The biggest pitfall of digital marketing is the increased likelihood that marketers will forget about the human element, according to Katie Bossie, senior business manager for health and fitness at Listen360. Simply put, a health club's member and employee bases are its biggest marketing assets, Bossie said in the latest installment of The Club Industry Podcast: The Motionsoft Technology Summit Edition. If members of either group are happy or unhappy, their attitudes and praises or complaints will serve, in effect, as a marketing campaign for your business.
Ensuring that people are treated with care from the moment they pass through your club doors is the first step in attempting to steer that campaign in the right direction, Bossie said.
"Even with the most robust marketing strategy and the best technology, you're going to be up against something really difficult to overcome," she said of members posting negative online reviews.
Bossie is one of three fitness industry professionals who participated in this marketing-centric episode of The Club Industry Podcast: The Motionsoft Technology Summit Edition. This special podcast series is part of the partnership between Club Industry and Motionsoft, Rockville, Maryland. Club Industry is the media partner for the 2019 Motionsoft Technology Summit, Sept. 16-18 in Washington, D.C., and this podcast is the second installment in a four-part series that focuses on some of the topics that will be covered at the in-person event.
Along with Bossie, the podcast features insights from Brian Mitchell, CEO of Promotion Vault, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Greg Dowd, president of fitness at Epsilon, Irving, Texas.
In the episode, the group discusses which of today’s marketing trends are most important for club operators, as well as how to solicit positive online reviews, how to best utilize social media and better understanding the member journey.
Hear more insights by listening to the podcast on SoundCloud.