These days, there are endless options for fitness promotions. Whether you own a pilates studio or have a fitness gym floor plan, the digital age (along with an enthusiastic customer base) has made it easier than ever to market and promote.
If you’re looking for pilates promotion ideas that will make your gym unforgettable — you’ve come to the right place! Here are 9 ideas to grow your brand and get your customers excited and eager to book their next group class.
From buzzing social events to creative giveaways, let’s take a closer look at ways to engage your audience and raise brand awareness.
1. Social Events
Social events are an excellent way to build rapport among your customers. When a client has a workout buddy, they’re more likely to be held accountable and show up for class. If you host social events, current gym clients will network and build relationships —plus, you’ll reach a broader scope among potential clients as well! Encourage customers to bring a friend to social events and make things fun with bites, beverages, and giveaways. Hosting a morning pilates class complete with coffee and treats afterward will woo new customers — as will an evening happy hour (without the pilates) with live music.
2. Specialty Classes
An easy pilates promotion to host — one that clients will love — is a specialty class. You can offer simple classes like Kids’ Pilates or Pilates for Expecting Mothers or you can get a little more creative. If there’s a lunar eclipse happening in the next month, consider hosting a lunar eclipse class outside with tea and music. You can also host seasonal sessions, like a “Fall into Autumn” class to get customers geared up and ready for the season ahead. Thinking outside of the box when it comes to specialty classes offers clients the chance to do something new and exciting either solo or with friends and family.
3. Pilate’s Water Dispenser
A water dispenser is another way to promote your business and make your brand memorable. By offering deliciously purified, on-demand water, you’ll lead your clients to a better workout and help keep them hydrated. FloWater uses the newest technology in water Refill Stations to create a water that hydrates, tastes amazing, and can be delivered into a refillable container. With a water dispenser, customers will appreciate that they don’t have to think ahead — all they have to do is bring their bottle. You can even host a pilates promotion that encourages members to think green. If they ditch the plastic bottles and bring their reusable bottle with them every day (for a week straight),
4. Giveaways
Who doesn’t love a good giveaway? Giveaways are one of the easiest pilates promotion ideas, as they’re easy to come up with and always a hit. If you’re new to a giveaway, start by hosting one on social media. You can turn to Facebook and Instagram to give away products and classes. As a way to get connected to the local community, consider partnering with local product makers for your giveaways. Maybe there’s someone in town who makes all-natural lotions, lip balms, and candles — so you can put together a box of little luxuries for the winning client. Whatever you do, if you get creative and have fun with it, your customers will, too.
5. Competitions
One of the healthiest forms of pilates promotion is a good old fashioned competition. One fun way to host a competition is to keep track with a big board art the front of the studio. Work alongside clients to mark how many sessions they are taking per month and reward those with the most at the end of the month. You can also host a monthly drawing for those who are ranking the highest and reward them with free group classes or a featured “Pilates Superstar of the Month” plaque.
6. Website & Social Media
Today, the way that clients and potential clients perceive your brand and company through the web and social media is so important. If they stumble upon your brand online — and it’s not presented in a professional or intriguing way — potential customers might be inclined to click the other way. That’s why you want to grab their attention with a beautiful site or social account and hold that attention with a pilates promotion that is unique and beneficial. Invest in images and video to make sure your site and social accounts shine, then get creative with your promotions. Maybe you post a “Meet the Instructor” image with a discount code for his or her next upcoming class — or offer a free pair of socks with a brand logo for the first 10 people to sign up for Saturday morning class. However you choose to do your promotion, you want to make sure you grab the attention of clients (then hold their attention).
7. Open Days
What’s more fun for a pilates enthusiast than a free day of class? For one of the simplest — and most well-received — promotion ideas, host an open day. You can host one every other week, once a month, or once every season, but hosting a free class will always get people excited and eager to attend. Whether you’re hosting a free Sunday afternoon class or a happy hour class during the week, set a time, start promoting, and watch the customers happily trickle in.
8. Pilates Ambassador
Integrating brand ambassadors into your company is a wonderful way to create relationships and promote your business. Brand ambassadors tend to be influential within their field and will often help with business through marketing, customer service, and sales. Whether you’re finding your brand ambassadors through social media like YouTube or Instagram or meeting them in a more organic way, like at a pilates conference, bringing them into your brand can increase brand loyalty and help to spread the word. For example, when you bring a social media influencer on board, they might post about upcoming classes and events on Twitter or Facebook, which will allow your company to reach a broader audience and convert to more clients while helping you learn how to increase gym membership sales.
9. Refer-a-Friend
An easy pilates promotion to remember is the refer-a-friend program. This type of program deal can happen a few times throughout the year and offers incentives for current customers to bring in potential new clients. Typically, how a refer-a-friend program works is that a current customer gets a friend to sign up for a class — and gets a free class themselves. You can also go the route of having a current customer refer a friend for one month, where the friend pays and the current member gets a month of membership for free. If you’re looking to do an incentive for both the current and new customers, consider hosting a once a month “bring a friend” class, where each can come free of charge. However you fine-tune the details, this sort of pilates promotion gets the word out and will eventually lead to new clients.
Other Ideas for Pilates Promotions
Looking for other ideas for a creative pilates promotion? Try some of these!
Anniversary Promotion
Try hosting an annual pilates promotion on the date of your studio’s anniversary. This gives the flexibility to create a yearly theme and interact with the local community. Maybe on year one, you throw a cake-filled birthday bash — year two is a tropical theme where clients are encouraged to dress up for class — year three is a Friday evening happy hour promotion where you partner with local makers and products in the area.
Nutrition Campaign
Meal planning and nutritious eating go hand-in-hand with working out. Encourage clients to jump on board the healthy eating train by hosting a campaign based on nutrition. Maybe you bring in a specialist who helps with dietary constraints and pre and post-meal workout plans. Offer wholesome smoothies after class or homemade, pre-class energy bars.
Member of the Week
Give a dedicated member some love by hosting a member of the week event with some gift ideas for fitness clients in mind. Each week, a new pilates pro is named and given their time in the spotlight. You can focus on making announcements before and after class and give the member a dedicated spot on the welcome board for all to see.
However you choose to host a pilates promotion, remember that it’s all about having a good time and connecting with your clients and potential customers. Promotions do a wonderful job of bridging the gap between the client and the studio instructors, and allow people to come together on a more personal level.
Whether you’re going with the refer-a-friend program, the FloWater filtered water dispenser, or hosting an open studio day — we hope this list has encouraged you to find a pilates promotion that works for you and your team.
From all of us at FloWater, thanks for reading! Wishing you a happy, healthy day ahead.
