Are you wondering if hosting gym events will be helpful in keeping your current members active while also attracting new ones? The short answer is yes. The long answer is- absolutely yes!
Not only are gym events great for business and raising your brand awareness, but they’re also just plain fun to put on. It’s an excellent way for you to be involved with your fitness community and get to know your customers better. Plus, they’ll appreciate that you aren’t all work and zero play. Because everyone loves a good social hour.
The question is where do you start? Or, which events do you put on first? In this post, you will find some gym event ideas to get your party going!
1. Grand Opening
Is your fitness center about to open its doors for the very first time? Congratulations! You’ve likely been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Have you been making sure the space is just right? Ordering equipment, lining up teachers and classes, and setting up your gym management software? We know how it goes, and all of that is fantastic stuff!
But, now you need to switch gears over to marketing yourself. Hop on your social media (it’s 2019, we know you’ve got one!) and let everyone know when and where your big day will take place.
Hire a DJ to play upbeat music, offer live demos of your classes, and put out a few trays of healthy finger foods, like proteins, fruits, and vegetables. You could even consider catering from one of the local businesses in your area. It might be the start of a beautiful business relationship; One where you’d help to promote each other.
Besides the free class demos, put on several small contests also. The bigger prizes can be things like a free gym membership trial or free personal training sessions. And the smaller ones can be door prizes or swag bags filled with items that have your logo on them: t-shirts, water bottles, towels, etc.
2. Happy Anniversary
Brand new gyms aren’t the only ones who get to have all the fun. Older gyms can too! Host an annual anniversary bash for your establishment each year. You’d offer all the same things as you would at a grand opening, but now you focus on your milestones.
Change the prizes or swag bags to reflect your number of years in business. If it’s your first year, give every person one free class pass. Or if it’s your second, put each name into the door prize drawing two times. You can get creative with it.
3. Challenges and Contests
Once you have a steady client base built up, get some challenges going. Friendly competition could help grab your members attention and keep their attendance on track. Do weekly or monthly weigh-ins and measurements. Whoever has tackled the most miles or burned the most calories at each contest check-point will win a prize. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy- unless you’re a ninja warrior gym of course, and you want it to be.
The difference between challenges and contests is that with challenges, everyone works toward a similar goal and each person receives acknowledgment or praise once they’ve reached it. A contest, on the other hand, is a bit more competitive, with only one or two winners in the end. You can choose whichever one feels the best to you- or mix and match them.
4. Target Audience
It’s important to learn who your target audience is. Who are you speaking to? Are your current members mostly body-builders? Crossfitters? Yogi’s? Runners? Dancers? Families? All of the above? Shape your events around the audiences you are trying to attract to your facility.
If it’s body-builders you’re after, then you will want to bring in the big guns. Meaning, you need to find famous or locally famous body-builders who can come in to talk about tips and motivation tricks to your clients. Yogi’s will look for free yoga sessions, dancers will look for Zumba and salsa nights, and moms will look for Target gift cards and mimosas. Kidding. (Mostly! But it can’t hurt.) They will likely look for “mommy and me” type opportunities where they can bring their kids with them to class.
The point is, a yogi probably couldn’t care less about a body-builder pep talk, and vice versa. Think about what will appeal to each target audience and either host a bunch of small events, or a big one to appeal to the majority.
5. Fundraising & Charity
There’s always going to be a fundraising event or charity event in your community looking for a space to do their thing. It would be pretty cool of you to rent out, or even offer up, your facility for a few hours. Not only would you get some good karma out of the deal, but you’d also be getting free marketing and new visitors checking out your place.
6. Pop-Up
So, pop up events are exactly like the name implies. You pop up someplace unexpected and offer free classes for people to try out. By taking your classes outside of your facility, you are expanding your reach, and you’re bringing your brand awareness to a group of potential customers who might not have been exposed to it otherwise.
Are you ready?
Was this list of gym event ideas helpful? If you test one out, we’d love to hear how it went in our comments.