1. Give a jeng member experience for them to talk about
Outstanding service can be the key to creating a successful word-of-mouth marketing strategy. There is a substantially higher chance of your members voluntarily sharing their experience with their friends if they have a good membership experience with you. Build up your own community and provide personalised services to set yourself apart from the pack.
The member experience extends beyond offline experiences, to online experiences. Consider the end to end process of building a seamless and user friendly payment and booking process, and deliver outstanding class offerings and social media presence. A good UX design could increase conversion rates by up to 400% according to the Forrester report. It’s the full package that your members experience when they interact with your brand.
2. Engage your members consistently
Again, build a community for your members. Customer service and engagement are critical - this includes having a clear set of core values that you stand by, and delivering outstanding content and value to your members. Leverage on social media to provide timely information, tips, entertainment and be consistent in your engagement efforts. Some channels that you might explore include:
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Having a blog or sending email newletters can be an effective way to send regular updates to your clients. Such a channel can be considered to be a one-way communication channel.
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Alternatively, forums like Facebook or Whatsapp groups can enable two-way communication and peer sharing within your community. Some Hong Kong fitness public groups on Facebook include Hong Kong Health and Fitness Community, Zumba Fitness Hong Kong and Hong Kong Dance Classes.
Consistency in implementation, measuring it’s effectiveness and iterating on your approach will help you build an effective marketing strategy.
3. Create a referral system to incentivize members to refer others
Creating a referral system is not as complicated as it sounds. Yet, the outcome could be impactful. Based on a report done by HubSpot, 90% of people are much more likely to believe in services recommended by others. You can start by developing a referral plan, include an attractive incentive within your budget, and communicate it to your members.
Interestingly, according to research done by the University of Chicago, non-cash incentives are 24% more effective at boosting performance than cash rewards. So consider providing incentives such as points, free class, discounts on memberships, or free merchandise.
4. Participate actively in community events
Last but not least, consider participating in activities organized by the larger fitness community where you are operating your gym or fitness studio. This could be charity events, fitness seminars and workshops. Build your own network and meet other like-minded fitness enthusiasts to increase brand visibility.
While word-of-mouth marketing sounds simple, implementation and result may take time. There are many variables that could either amplify or condense the marketing impact. If done correctly, word-of-mouth marketing can increase brand loyalty and be an extremely effective marketing strategy.
This article was written by Fidelia Dwiksa.