The beginning of a new year is a popular time for fitness businesses to assess the previous year’s performance, to evaluate the current state of the health and fitness industry, and to keep a close eye on developing technology and changing consumer behavior to identify emerging fitness trends that will be important in the year to come.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the health and fitness industry has faced countless and ongoing challenges. Fitness businesses were hit hard by unforeseen, abrupt, and lengthy business closures—which simultaneously created the immediate need and demand for digital fitness experiences and offerings.

And although the shift to digitisation generated a lot of new online opportunities for health and fitness businesses, it also created new streams of competition in the already hyper-competitive online arena.

To help you better understand what to expect from the fitness industry this year, below is a run-down of five top fitness trends of 2022.

Five Fitness Trends of 2022

Below, we’ll take you through some of the biggest fitness trends we expect to see in 2022, from the ongoing demand for digital fitness options to the shifting definition of wellness–and everything in between.  

1.     Wearable Technology

The no. 1 fitness trend for 2022 is wearable technology.

Wearable tech includes smart watches, fitness trackers, heart rate monitors and GPS tracking devices. It’s a useful exercise motivator that also tracks important information like steps, heart rate, calories burned, and sleep patterns.

Survey findings that wearable tech has grown, and it’s projected for continued growth throughout 2022.

New innovations to wearable tech extend beyond “just fitness”—and new features include insight into metrics like blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and electrocardiogram.

Considering how heavily society has come to rely on the internet and smart devices for just about everything, it should come as no surprise that wearable tech tops the list for this year’s hottest fitness trend.

2.     Online Training and On-Demand Offerings

Online training and on-demand classes were perfect solutions for fitness businesses trying to stay afloat and generate new income streams during worldwide lockdowns and forced business closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, online training became so popular during the pandemic that it secured the no.1 spot in ACSM’s 2021 fitness trends report. 

And even though health and fitness businesses are allowed to operate from their physical locations once again, the demand for online training isn’t going away any time soon. Many members have grown accustomed to the flexibility, and they still want the option to go to the gym a few days a week, or to get their workouts done at home.

To stay competitive in 2022, fitness businesses should continue to focus on expanding, improving, and marketing online fitness offerings. And remember—online training shouldn’t be viewed as a competitor to traditional brick-and-mortar business—rather, it should be a supplemental way to generate income while also providing added value and convenience to members.

3.     High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT Workouts)

High intensity interval training (commonly referred to as HIIT) is a form of exercise that’s defined by its workout format—a short burst of high intensity exercise alternated with a recovery period of rest or low intensity exercise.

HIIT workouts continue to gain popularity in 2022 given the effectiveness, flexibility, accessibility, and short time requirements. The beauty of HIIT workouts is that they’re designed to be quick and effective. But despite the short duration, HIIT workouts can actually be a far more efficient way to burn calories and lose body fat in less time than traditional steady-state exercise.

4.     Mind-Body Health and Fitness

In 2022, the concepts of health and fitness will continue to merge as society is redefining what wellness means from a more holistic standpoint. New considerations focus on balancing diet and nutrition, mental health, and physical activity—as opposed to focusing solely on weight loss or muscle gain.

More people are starting to realise that achieving mind-body health requires ongoing effort. And with more people looking to find more effective ways to ease stress, anxiety and improve mental health, wellness practices like Pilates, yoga, meditation, as well as diet and nutritional coaching, will continue to gain traction and rise in popularity this year.

5.     Small Group Training

The pandemic changed how we approach group fitness—and some people just aren’t comfortable returning to in-person group classes operating near full capacity. Offering small group training makes your gym more inclusive and affordable for people from different backgrounds, which helps give your facility a competitive edge.

Small group training is an instructor-led, group exercise class that typically includes between 2-10 participants. It’s essentially the same thing as personal training, except with a small group instead of individuals working one-on-one with personal trainers. 

Conclusion

The future of fitness is digital transformation—and to keep up, fitness businesses need trusted gym management software.

To learn how EZFacility can help streamline all aspects of your fitness business from one easy-to-use gym management system, schedule a free online demonstration and personalised product tour today.

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to start planning your fitness company’s 2022 marketing calendar.

Creating a marketing calendar template and keeping it up-to-date is essential for generating revenue and meeting your gym’s financial goals in the year to come. It also helps to ensure that all of your marketing efforts are strategic, and that your marketing campaigns directly contribute to your facility’s goals and objectives.

And, by mapping out your marketing plan in a calendar, you create a centralised hub that helps your marketing team plan and navigate marketing campaigns more cohesively, efficiently and effectively.

In this blog, we’ll talk about the basics of a fitness marketing calendar—what it is, and why you need one—as well as tips on how to create a 2022 marketing calendar for your fitness business.

What Is a Fitness Marketing Calendar?

Think of your gym’s 2022 marketing calendar as a visual roadmap for all your marketing activities for the year. It should serve as a chronological guide to executing your marketing campaigns, and it’s an actionable tool that helps you achieve marketing goals within a set timeframe.

Why Do I Need a Fitness Marketing Calendar?

You may be familiar with the saying “proper planning prevents poor performance”—and this couldn’t be truer of fitness marketing. Some of the most common reasons that fitness marketing efforts fail are due to lack of strategy, lack of understanding about your target audience, lack of testing, and/or lack of tailoring and retargeting marketing strategies.

When it comes to fitness marketing, planning ahead is often the difference between a good year and a rough one. And although a marketing calendar doesn’t guarantee success, it does establish the framework your marketing team needs to create, coordinate and execute tailored marketing campaigns.

Three Key Benefits of a Fitness Marketing Calendar

Below three other important reasons you should get to work on your gym’s 2022 marketing calendar ASAP:

1.   It improves communication and collaboration.

A fitness marketing calendar helps improve communication and collaboration among team members by clearly indicating who is responsible for accomplishing each task, and when it’s due. It also helps to identify any gaps in process or progress, allowing team members to tweak and tailor schedules if needed.

2.   It helps your marketing team stay on track.

A marketing calendar helps team members avoid missing deadlines by providing upfront planning and foresight. It also helps your marketing team see how tasks progress on a step by step basis, which then helps them adjust accordingly to maintain realistic expectations.

3.   It saves time and money.

When it comes to business, time equals money. And because a fitness marketing calendar outlines tasks and team member responsibilities upfront and in an easily digestible way, it helps reduce confusion and saves time (=money) that would have otherwise been spent trying to align your team and keeping everyone on the same page.

How to Create Your 2022 Marketing Calendar

If you’re ready to start working on your 2022 marketing calendar, follow these three simple steps:

Step 1: Plan

The first step is to define your goals and objectives. The more specific you are, the better results you’ll get—so it’s important to be very clear about what you hope to achieve.

While the ultimate goal of most fitness businesses is to generate more revenue—this can mean different things to different business owners.

Here are a few examples of objectives you may hope to achieve through your marketing efforts:

• Generate 100 new membership leads this week
• Sell 100 personal training services this month
• Attract 350 new email subscribers this quarter

Step 2: Brainstorm

After you’ve defined your marketing objectives, you need to determine how you’re going to achieve them. You’ll also want to include fundamentals like launch dates for new services, courses, programs, or classes.

To help decide which marketing campaigns and tactics are the best fit for your fitness facility, give yourself a set timeframe to brainstorm and jot down as many ideas as you can. Once you’ve written all your ideas down, go back through your list and determine which ideas are best suited for your various marketing channels and platforms.

After you’ve created your list of marketing ideas and determined your communication channels and launch dates, it’s time to input all that information into your marketing calendar template.

Step 3: Schedule

Now that you’re equipped with a list of topic ideas, it’s time to organise, categorise, and schedule them in your marketing content calendar.

Your marketing calendar template can be structured a number of different ways, and it can be as simple or complex as you’d like. For example, some fitness businesses use basic spreadsheets to create their marketing calendar templates, while others utilise more innovative technology like gym management software.

Regardless of which format you choose, start by inputting any important topics/dates that aren’t flexible, like product launch deadlines or major industry events. Then, plug in some additional content ideas in the weeks leading up to the special date or event to build up the hype and excitement. Finally, add in your content ideas that aren’t tied to a specific date, and organize them by theme or category.

Conclusion

In today’s digital age, the effectiveness of your fitness marketing calendar can be maximised by measuring the results of each marketing campaign once it’s completed.

By analysing historical data and performance metrics, you’ll be able to see which marketing campaigns were the most successful, whether or not they helped achieve your facility’s goals, and how quickly those goals were met.

This critical insight allows fitness business owners and team members to learn from past efforts in order to improve future performance, and to identify and avoid future potential pitfalls.

Did you know that EZFacility’s comprehensive report suite offers an in-depth look under the hood of your business–including financial, point-of-sale, marketing, payroll, membership and training reports?

Want to learn more? Schedule a free online demonstration and personalised product tour today.

If you haven’t heard by now—TikTok is a pretty big deal. In fact, a recent report from Cloudflare announced that TikTok has overtaken Google as the world’s most visited online destination. Read that again. Yes, it’s really that popular.

So, if you’ve been wondering whether or not you should be using TikTok to promote your fitness business, read on to learn more about how TikTok works, what makes it so undeniably popular, and how a TikTok marketing plan can be used to grow your fitness business, keep your fitness brand engaging and relevant, and improve your bottomline.  

TikTok: A Brief History & Overview

The TikTok app was launched in 2017 for iOS and Android in most major global markets—and today, the social media platform boasts one billion active users across the world. Comparatively, it took Facebook and Instagram almost a decade to reach a user base that size.

While TikTok’s initial user base was almost entirely Gen Zs (born between 1997 and 2012), the app’s popularity surged worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since captured the attention of users of all ages. 

In the U.S., TikTok’s user base is still dominated by Gen Zs, but it’s been attracting a strong following of millennials, too. As of April 2021, 48% of U.S. adults between 18-29 use TikTok, compared to 20% of adults between 30-49, and 14% of adults between 50–64, according to Pew Research Center.

TikTok’s tremendous growth, which was achieved within just a few short years, make the app one of the fastest-growing ever in terms of the percentage of the market it’s captured since its launch. And with the fitness industry’s transition to digital in the wake of the pandemic, a record-number of consumers are now turning to social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook as their primary sources of online fitness content.

How Does TikTok Work?

TikTok is a free, short-form video and social media app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and is available for download on both Apple and Android devices. The major difference between TikTok and other social media platforms like YouTube and Vimeo, is that TikTok is based on small, short video clips.

Up until recently, TikTok videos were limited to 60 seconds in length; however, the app recently expanded video length up to 3 minutes long.

How to Create Longer TikTok Videos: A Step-By-Step Guide

If you’re wondering how to create longer TikTok videos to promote your fitness business, just follow this simple step-by-step guide:

1. Open the TikTok app
   
2. Click the plus (+) icon, and select the 3-minutes option. Then press the “Record” button to start creating your 3-minute video.
   
3. Once you’re done recording, if you want to upload the video, simply click the “Upload” button.
   
4. After recording and uploading your TikTok video, you have the option to add effects, transitions, and other edits as needed. Then, click “Save” to save the changes.
   
5. Enter a description for the video, and be sure to include a few relevant hashtags.
   
6. Once you’ve modified the output settings and completely finished with your video, click “Post” to share it.

If you encounter any issues recording or uploading your TikTok videos, make sure your app is updated to the latest version.

How Can I Use TikTok to Promote My Fitness Brand?

The impact that TikTok has on consumers’ attitudes about fitness brands, and the influence it has over their purchase decisions, is undeniable. In fact, the social media giant’s influence is so widely acknowledged that the phrase “TikTok made me buy it” has over 4.1 billion views of the hashtag on the app.

When utilized as a part of your larger social media marketing strategy, TikTok is a highly effective way to promote your fitness brand by creating fun video content, building a niche community, and tapping into a younger demographic. 

Here are three TikTok marketing strategies you can utilize to grow your fitness business:

1. Hashtag Challenge

One popular way to use TikTok marketing to promote your fitness business is by launching a hashtag challenge—meaning, you encourage other TikTok users to create, or re-create, fitness content that has your hashtag branded to it.

A hashtag challenge also boosts user interaction and drives engagement in the app, and it gives marketers a look into who’s interacting with their fitness content. By understanding who’s responding to and engaging with your fitness brand’s TikTok videos, you’ll be able to tweak your TikTok marketing strategies as needed to more effectively reach your target audience.

2. Collaborate With TikTok Influencers

Another marketing strategy fitness professionals are using to grow their TikTok user base and build brand credibility is to partner with TikTok influencers. While TikTok influencers may not have the same reach as influencers on other social media platforms (for example, Instagram) just yet, they’re quickly becoming a “thing” given the app’s surge in worldwide popularity.

Partnering with TikTok influencers that your target audience already knows and trusts is a great way to grow your TikTok user base, increase credibility, and drive sales.

3. Advertise on TikTok

While advertising on TikTok is a relatively new paid marketing option, TikTok ads can still help you reach a ton of users given the social media platform’s precise targeting capabilities.

Here are the four main types of advertising on TikTok:

• Native Content: This type of ad is created to look and feel like a natural piece of the platform, and is found inside a TikTok user’s feed. It’s similar to Snapchat and Instagram story ads, and supports multiple features like app downloads and website clicks.
  
• Brand Takeovers: A brand takeover is when other brands can take over a TikTok account for a day. Created for mass awareness, this type of ad guarantees extremely high reach and performance rates because it occupies the entire screen, is fully clickable, and the first thing a TikTok user will see when they log into the app.
  
• Hashtag Promotion: A hashtag promotion gives you the ability to pay to promote a branded hashtag, which can help your fitness content go viral on TikTok.
  
• Branded Lenses: TikTok’s branded lenses are similar to the AR offered by Snapchat and Instagram, and act like filters for faces and photos.

Conclusion

TikTok continues to surge in popularity, with a growing number of fitness professionals turning to the social media platform to promote their fitness business, increase brand awareness, expand their reach, and drive sales. TikTok is still new enough that it isn’t overly saturated with competing businesses, and it provides a huge opportunity for organic growth.

If you decide to start using TikTok to promote your fitness business—remember to have fun with it, and get creative!

For more fitness marketing tips and industry insight, click here to check out our other blogs.

The rising popularity of yoga means there’s a sizable industry behind it. In fact, the global yoga market size is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% by 2027—meaning the yoga industry is estimated to be worth a staggering $66.22 billion by 2027.

Industry predictions also continue to show that yoga will remain a constant fixture in the list of global fitness trends for years to come. For yoga studio owners, this means there’s a lot of opportunity—as well as a lot of competition.

To start the New Year off on the right foot, it’s important to make sure that your yoga studio has a comprehensive marketing plan in place that reflects the fitness industry’s transition to digital, and that it includes specific marketing strategies that outline how you plan to reach your target audience across various marketing channels.

In this blog, we’ll discuss four key considerations to keep in mind when creating (or revamping) your yoga studio’s marketing plan. 

The Basics

The first step to developing a strong marketing plan for your yoga studio is to define your brand, your target audience, your business goals, and your competitors.

Clearly identifying and outlining this information is critical as it will be the foundation for your entire marketing plan—it will drive your marketing strategies, help you identify the best marketing channels and methods to use, as well as the tone and voice of your communications.

Remember—it’s important to set clear and measurable goals that align with your business objectives, because that’s what you’ll use later as a benchmark to gauge the success of your marketing campaigns.

Invest In Digital Marketing

We live in a digital world, and you should assume anyone who is interested in yoga and considering your studio will visit your website before deciding if they want to further engage with your business.

When building—or updating—your yoga studio’s website, remember to always keep your target audience in mind. Consider what type of tone and imagery will appeal to them, and make sure your website is visually appealing, engaging, and makes it as easy as possible to locate important information like your studio’s location, hours of operation, how to contact you, links to your social media accounts, and a description of your classes and class schedules.

Content Is Still King

To market your yoga studio effectively, you need to consistently create compelling content tailored to your target audience and what they care about—things like social media challenges, educational articles, blogs, newsletters, infographics, webinars or videos.

By creating a knowledge hub of resources and information about topics and trends that matter to potential customers, you’re more likely to be discovered by the right audience and to grow an engaged subscriber base.

Use the Right Yoga Studio Management Software

EZFacility’s powerful all-in-one yoga management software allows you to create custom yoga studio membership plans and packages, manage contracts and renewals, automate reminders, streamline and track marketing campaigns—and so much more!

To learn how we can help you maximize productivity, save time, increase cash flow, and achieve peace of mind, schedule a free online demonstration and personalized product tour today!

Despite everything that’s been changing in the world—one thing most people still tend to agree on is that the beginning of each new year is “the time” (of all times) for us all to be optimistic, to set new short- and long-term goals, and to commit to improving ourselves and/or our respective circumstances over the course of the new year.

And so, every year, millions of people make fitness resolutions on New Year’s Eve and commit to joining a gym, working out more often, losing weight, and improving overall health.

But with 2022 just a few days away—it’s still a pretty stressful time for all of us, isn’t it? We’re all encouraged to find ways to be optimistic—while also grappling with the realization that January 2022 means the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global scourge for almost two full years now—and none of us really know what’s going to happen as the Omicron variant continuing to spread worldwide. 

If you run a gym or fitness center, you’re most likely wondering what you can do to help keep your members optimistic, engaged, and motivated to pursue their long-term fitness goals throughout the year—and how you can avoid the dreaded member drop off as peoples’ commitments to their New Year’s resolutions begin to wane during the first few months of the year.

Here are a four retention strategies you can use to reach members before they get to that point:

1. Focus On the Member Experience

Today’s consumers are more empowered than ever, making it that much more important for you to focus on the customer experience you provide.

The member experience begins at the first point of contact with customers, and encompasses all of the touch points throughout the customer journey.

To ensure you’re providing a positive member experience, you need to continuously offer motivation, encouragement, exceptional customer support, and provide an atmosphere and community they can’t find anywhere else.

For more: The Importance of Member Experience, Now More Than Ever

2. Adopt the Hybrid Model

The hybrid model has become the new norm in the fitness industry—and that won’t be changing any time soon.

With the lingering uncertainty around the omicron variant of the coronavirus and the very real potential we may all be faced with another round of forced business closures and stay-at-home-orders, the hybrid gym model continues to makes a lot of sense—for you and your members.

On top of that, online training is ranked as the top fitness trend by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)—and the demand for hybrid fitness options will only continue to increase as consumers’ have become accustomed to the flexibility it provides.

For more: Hybrid Fitness Ideas for the Holiday Season & Demand for Digital Fitness Options Remains High

3. Host Fitness Challenges & Competitions

Fitness challenges and competitions are a proven way to boost member engagement and retention. They also help generate new leads, encourage referrals and maximize customer loyalty.

When it comes to fitness and workout challenges, the opportunities are limitless. You can choose to structure them any way you’d like, and it’s a great way to keep your online and offline customers engaged by creating a sense of community and rewarding members for participation.

For more: 5 Tips to Consider When Developing A Fitness Challenge

4. Ask How They’re Doing!

The best way to know how your members are doing and feeling is to ask them. Requesting feedback after key touchpoints during the customer journey shows your members you care about their experience and how they’re doing, beyond just securing their initial sign-up.

A general feedback/customer satisfaction survey is a way for you to check in with your members throughout the year to show you still value their input, and are actively looking for ways to continue improving their member experience. That extra point of communication also helps keep them motivated and working toward their fitness goals.

For more: How to Collect Customer Testimonials and Build Trust

Conclusion

As the buzz around New Year’s resolutions begins to fade in the months to come—consider implementing the retention strategies we covered above to keep members optimistic, engaged, and working toward their long-term fitness goals throughout the year.

To learn how EZFacility’s comprehensive software solution can help you manage member communication and tracking with ease, schedule a free personalized product tour.

Some fitness businesses are going “old school” and reverting back to a much simpler, highly effective, yet often underappreciated marketing tool—the good ole’ text message.

Given the increasingly competitive digital fitness landscape, it makes sense that SMS marketing is making a strong comeback, especially in the fitness industry.

In this blog, we’ll revisit the basics of SMS messaging, talk about why text message marketing is so effective, and discuss some of the key advantages of SMS marketing campaigns to promote your fitness business.

What Is Text Message Marketing?

Text message marketing—also referred to as SMS marketing—is when businesses send text messages to promote their products and services to consumers, provide important updates, and to maintain ongoing communication with their target audience to keep their fitness business top-of-mind. 

Text message marketing has come a long way since the early 2000s, and today it’s one of the most highly effective, and cost effective, marketing methods available.

And although text message marketing and email marketing work similarly—data shows that SMS marketing campaigns consistently outperform its modern-day counterpart, despite its simple and straightforward nature.

Does Text Message Marketing Really Work?

The short answer is—yes. And here’s why.

With the overwhelming majority of Americans (97%) now owning some type of mobile phone, and approximately 85% of mobile phone users having smart phones—everyone’s more connected, and constantly connected, than ever before.

And if you have a phone—which, statistically speaking, you almost certainly do—you know firsthand that a text message is nearly possible to ignore.

Don’t worry—you aren’t the only one who just can’t resist the urge. In fact, 98% of all text messages are opened—and, on top of that, 95% of text messages are read and responded to within 3 minutes of being received. Those are outstanding performance rates by anyone’s standards. 

Benefits of Text Message Marketing

Below are four key advantages of SMS marketing, and how it can help you grow your fitness business.

1. Cost effective

While text message marketing campaigns can sometimes be more expensive than email marketing campaigns (depending on your service provider)—they’re typically less expensive than many paid ad options, especially on popular social media platforms. And because SMS messaging campaigns offer such a high ROI, they’re considered cost-effective. 

2. Attract new customers

You can use text message marketing to attract new members to your fitness facility by offering a free day at the gym, or some free swag if they sign up to receive texts. If you’re currently using a gym management software that offers text message automation, you can easily schedule follow-up texts to be sent to those who didn’t fully complete the online sign up form. 

3. Upsell current customers

It’s often much easier to upsell existing members than it is to attract new ones. Because you want your members to get the most out of your gym, you need to make sure they’re aware of everything your facility has to offer. Use SMS messaging to inform existing customers of the benefits and added value of upgrading their memberships. 

4. Increase conversion rates

The average text message conversion rate is 30%—whereas the average email marketing conversion rate is 3.26%. Even more impressive, text message marketing’s conversion rates rose 102% YoY in 2020.

Conclusion

At a time when so many fitness business owners are still completely consumed trying to transition products and services online, while also redefining their business models to meet changing needs, something we can all learn from the ongoing success of text message marketing is that, sometimes, keeping it simple really is best.

To learn more about how EZFacility’s text message automation makes it easier than ever for business owners to connect with members, grow relationships, increase conversions, and drive sales, schedule a free online demonstration and personalized product tour.

The end of the year is a busy time for everyone, and it can be difficult even for avid gym-goers to maintain their usual in-person workout routines during the holiday season. In an earlier blog, we talked about the hybrid fitness model and the benefits it offers to both business owners and members—and the demand for virtual classes and online training is projected to keep rising as we enter the new year. 

In this blog, we’ll talk about five ways to maximise your hybrid fitness offerings to keep members active, engaged and on-track to meet their fitness goals throughout the holiday season.

1. Continue Offering Hybrid Fitness Options

Now that most gyms and fitness studios are back to operating from their brick-and-mortar locations, some business owners may be tempted to scale back on virtual classes and other digital offerings. But in actuality—there are a number reasons why continuing to offer hybrid fitness options can positively impact on your bottomline.

Online training is ranked as the top fitness trend by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), meaning the demand for hybrid fitness options will remain high throughout the holiday season and as we enter the New Year. When your members’ schedules are packed with holiday prep, events, and travel, they’ll appreciate the ability to continue working out from home while still feeling connected to the community.

2. Market Your Virtual Classes & Digital Offerings

You should start promoting your virtual classes and any holiday promos you plan to run as soon as possible. Utilise all of your marketing channels to get the word out and highlight the benefits of at-home workouts.

A few ideas include:

• Update your website to include your facility’s holiday schedule
• Post regularly on your social media accounts and share information that highlights the benefits of at-home workouts.
• Include links to sign up for virtual classes and where to access your on-demand library in your newsletters and social media posts

3. Tailor to Busy Schedules

One way to help members stick to their workout routines is to offer shorter classes during the holiday season. While many fitness classes can traditionally run between 50-60 minutes, consider offering shorter classes (anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes) during the holidays to give your clients more opportunities to fit their favorite ones into their hectic schedules.

4. Test New Class Types & Group Fitness Workouts

The holiday season is a great time to get creative and to test out new hybrid fitness offerings. The holidays are all about festivity, so lean into it and have fun. For example, consider adding a 15–20-minute relaxation and stretching routine to your digital library and market it as a way to unwind and alleviate some of the holiday stress. Any time you test a new class, be sure to follow up with your members to get customer feedback so you can gauge client interest and class success.

5. How You Communicate Matters

When your members opt to participate in virtual classes, fitness instructors can’t greet clients individually or offer tailored feedback the same way they’re able to during in-person workouts—but that doesn’t mean they can’t still create a sense of community and make class participants feel supported and encouraged.

Be sure to remind your fitness instructors that creating a welcoming digital environment is just as important as doing so for in-person classes. You should also ask them to explain each movement and modifications in advance so that members of all fitness levels feel comfortable and will be able to participate.

Conclusion

The holiday season can be a challenging time for facility owners and members alike. Help your clients stay on-track and engaged by utilising the hybrid fitness model to offer flexible workout options that can be done in-person or from the comfort of home. When handled effectively, virtual classes can have a big impact on your gym’s profitability, while also keeping your members happy and their needs met.

To learn how EZFacility’s comprehensive gym management software can help save you time and money during the holiday season, schedule a free online demonstration and personalised product tour.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to gauge progress toward a desired goal or target, and they provide focus for strategic and operational improvement by establishing an analytic baseline by which to measure success. By tracking and analysing these important values, you’ll be able to visually assess how effectively you’re meeting your fitness center’s goals and objectives.

But with so much data out there, how do fitness business owners decide which metrics matter, and which ones to track? Read on to learn five of the most popular KPIs used for operations financial benchmarking, increasing conversion rates, improving client retention rates, and managing facility center growth.

1. Revenue per Client/Member

The #1 most tracked KPI for gym and fitness studio owners is Revenue per Client (RPC), a simple calculation determined by dividing annual revenue by number of clients. RPC is a quick way for business owners to determine how many members they will need to be profitable, which then allows them to design marketing strategies with quantifiable goals.

2. Average Class Attendance

Average Class Attendance (ACA) measures the percentage of gym goers who attend fitness classes (spin, yoga, Pilates, etc.) on a daily basis. This KPI is extremely important because group class offerings are one of the largest draws and biggest selling points for many gyms and health club owners. Understanding your facility’s ACA is also critical because it will determine the breakeven point and profitability of each class, allowing you to adjust your class offerings and frequency accordingly.

3. Client Retention Rate

Client Retention Rate measures the percentage of total members retained at the end of each reporting period. Your client retention rate is a critical KPI because it’s directly linked to overall profitability and long-term success. For example, if you notice your client retention rate is low, you’ll want to identify the cause as quickly as possible to remedy it and reduce the likelihood of future loss.

4. Profit Margin

Profit Margin (PM), which is calculated as a percentage of sales, tells you how much money you have left after paying the costs to run your fitness center. Reviewing the PM for all elements of your business allows you to see which areas are profitable, and which may be lacking. Identifying the areas that need improvement give you the opportunity to consider what changes can be implemented, or what additional programs or elements can be added, to turn those numbers around.

5. Average Daily Attendance

Average Daily Attendance, cited as a top KPI by nearly a quarter of fitness studio owners, tells you how many people come to your health club or fitness center, on average, per day. While this is a popular metric to track, it lacks the same level of insight as other KPIs because it doesn’t tell you why they came in, or when they came.

Conclusion

While the five Key Performance Indicators we addressed in this blog are specific to the fitness industry, KPIs are relevant and applicable to all businesses to ensure long-term viability and profitability. EZFacility’s extensive reporting suite can help you get an in-depth look under the hood of your business–including financial, point-of-sale, marketing, payroll, membership and training reports. Schedule a free online demonstration and personalised product tour to

To run a gym or workout facility, you’re going to need some fitness equipment. But many gym owners struggle with the decision of whether to buy or lease gym equipment. Members choose which gym to join based on several factors, but one of the most important variables is the equipment that’s available.

Whether you’re just starting out, or looking to make upgrades to your existing facility, there’s a lot of thought that needs to go into your equipment. Gym-goers want to see fitness equipment that’s modern, up-to-date, and user-friendly. You also want your inventory to attract new members, while still meeting the needs of current clients.

Your fitness equipment is arguably one of the most important decisions you’ll make—and has the potential to be one of the most expensive aspects of your business—so to help you decide which option is right for you, this blog will cover some of the pros and cons of buying gym equipment versus leasing equipment.

BUYING GYM EQUIPMENT

The main difference between buying gym equipment versus leasing equipment comes down to ownership. When you choose to purchase the equipment, that ownership can add value to your fitness center in several ways.

Pros of buying gym equipment:

• You can customise it: Deciding on the aesthetics of your fitness facility is one of the most fun parts of opening a gym. If you purchase your gym equipment, you can customise it by choosing colours and branding your inventory to match the overall look and feel you want. Creating a cohesive environment also helps build a sense of community, which is attractive to both current and prospective members.
• It gives you an asset: Ownership of fitness equipment is an asset, which becomes especially important for gym owners who decide to sell their fitness facility. The added value of owning your fitness equipment means you can ask for a higher selling price, and it may also entice buyers who don’t want to spend the time or money to find new inventory.
• You can sell it to offset upgrade costs: Buying gym equipment is expensive, but another benefit to owning your own fitness equipment is that you can sell it to help offset upgrade costs. Not only does this help lessen the financial burden, it also keeps your facility modern and up-to-date, which is attractive to both current and potential new members.  

Cons of buying gym equipment:

• High initial purchase price: Whether you purchase the equipment entirely out of pocket or have to make a large down payment on a loan, the initial purchase price will require a large amount of your cash reserves. Purchasing loans that require high monthly payments can also put pressure on future cash flows of your business.
• Maintenance & upkeep costs: When you own your own fitness equipment, you’re the one responsible for covering repairs and maintenance costs. In addition to costing even more money, this can also be inconvenient for your members when the fitness equipment is unavailable.

LEASING EQUIPMENT

While buying gym equipment can offer several benefits like we talked about earlier, it’s not always the best option for gym owners. Leasing equipment can offer greater flexibility, and help you stay ahead of competitors.

Pros of leasing equipment:

• Lower upfront cost: One of the biggest benefits to leasing equipment is the lower upfront costs required. Although some lease terms may require first and last month’s payment right away, the cost will still be lower than buying gym equipment.
• Tax benefits: If you have an operating lease, you may be eligible to write off your monthly lease payments as an operating expense on your taxes. By deducting the monthly payments from your revenue, you’ll lower your taxable income.
• Flexibility to upgrade more frequently: When business owners decide to purchase the equipment, they’ll most likely keep the inventory for as long as possible. This means there’s a greater likelihood for the equipment to become outdated, or in constant need of repair. Leasing equipment provides greater flexibility for upgrades since the lease term is usually shorter than the equipment’s lifespan.

Cons of leasing equipment:

• Lack of ownership: The only reason for not leasing equipment is that you won’t have ownership of it. Some lease agreements allow equipment to be considered an asset (with corresponding liability) on the balance sheet, but that doesn’t mean you own it. Unless your lease includes an option to purchase the equipment for a reduced price at the end of the lease, you’ll need to return it once your contract period is up.

CONCLUSION

Deciding whether to buy or lease gym equipment can be daunting, but it’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a fitness business owner. To figure out which option is best for you, you’ll need to thoroughly consider your fitness center’s needs and available resources to determine which approach makes sense for your business at any stage of growth.

To learn how EZFacility’s gym management software can help you stay organised and on top of your finances so you can successfully grow your business, schedule a free online demonstration and personalised product tour.

In case you haven’t already heard the big news—we’re excited to share that we’re rolling out a major user interface (UI) redesign! Featuring a responsive, modern design across devices, EZFacility’s new UI offers an intuitive edge and solution to workflow challenges fitness businesses have been struggling to address since the Coronavirus pandemic upended the industry in 2020. And our latest investment doesn’t end with design—the upgrade also includes a new hosting partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest cloud computing provider.

Responding to the Fitness Industry’s Changing Needs

By now, we’ve all seen the extent to which COVID-19 has disrupted the fitness industry—from the physical landscape where people work out to the needs and expectations consumers have regarding how fitness businesses should package and deliver products and services. To address these new challenges, we chose to invest more heavily into technology in order to create an all-in-one, seamless solution that addresses our customers’ unique operational needs.

“Many of our users are on-the-go admins who rely on our software to provide time-saving solutions. The latest interface updates are fully responsive, require fewer clicks to accomplish tasks, and are packaged into a clean, intuitive dashboard. This helps ensure we continue to lead from the front and provide our clients with the tools they need to excel in a new landscape,” says Bryant Strozinsky, President of EZFacility.

What’s in EZFacility’s New UI?

The UI redesign carries over the same functionality users are familiar with while also introducing simplified processes and expanded capabilities. Key benefits of EZFacility’s new user interface include: 

• Streamlined workflows help you complete daily tasks faster. Plus, training new staff will be easier than ever. 
• Lightning-fast speeds. Technology upgrades ensure that your software moves as fast as you do and is always available when you need it. 
• Unlimited storage, thanks to our partnership with Amazon Web Services—the world’s largest cloud computing provider.
• Responsive design that gives you the best experience on every device. 

To see all the updates, watch a tour of EZFacility’s new UI. 

Supercharge Your Productivity with Intuitive Design 

EZFacility’s new UI introduces design elements intended to reduce clicks, decrease admin time, and boost productivity. For instance, the convenient slide-out navigation menu allows users to access popular tools when needed and to hide the menu when not in use. Similarly, an editing pane appears whenever you need to make changes to a client profile, membership, or package, providing a consistent experience throughout the software. 

“Consistency makes the software more user-friendly, which means it’s easier for new staff and users to learn,” explained Greg Barra, EZFacility’s Support and Training Manager. “This is great news for managers and admin who can spend less time on software training and more time running their businesses.” 

For instructions on how to use the latest features and functionality, see our collection of user guides for the New EZFacility Experience. 

Technology Upgrades for Speed and Reliability

The transition to Amazon Web Services prioritizes client data security and increases site speed, with AWS boasting a reliable 99% uptime rate. 

“With built-in, unlimited storage capacity our clients can spend more time building out their operations without worrying about typical associated costs. Moving forward with AWS puts our development team in an excellent position to incorporate cutting-edge tools and integrations like Machine Learning into our software in the future,” adds Michael Vidal, Director of Research and Development at EZFacility.

How to Access Facility’s New UI

All new and current EZFacility clients will have access to the latest interface beginning in 2021. For additional information about our new UI or to schedule a personalized product tour, please request a demo with one of our specialists.