With so many Americans taking an interest in health and wellness, now is the perfect opportunity to grow your fitness business. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of health club clients in the U.S. increased by over 25%!

Like exercise for the body, growth is vital for any fitness business. Expansion can attract new customers, help you invest in state-of-the-art equipment and make a great name for your brand. Whether you recently opened or already have a loyal following, this guide can help you grow even more.

1. Grow Your Fitness Business With the Right Audience

Offering a wide variety of services can boost your gym’s appeal, but you also need things that set you apart. Select several core areas that are essential to your business, and do them better than anyone else. These could be:

• Prenatal exercise classes for pregnant moms
• Complete wellness experiences for people who have depression
• Specialized workouts for people who have chronic pain
• Corporate fitness programs
• Services from certified nutritionists

How To Choose a Profitable Niche

Research competitors to see what they’re offering. Looking for untapped opportunities can be more profitable than declaring an all-out war against other health clubs. At the same time, any niche needs a large enough market to support your investment.

Play to your strengths and passions. As an example, if you love helping seniors stay active, your clients can sense your personal interest and are more likely to choose you over another gym.

2. Build an Amazing Blog

One of the most important ways to grow a fitness business is to feature high-quality blog content on your website. Your brand’s blog helps you attract potential members online and impress clients offline.

Informative, accurate and helpful content can position you as the top source for health and wellness advice in your community. You want your website to be the place people go when they have a question about using proper exercise techniques, improving fat burning or staying motivated.

There’s no need to worry about researching and writing expert blog articles yourself. That’s what our professional health and wellness content writers are for. With an amazing blog, don’t be surprised when tons of new visitors sign up for your newsletter.

3. Make a Great First Impression

Loyal customers are wonderful, but you also need new clients if you want to grow your fitness business continually. Supplement the power of advertising with an extra push to get curious feet walking through your door. Here are a few possibilities:

• Introductory discounts
• Free trial weekends
• Reward points for exercise targets
• Seasonal buy-one-get-one-free membership offers
• Bring a family member for free weeks

How To Be Memorable

Pay attention to your new client experience. Is your team giving potential customers a warm welcome and helping them reach some small fitness goals? Personalized attention can be the difference between a happy new member and a lost opportunity.

One way to improve the experience is to make time for questions. First-time visitors often feel lost when it comes to fitness equipment, goals, techniques and services. By alleviating their fears and providing expert guidance, you can create a positive impression immediately. Having a reserve of blog posts on your website that answered frequently asked questions is a great way to both start ranking on the SERPs and give potential clients the information and confidence they need to buy your products. 

4. Grow Your Fitness Business With a Social Media Community

With a solid social media presence, it’s easier to create a community around your brand. You can interact directly with customers and potential clients online, answering questions, sharing helpful tips and generating enthusiasm for working out. These opportunities can increase your brand’s local reputation considerably.

Whether you share energizing photos on Instagram or informative posts on Facebook, you’re giving people a “behind-the-scenes” look at your team. The laidback feel of social media can appeal to emotions in a way that direct advertising often doesn’t, helping visitors to genuinely like your team from the beginning.

Why Social Media Groups Are Popular in Fitness

Social media networks also benefit clients. Your social media platform can become a type of fitness “support group.” Along with your team sharing recommendations that work, longtime members may feel inspired to offer their own success stories and tips. 

Investing time to personally reply to social media posts can produce good results, but you don’t have to manage everything yourself. Our online content wizards can create interesting, fun and creative social media content for you. They can also share the blogs you post for extra exposure to helpful sales-funnel content. 

6. Create a Lifestyle, Not Just a Gym

Another way to grow your fitness business naturally is to make it a place people like to hang out. Promote a healthy lifestyle with your club in the center. There are many possibilities:

• Group fitness classes
• Couples’ nights
• Fitness competitions or challenges
• Outdoor cycling groups
• Nutrition workshops

Local partnerships can be especially valuable for creating a tight-knit community around your business. You can organize 4K runs for charity, join forces with vegan restaurants or local farmers, offer members discounts for outdoor equipment stores and partner with other businesses dedicated to health.

7. Reward Clients for Referring Friends and Family

Referrals are one of the best ways to increase your customer base. This can happen randomly, such as when thrilled clients give your team glowing reviews on social media after a positive interaction.

To grow your fitness business effectively, though, you should do more than wait with your arms crossed. Create a referral program. Consider these ideas:

• Members receive guest passes each year.
• Clients get a $10 sports equipment gift card for referring three friends.
• Customers get one extra online class code to share.

This type of program gently nudges current clients to tell their friends and family about your business. The idea is to reward your customers and give their friends something good, too.

8. Don’t Ignore Online Possibilities

These days, every company needs an attractive website. Without one, it’s almost impossible for potential customers to learn about your team, your services and the features that make your company so amazing.

High-quality website content is vital to grow a fitness business with virtual classes. Your blog articles and product pages should provide clear answers to the questions visitors have. With attention-grabbing writing, you can get people excited about your services and motivate them to take action.

How To Grow Your Online Fitness Business

If you’re not sure where to start, pay attention to these website essentials for online fitness companies:

• Branding: Create a personality for your brand that makes it unique. Have all of your web pages, products and services follow this distinctive style.
• Content writing: Post amazing blog content that wows customers and gives fitness businesses incredible benefits.
• Product descriptions: Use bullet points and engaging writing to show website visitors exactly what you offer, how it works and why they should choose you.
• Search engine optimization: Work with SEO professionals to connect better with your target audience and rank higher on search results.

What if you already have a website? Make sure to refresh the content every few years. Up-to-date content helps you keep up with modern fitness trends and improves your relevance with search engines.

Take Advantage of Every Opportunity To Grow Your Fitness Business

Tennis champ Arthur Ashe once said: “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” Recognizing opportunities for business growth is important, but having the courage and determination to take action is vital for real success.

Push your limits. Be inventive. Seize smart opportunities to grow your fitness business online and offline. Our content creation team is behind you 100%. See how amazing pro fitness blogs can be.