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Here on the Ashbourne Membership Management blog, we are always trying to leverage our twenty-five years of experience in the fitness industry to help independent gym and fitness club owners and management get the most out of their fitness businesses.
Not only do we live in a fast-paced and rapidly changing world, we also operate in a dynamic and innovative sector. This means that things rarely stay the same. It feels like a frequent topic in these blogs of a revolution or evolution that has occurred within the fitness industry within the last ten or even five years.
The innovations that prompted today’s topic are very similar, though it is something that rose to prominence only within the last year or two. The technology has existed for a while in one form or another, but the pace of progress has been so rapid that it has left many gym owners asking us, what happens now?
That topic is, of course, AI. And while it is not the only topic we will be covering today in our look at marketing and specifically digital marketing in 2024, it will make up the lion’s share.
The recent leaps forward in AI present a challenge, a complication and potentially an opportunity for digital marketing across all sectors, including the fitness industry. It also represents a significant risk.
Today we will be looking at if that risk is worth taking and how independent gym and fitness club owners can use it effectively without compromising their digital marketing efforts.
If the rapid progress of AI text generation and language learning models in the last two years is anything to go by, this won’t be the last article we write on AI and its role in digital marketing for independent gyms and fitness clubs. If you are reading this article a significant period of time after the publication date, we would suggest you check to see if anything else has been written. We don’t normally include this sort of disclaimer, but given the ever-shifting AI landscape, we want to make sure that gym owners are getting the latest information about AI in the fitness industry.
What will we cover in this article?
(you can also click to skip ahead!)
Should independent gyms and fitness clubs use AI and AI-powered language learning models to assist with their digital marketing?
How can hiring or incentivising influencers to endorse a fitness business boost their digital marketing campaigns?
Why should gyms utilise mixed media and marketing via a variety of digital platforms to increase their demographic reach?
How can AI be unsuitable for producing high-quality content, despite its ability to produce content in vast quantities?
AI and Marketing
Should independent gyms and fitness clubs use AI and AI-powered language learning models to assist with their digital marketing?
2023 will be remembered as the year where AI hit the mainstream.
As with many aspects of ‘public memory’ that might not necessarily be correct, but it is what will be remembered nonetheless. AI existed prior to 2023 in many forms, including image and text generation.
But 2023 represented a seismic leap, not only in terms of sophistication but accessibility.
So as we move into 2024, we find questions being asked by independent gym and fitness club owners about whether they should incorporate AI into not only their digital marketing efforts, but also potentially other areas of their gyms and fitness businesses.
The answer is, unfortunately, not as short as a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.
Some people will quite recklessly tell you that their gym should be using a language learning model such as ChatGPT, Bing AI, LaMDA or Google Gemini to do everything from writing your blogs and emails to generating your social media posts and composing your e-mails.
And indeed, there is nothing to stop an independent gym or fitness club owner from using language learning models and AI to do just that.
It is a powerful tool. But as any tradesman knows, a powerful tool needs to be used properly, otherwise you end up with a big hole in your door. (We aren’t talking from experience, promise).
AI tools can generate a large amount of text quickly. But quantity over quality is not always a winning formula. We exist in a digital landscape that is about to be overrun with AI generated text content.
As such, our initial warning is for any independent gym or fitness club owner interested in using AI to use it sparingly and only after a great deal of research. Don’t type in a prompt and immediately copy and paste the first thing it generates into an e-mail or a social media post.
It is a recipe for disaster.
People, especially younger people who make up the majority of gym members and attendees, are smart and attentive people. They are the people who have been using AI the longest and they are very good at detecting when something has been written by an AI or language learning model. If a gym or fitness club’s social media starts sounding robotic, they will notice and it will not have the desired effect on their perception of that gym or fitness club.
Seamless Engagement
How can hiring or incentivising influencers to endorse a fitness business boost their digital marketing campaigns?
We are going to take a break from AI at this point. Switching up from something very inorganic to something designed to be as organic as possible.
The strategy of hiring or incentivising influencers to endorse a business goes by many names and has been adopted by many companies. Perhaps most worryingly it has recently been sounded out by the UK government, who will be attempting to pay influencers in order to make certain things seem more or less attractive.
On a less sinister note however, this strategy of hiring influencers can also be used by independent gym and fitness club owners. Perhaps more so than many other sectors and businesses.
Because the fitness industry does not lack influencers, from small channels and profiles across YouTube and Tiktok to behemoths with millions of subscribers. Independent gym and fitness club owners should have no issue finding fitness fanatics in their area with a sizable following.
Tiktok especially feels like a platform just built for the promotion of independent gyms and fitness clubs, whether it is with a quick tour set to catchy music or a demonstration of the facility and equipment.
Authenticity and effortlessness are what these influencers are trading on and it is a powerful tool, proven to be very effective with millennials and Gen Z. It is a great way to make the marketing of an independent gym or fitness club more personal. The recommendation of a trusted influencer feels remarkably different to a cold and calculated advert. (Especially if it was made using AI!)
Equally, unlike some influencer advertising that we see on Tiktok or Youtube, independent gyms and fitness clubs have very real incentives to offer to fitness influencers! Namely the facility and their considerable resources. Conversely, it should not take the influencer much to get excited about a genuinely good independent gym or fitness club.
It is worth independent gyms and fitness clubs spending the time to find interesting and motivated fitness influencers in the area, even if their follower count is relatively small, the potential for a low-cost, high-yield partnership cannot be overlooked!
These arrangements need not end after a single video, but with the right influencer an independent gym or fitness club can weave an entire campaign’s worth of videos promoting the positive aspects of their fitness facility on a very low budget to the right audience.
It is a lesson in the face of AI marketing that creating the right content can be more important than creating huge volumes of content.
By utilising real influencers and incorporating them into a responsible, honest and ethical digital marketing campaign on platforms like Tiktok and Instagram, an independent gym or fitness club can access whole new demographics with ease while engaging with a new community.
A Mixed Media Approch
Why should gyms utilise mixed media and marketing via a variety of digital platforms to increase their demographic reach?
Continuing on from the subject of influencers, this next part has us taking a look at the benefit of a mixed approach to media when it comes to the digital marketing strategies of independent gyms and fitness clubs.
This point is as much about intention as it is variety. We aren’t recommending a mixed media strategy approach to independent gym and fitness club owners because it just looks pleasing when put all together, it is to influence and direct the flow of the conversation surrounding a facility across all platforms.
As with many things in life, when it comes to digital marketing via social media for independent gyms, it is about knowing the audience.
But it isn’t just one audience we are preaching too. That is the wrong way to conceptualise it. The people that an independent gym is trying to reach on Twitter is very different from the people that they are trying to reach on Tiktok, and very different again to the average audience member they are trying to reach on Facebook.
A long list might go down great on Facebook or Twitter, where the average ages tend to be slightly older and the app/website is formatted in such a way. But it will go down like a lead balloon on Tiktok. (Those who are young enough that they might not even know the phrase ‘go down like a lead balloon!)
It isn’t just about the format though, it is about what each audience is expecting to see. Put simply, Tiktok users don’t go on Tiktok to read think pieces. Most people on Twitter don’t go on there to see 5-second videos (though some do!)
There are myriad different audiences out there. Some will respond better to video, some will respond better to text. Many will enjoy both. By focusing purely on one or the other, an independent gym is denying their digital marketing campaign the depth and complexity it needs to be truly impactful.
Bespoke Content, Quality Not Quantity
How can AI be unsuitable for producing high-quality content, despite its ability to produce content in vast quantities?
For our final point, we will head back to AI and a sentiment that was espoused in the first section of this blog. For those paying attention, it has been the throughline of the entire article.
We believe AI has a place. It seems that AI may even have a place in video with the recent announcement of Sora. An OpenAI product that seems to be able to produce uncannily realistic videos with only a few lines of text, in the style that we have come to expect from ChatGPT (also an OpenAI product) for text or Midjourney for pictures.
But the ‘place’ that AI has is not only a very tentative one, but one that must be subject to constant review.
So we believe that AI and language-learning models, as they currently stand, are effective for spell-checking and the like. Menial tasks. We do not believe they are any substitute for actual people behind a digital marketing strategy.
Take our example earlier of the local influencer working with the gym. Is it better to have one actual person preaching to their fans about the virtues of their partnership with an independent gym or fitness club. Or five ‘AI’ fitness influencers, were that possible, to espouse the same.
One is full of real passion and an actual relationship being forged. Between independent gym and influencer. Influencer and audience. Human and unreplicatable. The other is eerie and soulless, even if it can be produced in vast quantities.
So while we always advocate for adopting the latest technologies, up to and including AI, we also preach caution. Use AI responsibly. Use it as the powerful tool it is, to save tedium when checking actual work. But as the centrepiece of a digital marketing strategy for independent gyms and fitness clubs? No, we don’t think so. Not yet, and possibly not ever. But as the last five years have taught us. Never say never.
Our Final Thoughts
And so ends our little thinkpiece on marketing and digital marketing for independent gyms and fitness clubs in 2024. It is an exciting time for marketing in the fitness industry, with more ways than ever for even small independents to promote themselves in new and interesting ways.
It is also a time of great change, and maybe not entirely for the better. We have already seen some businesses, inside and outside of the fitness industry, taking the ‘easy route’ and generating vast quantities of content with AI. Perhaps adhering to the old adage of throwing something at a wall and seeing what sticks.
As we said, we believe AI tools can be used by independent gyms and fitness clubs to a good end even in their current state in 2024, but it is no substitute for the talent, passion and expertise required to succeed in the industry.
And speaking of those three qualities, here at Ashbourne we know how to utilise talent, passion and expertise to help independent gym and fitness club owners take their operation to the next level!
Over the last twenty five years (back when the term ‘AI’ was mainly a concept in science fiction or chess computers), we have helped thousands of gyms and fitness clubs reach greater heights. Whether it is with our versatile and powerful membership management software or our website creation capabilities, we have the ability to help any gym reach a broader audience more effectively!
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Get your club in shape.
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Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club,
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.