whether you like it or not. Miserable members don’t pay. Happy members refer and pay. Pissed off members will get even. Members who just lost five pounds will tell everyone in their office. You being miserable and hate being in your own club will lead to miserable members who will suddenly find themselves happier at a club down the street."

So, where is your focus?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know your thoughts!