Read More

MARKETING TRENDS FOR YOUR FITNESS BUSINESS IN 2020

2019 felt like it just sped by and now the new year is coming fast which means changes and new digital marketing trends are on the way! Let’s prepare for the new year by looking into the predictions for possible marketing trends that could come up for the year 2020.

  • 1

    Speech-based content

    Yes, speech-based content isn’t new at all, but with voice assistants (Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri) now available on most mobile devices, smart home device assistants (Alexa), wearable devices with voice search, there was a rise of voice searches of 30% for 2019 and a predicted rise of 50% of the searches are going to voice-based by 2020.

    So how do you rank by voice search? According to Google, both Siri and Alexa are pulling from Google results. What you need to do now is to make sure your products and company are ranking in natural speech terms meaning how people usually ask questions, like how you would when you use voice search.

    You can also check keyword tools like Answer The Public, SEMRush, Google Trends, Keyword Tools so you can see how people are framing their questions when they Google for an answer. Take note that you want to be closer on what and how a human asks a question instead of a group of key terms.

  • 2

    Prioritise Location Tagging

    One way fitness centres can beat their competition in the next 20 years is to narrow their focus to a smaller community, John Aglialoro Chairman and CEO of Cybex International says. Fitness facilities will have to “take fitness closer to where the customer lives as opposed to waiting for them to come to the club,” says Aglialoro.

    “I think society, in general, will be looking at location, location, location,” agrees Ken Reinig, president of Association Insurance Group. “As we get busier and busier, we’ll need a place to work out that’s close.”

    Since location will become a more important factor for your business. Make sure to tag the location on any posts that you do on social media. That way, it will come up on searches on Google and other search engines when they search for “Studios or Gyms near me.” You won’t just attract locals but also tourists who want to maintain their fitness.

  • 3

    Changes In Search Results

    One of the predictions for marketing trends in 2020 is that there will be an increase of Zero Click Results, this is when you Google a question, like the weather today or gyms near me, the answer will be on the results page right away. Now there could be a disadvantage to this, it can lessen the click traffic to your site but there’s also an advantage to it.

    Zero Click Search Results is that it will decrease the traffic so there will be a decrease in the value of some ad words. (yeaay!)

    However, you will have to make sure that the codes are structured for SEO and easy to find keywords to increase the chances of Google choosing your page to show in the Zero Click Results.

    Another thing to take note of are the type of questions that are being asked in the drop-down part of the search results, Make sure that you are answering those types of questions in the content that you post.

  • 4

    Interactive and Personalised Content

    Marketing trends 2020 will have a higher demand for interactive tools and tailored content because there’s so much information out there that if you’re not creating a personalised experience for your users, it gets harder to get to a point of sale, let alone conversion and retention.

    Users now want convenience, so it is our job as marketers to find a way to make decision making easier.

    What kind of interactive content you might ask? A user would usually go to a website because they have a specific intent question that they want to be answered. A good example of that would be BMI calculators, calorie counters, schedules, exercise visualizer, basically any actionable content in your website that will help them answer a question.

  • 5

    Specialisation in fitness centres

    2019 was the rise of specialised services and programs like weight-management specific training, group/community exercises, exercise programs that are nutrition-based programs. In 2020, these specialisation strategies will continue towards more specific offerings.

    Just like the rise of Interactive and Personalised Content, users are now leaning towards achieving specific goals for themselves, which is also why users are leaning into specialised fitness. An example of that, Behavior, Nutrition, Weight Management and Lifestyle, Mind-Body Fitness, Clinical Disease Prevention and more.

  • 6

    There will be less equipment innovations

    Together with the rise for more specialised workouts, such a body-weight training and functional training, and diets, will be the stall of exercise equipment innovation for fitness trends in 2020.
    A prediction by John Aglialoro, CEO of Cybex International a company leading fitness manufacturer of premium exercise equipment, in terms of the equipment of the next 20 years, he believes that there will be fewer equipment choices and there will be less focus on innovation and more on ‘follow the leader’ in product development.

  • 7

    Mind and Body Fitness will be prioritised

    An advantage that technology has given us is easy access to information, and information comes with awareness. Compared to 10 years ago, fitness industry trends 2020, people are now focusing on complete mind and body wellness.

    There are more scientific studies on how to make exercise easier for us, both physically and mentally.
    In an interview with Fast Company, Equinox President Sarah Robb O’Hagan says “I think people are finally coming around to the science we’ve known has been true all along: that the time you spend regenerating is just as crucial as the time you spend pushing yourself physically and, with technology only getting better.”

    Sleep patterns and stress levels are now included in the kind of data that’s being collected and monitored along with diet and food consumption.

  • 8

    Audio Advertising

    There will be a significant trend in audio advertising specifically in podcasts. According to a study conducted by Cardinal Digital Marketing, it’s shown that brands and companies that advertise on podcasts have higher conversion rate because of three reasons, podcast hosts are their own kind of influencer and they have a high trust rate with their listeners.

    Why? First reason, simply because of the nature of podcast. The listeners are used to getting information that’s relevant to the listener from the podcast host. As soon as they choose that specific podcast, they already have the mindset that they will be taking in information. Second reason, audio advertising in podcasts are very different from regular ads, it sounds like it’s part of the podcast, it’s just the hosts talking about the services. Last reason, most listeners are either driving or exercising or in a commute, so they can’t skip these ads and they can listen to the ads.

  • 9

    A Shift in Influencer Marketing

    Influencer Marketing is the most popular form of digital marketing on Instagram. In 2020, there will be a change in Influencer Marketing; it doesn’t mean that they’re not effective, they still are but they’re not as effective as they used to be.

    When it comes to influencer marketing, there’s mega influencers (1 million followers+), macro-influencers (100k followers+), Micro-influencers (1k to 100,00k) and nano-influencer (1k below). Mega and macro-influencers are out, and micro-influencers and nano-influencers are in.

    So why are the marketing people shifting their focus on micro and nano influencer? Their followers have higher trust rate compared to macro-influencers. Since they only have a few followers, they’re closer and they can interact more with their followers. They also promote lesser brands.

    Thinking of starting your own studio or interested in collaborating with us? You can contact us here.
    For our other services and feedback from our clients, you can check out our website here.

YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR MISSION

As a team of consultants, we have over 60 years of collective industry experience and know exactly what it takes to run a successful fitness business in a competitive market.
We’d love to learn more about your business.

Contact Us