Apps for Personal Trainers and Gyms – How to grow your business Part 2

In part 1 of this series we discussed how apps for personal trainers and apps for gyms can help your business generate leads through an offer directly from your app. In part 2 of the series I am going to cover the next 2 critical features your apps for personal trainers and gyms should have, The ability for referral marketing, and the huge benefit of retention.

 

 

1. Referral Marketing

As every fitness business knows, referral marketing is one of the best ways to generate new clients. They are usually already qualified, sent to you by someone they know and trust and can usually benefit your club or PT businesses through retention if the friends both train together. Having a ‘Refer a Friend’ tab on your mobile app is one of the best ways you can generate new leads for your business. The key is to create new and ongoing referral incentives each month or 2 so your clients don’t just refer friends once, but on an ongoing basis.

You can run a referral promotion for each friend that is referred to your business, which could be a smaller bonus, or you could do a major prize once a month where you have a vast number of your members referring their friends in order to win a big prize.

The benefit of a custom refer a friend page is the ability for members to share via SMS, social media and email. A link to download the app is then sent with a welcome message (which can be customised) directly to their friends phone or Facebook account or email. Once they download the app you then have your business on peoples’ phone. They can then go ahead and sign up for the free trial as per point 1 above so you can generate qualified leads to your business.

2. Retention

Retention is just as, if not more important than generating new leads. Being able to keep hold of your existing members is the lifeblood of your business and crucial to being successful.

There are a number of benefits that the app has in regards to retention. One of the best ways to help with retention is making it as easy as possible for members to book classes. Members can book classes directly from the app making it easier for them to plan their training.
 
The class booking page can include a counter which can be used if you have a limited number of people per class. As each person books the counter will count down showing how many positions are left. It will also send the member and the Gym or PT an email confirming the class.

Another great benefit of the app is to be able to send free push notifications out to your members to notify them about upcoming events, classes, news and promotions. This gives you the ability to easily notify all members (and people with your app who are sitting on the sidelines) with a push of a button helping keep front of mind to your members, increasing retention and creating a sense of community.