Are you “addicted” to your mobile phone or other mobile devices, such as an iPad or Android tablet? Most people feel as though they can’t live without their smartphone. Increasingly, people are feeling this way about their tablet computers as well. The ubiquitous nature and effectiveness of such gadgets and digital tools make for an unprecedented marketing opportunity. This is something that you can exploit to generate more traffic for your fitness club.

SMS Marketing Offers Great Opportunity

So exactly what is SMS marketing? SMS stands for “Short Message Service.” This type of marketing consists of sending short marketing messages directly to consumers. Most often, SMS messages are short and to the point. Millions of SMS messages are sent every day, and their numbers are growing rapidly. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you should use SMS marketing as a direct integration tool to maximize your marketing ROI.

#1 SMS Messages Grab Attention

You probably know by now that email messages often don’t receive much attention as they used to. The simple fact is that unknown email messages are viewed as “spam” and are rarely opened or given much attention. However, the situation with SMS marketing is very different. The fact of the matter is that a whopping 97% of all SMS or phone text messages get opened. This rate is in stark contrast to email and print marketing, which have a far lower rate of being opened and thus a much lower conversion rate as well. If you want to get your message noticed and you want to turn potential members into paying members, then you will want to explore all that SMS marketing has to offer your fitness club.

#2 Messages Are Quickly Opened

The news on SMS marketing gets even better. When a prospective member receives an SMS message, it is common for those messages to get opened in just 4 minutes! Of course, email, direct mailing and other forms of advertising have little chance of competing with that kind of number.

Impressively, 83% of all SMS messages are opened within 60 minutes. This is great news if you decide to run a special or limited time offer of some type. Potential members will not just receive your marketing messages, but there is also
 a good chance that they will act upon them if the offer is really strong. The immediacy of the SMS marketing process is such that your odds of receiving a fast response to your marketing campaign increase. This process allows you to quickly understand what marketing approaches and strategies are working and, in the process, modify your marketing campaigns when necessary.

#3 Time To Up-Sell And Offer Discounts

Reaching your existing members and prospects with a discount or up-sell offer is a time honored way of achieving results, and SMS marketing takes this to a whole new level. The immediacy with which you can reach your audience with SMS marketing means that discount offers and up-sells have a major chance of receiving a positive response.

SMS marketing can also be used very effectively for up-selling an existing member. When you are dealing with an existing member, you already have an on-going relationship with that person. If the relationship is strong, this increases the chances of an immediate response.

SMS marketing allows each individual the opportunity to take advantage of up-sell features that you may be offering. Best of all, because SMS marketing gives you quick results in terms of your marketing campaign’s effectiveness, you can try out different up-sell strategies until you find the one that works just right (test and measure all your results.) Does this mean more revenue for you? The short answer is, of course! That is why so many marketers are so excited about how well SMS marketing works.

#4 Competitive Pricing

The most effective marketing idea in the world isn’t really worth much if it isn’t cost effective, is it? This is another reason why SMS marketing shines. SMS marketing is relatively inexpensive. When one factors in its success rate and the high number of opened messages, then SMS marketing becomes an even better lead generation strategy or marketing integration tool for your fitness club.

There are many companies worldwide that provide SMS marketing services. This serves to drive prices down. Of course, this is all good news for you. The fact that SMS marketing is this effective and prices are highly competitive all add up to make this form of media a true winner.

Here are 7 reasons why you should be using SMS media as your key marketing integration tool to maximize your ROI.

1) A whopping 97% of ALL SMS or phone text messages get opened.

2) 83% of all SMS messages are opened within 60 minutes.

3) The immediacy of the SMS marketing process means quick responses.

4) Since you gain quick responses thanks to SMS marketing, you can adapt your marketing strategies and campaigns with greater speed.

5) You can reach your existing club members in a highly effective manner.

6) People actually pay more attention to their SMS messages unlike email and direct mailings.

7) SMS pricing has dramatically decreased over the last several years, and costing is very reasonable now.

The key to optimizing and maximizing your marketing offer is to integrate it across different media. SMS media should be at the top of that list for all the reasons I just mentioned. If you want a highly effective integrated marketing campaign for your fitness club, then you need to opt for SMS marketing.
For more information to help grow your specific fitness business or to register for a FREE BUSNIESS ACCELERATOR CALL, simply enter your details below and I will be in touch shortly.

Frank Smarrelli Co-Founder of Marketing For Gyms and Personal Trainers