How to Develop a Community Within Your Gym

Building a strong community within your gym is one of the most important factors in ensuring success. Not only do they offer a supportive environment for members, but gyms with good communities also often have more engaged and satisfied members.

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1. Create some contests and giveaways

Hold contests and giveaways that reward member engagement (e.g. giveaways for members who reach certain fitness milestones or the highest level of attendance). Contests are a great way to bring the community together, get people involved and motivate them to succeed. Here are some tips for your giveaways and contests:

• Create a goal-oriented atmosphere within the gym by celebrating individual achievements (e.g. rewarding members for reaching a new personal best on a workout). Not only will this help to inspire other members to reach their own goals, but it will also help to build a strong sense of community within your gym.
• Encourage members to support each other by offering. Host free classes and encourage members to invite their friends along to join in on the fun.
• You could also host weekly events that focus on a particular theme (e.g. yoga, CrossFit, etc.) and encourage members to get involved by dressing up in costumes and participating actively in the event.

2. Create interactive classes and classes events

Adding new classes such as Incorporating interactive classes into your programs, such as group boxing classes or HIIT workouts. These classes not only provide a great form of exercise but also encourage members to interact with each other and build a sense of community. After the classes, your can host social events throughout the year to help cultivate a sense of community within your gym. Here is what you should do to create those classes:

• Your Events should include local partners and/or family businesses, and a least one offer one complimentary food or drink event per week. This will keep your gym fresh and exciting and bring the local community to your facility. By working with local businesses you may be able to bring in additional revenue which will allow you to expand your offerings and improve your facility.
• Try to mix up the types of classes you offer to keep things interesting and engaging for your members. At the gym, you have more flexibility when it comes to the types of classes you can offer compared to a regular health club environment where you can usually only offer traditional fitness classes such as spinning or aerobics.
• Be sure to include a variety of classes such as strength training, HIIT, high-intensity interval training, functional training, kickboxing and core conditioning to keep your members engaged.

3. Offer discounts

Offer discounts for friends and family members, as well as special offers for new members. This is a great way to bring new people to the gym and encourage them to become a member of your gym.  Here are some tips on how to make good discounts:

• You can promote special offers to new members who are referred by your friends or family by offering them discounted membership rates or special promotions for things like new training programs. This will help to increase your visibility and attract more potential customers to your gym.
• You can advertise special offers via signage in your facility or even on social media to reach out to a wider audience. Creating offers for specific holidays like Halloween or Black Friday can be a great way to get people excited about the gym and get more people to join your facility.
• Try to promote these special offers in advance to give your customers enough time to take advantage of them. You can also use incentives to encourage your members to work out more often during the week.

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4. Encourage Feedbacks

Encourage feedback from your members. Provide opportunities to share your opinions and ideas with your members by hosting open forum sessions and encouraging feedback through surveys and polls. This will allow you to better understand what your members are looking for and allow you to adjust your program to meet their needs. Here is what you should do to encourage feedback: 

• You can also request feedback from your members at the end of their training sessions to get feedback on how your training program is working for you. Once you have gathered enough responses, try to analyse the results and see what your members like and dislike about the program so that you can make improvements where necessary. This can help you better engage and connect with your members and enhance the overall experience at your gym.
• Make it a habit to ask for feedback regularly from your members and address any issues that they may have to improve their experience at your gym.

5. Getting employees on board

Employees will help you create a strong community within your gym as it provides an additional point of contact for your members and allows your staff to build strong relationships with your members. Here are some tips on how to get employees on board:

• You can have a weekly staff meeting where your employees can share ideas on how to improve customer service and engage with the members.
• Encourage your staff to welcome new members into the gym and give them a tour of the facility. Involve your employees in the activities at your gym.
• Create opportunities for your staff to interact with the members at the various classes and events held at your gym. For example, have a staff member perform a demonstration or offer instruction at one of your weekly classes or events.
• Create a friendly and supportive work environment for your employees so they can feel motivated and enthusiastic about working at your gym.
• Consider offering incentives for employees who are working the front desk or performing other administrative duties at your gym.

We have seen some tips that will help you grow your community and make everyone feel a part of the team, starting collaboration is key!