How to implement an effective member referral program in your fitness studio?
Chances are you may have been recommended by a friend or family member to sign up for membership at a particular fitness studio in the past. While in most cases they may have recommended the place to you purely out of good intention, there is also a high likelihood that the studio has implemented a member referral program which enticed your friend to refer you in the first place.
Well what is a member referral program? A member referral program, sometimes called a bring-a-friend promotion, is a promotional campaign that encourages current members to refer a friend or a family to the business. This marketing strategy leverages your existing customer base to reach new people you wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Such a program has become increasingly popular in many fitness studios in Singapore. Therefore in this article, we will be helping you implement your very own member referral program in your fitness studio.
Why Should You Implement a Member Referral Program?
A member referral program is a form of referral marketing that is extremely effective. According to an article by FinancesOnline, the retention rate is a staggering 37% percent higher if they were referred by a friend rather than non-referred clients. This shows the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing, which may not be as prolific as other forms of marketing such as social media marketing. However when it comes to finding ways to expand your client base, this high retention rate cannot be overlooked.
Tools used to implement a referral program
In order to implement a referral program in your fitness studio, you could make use of the many referral marketing softwares that are available. A few examples include Referral Rock, Townee and many others. Consider the price point and feature of each system and determine the system most suitable for your fitness studio.
According to Referral Rock, making use of a member referral software allows for your members to easily refer their friends to the business hassle-free, providing them the necessary avenues to do.
Referral program software allows you to:
- Create a customized referral experience for your brand
- Track exactly where every referral came from
- Instantly issues rewards for successful referrals
- Collects program data, so you can easily measure success and refine your program
Examples of Referral Programs
Referral Programs have the same general concept with existing members enjoying benefits if they choose to refer a friend or family member that successfully signs up for a membership with your fitness studio. The type of referral program can come in many forms depending on the membership structure of your fitness studio. In the following section, we will give you a few examples of such a program in fitness studios located in Singapore.
Fitness First
*Picture taken from Fitness First Website*
Take Fitness First for example, an international fitness brand that has around twelve branches located all around Singapore. They give you rewards based on the tier of your membership. Members with the silver tier would be able obtain an exclusive referral gift for their first referral, followed by a complimentary training session for their second referral. For the third and subsequent referrals, members may enjoy S$20 off their membership dues on the following month. On the other hand, gold tier members get S$50 off their membership dues in the following month (limited to first two referrals) and subsequently S$20 off their membership fees due in the following month.
Jal Yoga
*Picture taken from Jal Yoga’s website*
Jal Yoga is a fitness studio that provides yoga, pilates and barre classes to anyone regardless of their age and fitness background. How their member referral program works is if you were able to refer 1 friend, you will be able to receive 1 free month or 2 free weeks depending on whether your package is a prepaid package or autopay package.The reward increases as you refer more clients to their studio, with even a complimentary yoga retreat available for those with a prepaid package that have referred 5 clients at one-go!
UFit Singapore
*Picture taken from UFit’s website*
UFit Singapore is a personal training gym that offers personal training programmes as well as support in other areas such as health, nutrition and movement. They are an example of a fitness studio that offers member referral programs for its different services, along with rewards that come with the referral. The reward is dependent on the type of service that the new client is referred to. For instance, if you were to refer a friend to a personal training session, you would be able to receive one free personal training session. On the other hand, if you were to refer your friend to tennis or other classes, you would receive 20 free credits instead.
Pure Fitness
*Picture taken from Pure Fitness Website*
Alternatively, your member referral program could reward its members based on a point system. Pure Fitness is a clear example of this. They are a lifestyle gym that also offers group classes such as HIIT, strength and high energy training. Pure Fitness rewards its members for referring their friends by giving them points for each successful referral. In their case, each referral gives you 500 PURE points which can be used to claim different rewards. The rewards include 1-month bonus access, pro training session, private yoga class and vouchers.
Conclusion
A member referral program can be implemented in many different ways, depending on the structure of your business in terms of its services and membership structure. In order to successfully implement such a program, make sure to set up the program so as it is easy and seamless for your existing members to recommend a friend and ensure that the benefits/rewards that you offer are sufficiently enticing.
This can be crucial to increasing membership sign-ups which will greatly benefit your fitness studio in this competitive landscape. I hope that this article has helped you in gaining a better understanding about member referral programs in fitness studios. If you are interested in similar articles to this, check out our previous article on “3 ways to increase gym membership renewals in Singapore”.
This article was written by Jayden Ling.