Marketing is all about connecting with the right people at the right time. A personal touch helps build those relationships, but avoiding marketing automation can lead to some big mistakes.
Let’s look at some of the consequences of handling your marketing solo, and how those mistakes can cost you business.
Mistake 1: Lacking Brand Consistency
To build trust with your members, you need to be consistent and clear with your messaging. Your members will be happier and more confident if you can give them the same high-quality experience year-round.
If you’re handling your marketing outreach on your own, you can’t guarantee that every member interaction will have the same level of quality.
With so many conversations and details to keep track of, you might:
- Have inconsistent response times
- Forget to mention important information
- Respond with the wrong information
- Have an inconsistent tone or messaging
On a good week you may be able to respond to a member immediately. But what happens if their email sits in your inbox for a few days?
You’ll damage your reputation and lose your members’ trust.
Your responsiveness and reliability inform how your members perceive your business. If every interaction is different, they won't know what to expect from you.
Consistency is key to building trust, so show your members you’re reliable!
With marketing automation software, you can schedule follow-ups to regularly connect with your members. By templatizing your information, you can make sure your messaging is accurate and timely.
The way you interact with your members determines how much they trust your gym, so make every experience a great one!
Mistake 2: Not Nurturing Leads
Every member’s fitness journey is unique, and that’s true for their customer journey, too! Your prospects want to feel like your gym experience was made just for them.
To turn your leads into members, you need to connect with them where they are in their customer journey. For new leads, this could mean sharing valuable content about health and wellness. Leads on the edge of membership may be more interested in thought provoking questions like what’s holding them back.
Nurturing relationships with your leads looks different at every stage of the sales process. It takes patience – and often multiple emails – to convert them into members. If you’re keeping track of every message yourself, it can quickly get overwhelming.
There’s not enough time in the day to personally give every lead the attention they deserve. So, what happens if you can’t personalize their experience?
They’ll find another gym that can.
Someone who was initially interested in your gym may look for other options if:
- Your messaging isn’t professional
- You don’t follow-up with them
- It takes too long to get more information
- The information they get doesn’t apply to them
If you can’t meet them where they are in their customer journey, you’ll lose their business!
That’s where automation comes in.
If you want to consistently connect with leads, try using automated responses and drip campaigns. With UpLaunch you won’t have to worry about forgetting to respond or tracking endless email chains. Once you get a lead to show interest, your marketing software will take care of the rest!
Mistake 3: Mismanaging Your Time
When you’re a gym owner, “Marketing Manager” is only one of the hats you wear. It’s a vital role, and with so many aspects of your business pulling you in different directions it’s hard to give marketing the attention it needs.
Planning campaigns, setting up ads, nurturing leads – the minutiae of marketing adds up!
As your gym grows and other areas of your business demand your time, it’s unsustainable to manage your business and marketing alone. There are not enough hours in the day to put 100% of your effort into both.
So, what happens if you spend all your energy on marketing?
You won’t have time to focus on long-term growth.
More time spent behind a desk leaves little time for planning the future of your gym. Don’t let time-consuming tasks keep you from what really matters: growing your business.
Try using software to automate your repetitive marketing tasks and free up your time.
With more time in your day, you can focus on:
- Connecting with members
- Fine-tuning your budget
- Developing new offerings
The more you automate, the more you can focus on strategy!
Is It Time to Automate Your Marketing?
Now that you see why automation matters, it’s time to take a step back and look at your marketing processes. Where can you improve?
Whether you’re only fine-tuning or need a systems overhaul, it’s all a part of the process!
Don’t know where to start or don’t have the technical know-how?
Chat with our UpLaunch Marketing team to get more members without more work.
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