Eight Steps To A Stellar Local Marketing Strategy for Your Gym

Let's talk about local marketing and how it relates to search engines like Google. 

When I moved to Boston from Portugal years ago, I knew very little about my new Boston's North-End Italian neighborhood. As I established myself as a new northender, I made a good friend; the Google search engine.

Google helped me find businesses, vendors, and other local services I needed in my new neighborhood — from bakeries and convenience stores to hair-salon and restaurants. But Google could not have helped me to find these local businesses if they did not invest in local marketing.

So, what is local marketing?

Local marketing is a marketing strategy targeting consumers near your facility within a certain radius of a business's location(s). Local marketing is also known as neighborhood marketing.

Why is local marketing important?

Data shows that 97% of people learn more about a local company online than in any other place. Do you know that 88% of mobile searches for local businesses result in a call or a business visit within one day? Good local marketing strategy help boost your rank for "Near Me" searches.

Eight important marketing activities you should consider to boost your local presence.

1 - Create local landing pages for all your gym locations.

If your business has multiple locations or franchises, you should create a landing page for each physical location. You should also ensure that your website is designed for conversion and offers a top-notch mobile experience. Most local searches are done on mobile devices.

2 - Optimize your website for local searches.

To attract more clients in your area, optimize your website for local searches by following search engine optimization (SEO) best practices for local searches.

Local SEO is one of the most cost-effective forms of local marketing. It's free and can have huge returns on investment.

3 - Create or claim your Google Business Profile.

Google is the world's most important website. Creating a free Google Business Profile is a critical way to attract new clients to your business through Google search and maps.

A Google Business Profile allows you to provide your business detail information, such as your location, business hours, and services you provide.

Google also provides a star rating system, allowing customers to leave feedback about their experience with your gym.

4 - Encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews.

Positive reviews are a key element of social proof and a great way to build trust and credibility. You could incentivize your satisfied clients to leave positive reviews by offering discounts or promotions, such as free membership and raffles.

Prospects are motivated by positive reviews and seek them before spending a dollar at any business. As many as 95% of people read online reviews before making a purchase.

5- List your gyms on third parties directories.

Submitting your gym to local directories like Yelp, Bing, and other directories will help local clients find you and boost your search engine rankings. Most first-page results by Google are businesses listed in online directories.

6 - Run local Google, and social media paid ads.

Before spending a dime on paid advertising, ensure you have all the previous items in place. Paid ads on Google search and social media offer some of the best opportunities to target a specific city or area.

7 - Sponsor local events and causes.

Sponsoring charitable events in your local community provides an excellent opportunity to raise your gym's brand awareness. Look for events or causes that might appeal to your target customers. For example, sponsoring a kids' sports team would be relevant to your local community.

8 - Never underestimate the power of traditional local media.

Traditional forms of local media, like local cable news, radio, or a local newspaper, are still excellent options for promoting your local gym or studio. Prospect customers use these traditional media to stay up-to-date with their community.

If you plan to launch a special promotion, consider reaching out to your local cable news or radio station, and you will be surprised that the costs are relatively inexpensive.

Bottom Line

Local marketing is vital for any gym or fitness studio. It helps you reach new audiences and boosts your search rankings and online traffic.

Many local marketing strategies are free to implement. So, get started by optimizing your website for local searches and by submitting your business to online listings.