The holidays are a great time to increase sales, acquire new members and to increase brand awareness for your fitness club. However, keep in mind that it takes a little more effort than just increasing your marketing budget. Preparing for the holidays can be a yearlong effort; it may sound intimidating, but it’s a worthwhile pursuit! Here’s how to get your fitness business ready for the holidays.

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare Your Staff

The holidays will be a little bit different than your regular schedule during the rest of the year. Some of your staff will most likely be requesting time off and fewer members may be visiting your facility because of holiday obligations. As such, you should look ahead a few months in advance and try to see how you can prepare for December now.

Consider taking the statuary holidays off, giving your staff some rest and time to spend with their loved ones. Surrounding the statuary holidays, your fitness facility members may appreciate some meditation or relaxation-focused classes during this potentially stressful time.

2. Get Busy on Social Media

To ensure that your fitness facility doesn’t get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s important to have your social media marketing strategy in place well before December. Identify your goal: do you want higher attendance during the slower months? Are you hoping for more new members? Once you know what you’re working towards, you should try to schedule posts ahead of time so that current and potential members know about any upcoming deals or special classes well in advance.

READ: Using Holiday Activities to Connect with your Recreation Members

3. Decide On Your Offer

Since gift giving is the name of the game during this time of year, consider offering specials. Some may wish to give memberships as gifts and discounted memberships may give those on the fence a little incentive to try out your facility. In addition to holiday promotions, it’s also a great time to take advantage of those fitness-related New Year’s Resolutions, such as offering a new member deal or a future discount based on how many classes your members attend in January.

4. Consider Challenges

Friendly competition can be fun and it can be a great way to encourage higher attendance at your fitness facility, when you challenge your members. Provide a small prize for those who reach their goal (such as completing 30 days of yoga, or 10 workout classes). It will keep your members motivated and active and your fitness facility busy.

Xplor Recreation can help facilities of all sizes connect with their members, using our powerful yet easy-to-use gym and fitness management software, helping you to easily manage and market your fitness centre. Featuring mobile-friendly gym management software that gives you the ability to streamline your business and maximize revenue, you can seamlessly take care of scheduling, marketing, billing, and member management. Learn more about the software here.