13 Jan Facebook Check-in Strategy for Gyms and Personal Trainers

Facebook Check-Ins can be used as a powerful strategy to generate more traffic and leads for your gym or personal training business.

When members check in at your facility it shows up on the Facebook News Feed for all of their friends to see. This is like a free ad that drives traffic back to your Facebook page. Increasing exposure is a key focus when building a business and this is a powerful strategy to ensure your gym or personal training business is seen by more people.

If you have a gym business, then there are exciting opportunities for using Location-Based Facebook Marketing right now to leverage the power of social media and you don’t even have to have a big social media presence to get started.

The Check-In

Anyone with a smartphone can “Check-In” or publicly acknowledge where they are at any given time. This has many benefits, especially if the place being “Checked-In” to is your gym:

• The check-in is visible to the friends of the person checking in – providing additional exposure to the business.
• The check-in can be used to leverage additional sales of products or services. If this is encouraged from the actual business location (and not advertised on Facebook) then the business owner is complying with the Facebook Guidelines for Promotions.

The Check-In as a Strategy

The Check-In is a great strategy that you can use in your gym business. It can be promoted on your blog and other social media platforms.

But one of the most valuable places you can promote it is in your business itself.

Let’s say you sell protein shakes over the counter and you have more than one size. You could have the following promotion:

This reveals a great, easy way for gyms to use Location Based Marketing. In reality, the gym does not even need to use their website in order for this to work. They just need to be on Facebook (although a website is advisable!). The customer does the marketing for you. It can be done completely on location in real-time.

So how could you use Check-Ins in your Business?

In a gym business, let your clients know that you would love them to Check-In. You can encourage this by:

• Offering a value-add like the example above. This should be something simple, of low cost to you but of perceived value to your client.
• Offer a discount or voucher for goods and services in return for checking in. Think of how you could apply the “protein” example to your own business. Be creative. Could you offer a small percentage discount on purchases? A free class or additional time on a particular service?
• Simply “ask for a Check-In”. This one might surprise you. Notice I did not say “in return for XYZ”. There is no harm having a poster or sign up at your gym, saying “Love Us? Check-In and tell your friends”. Sometimes the simple action of asking or giving them a call to action is all that is required. Try it! You might not even need to add an incentive. If they do love you, they might just be keen to tell their friends.