SOCIAL MEDIA
To attract prospects, make staff seem friendly to minimise intimidation
• One can be an out-and-out sales message. Make sure there’s a sense of
answers to some common questions you’ve been asked that week. Be careful to make sure these complement what you offer as a service/product; if posting links to third party websites, be sure there’s no inkling of a competitive product/service on that website.
urgency applied to this sales message and a clear call to action. For example, a ‘no joining fee’ offer needs to include details of how people should redeem it. Even an audience on social media needs to be guided in the right direction. So what about prospects? Research
done by
www.sweatband.com found that, of all the types of social media updates, those relating to health, fi tness, diet and weight loss were the ones people disliked the most: 53 per cent of people highlighted these types of update as their least favourite. This suggests that, from a prospect point of view, even on social media we aren’t penetrating beyond the 13 per cent glass ceiling of gym members. For posts directed towards prospects, we should therefore avoid testimonials and focus more on the fears people have of joining. Make the gym look fun and the staff seem friendly to address intimidation.
Social media top tips Creating a successful social media channel requires a combination of planning, spontaneity, the right tools and the ability to have fun. Here are a few ways to develop a solid social media strategy:
• Plan social media campaigns around your real-world marketing, so they’re
based on constantly changing themes rather than the same old class updates, joining offers and supplement offers.
• Pick a great management tool for your social media activity that ties in to your
central marketing campaign: you can easily pre-schedule using a social media scheduling tool. There are plenty of free tools online, but we use Buffer, which is something many bluechip companies use nowadays. It gives you the freedom to keep your social media accounts ticking over with minimal management, which in turn gives you the freedom to have more spontaneous fun with your social media.
• Share so people care. Make sure you share those strange, humorous, exciting
moments on your social media channels as and when they happen. Sharing things as they happen, no matter how odd or embarrassing, makes your business look more human and approachable.
• Don’t broadcast. You may not think you’re doing this very often, but you
probably are. If all you’re posting about are things your members can participate in, purchase or book, all you’re actually doing is trying to sell. Try posting something solely for entertainment purposes and watch the change in response. Remember the 2-4-1 rule.
• Link your social channels to everything. Online, link all your activity
back to your social media channels – email, website updates and blog posts. And do the same in reverse: whenever
50 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
you’ve updated content elsewhere, make sure it goes on your social channels and pretty soon you’ll have the makings of a content network.
Just good friends Whether your business is just you or you oversee an office of hundreds, whether you operate a small business or you run a multinational, social media is a force that can benefit any business if leveraged in the right way. The key principle of your interactions
should be to make your company appear as human as possible. If the buying public views your company as having its own personality, it makes your business more relatable. Social media is the only marketing channel available to you that allows customers to befriend your business – and we all trust the opinions and recommendations of our friends. ●
Manraaj Sunner has worked in the health and fi tness industry in a marketing capacity for the last 10 years, with a number of multi-site operators. Recently, he founded 3one5 Marketing, a full-service agency dedicated to working with clients from the health, fi tness and leisure industries, with a focus on integrating modern marketing techniques for optimum response.
Twitter.com/3one5Marketing Facebook.com/3one5Marketing Web:
www.3one5.co.uk Email:
m@3one5.co.uk
October 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
PHOTO:
WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/STOCKYIMAGES
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