Weston Fitness – Exploring Social Media
Social Media is free and pretty much everyone uses it. At Weston Fitness, I control all aspects of both our Facebook pages (one is a business to “like” with a more professional feel and the other is a person that we can be less formal on) I have currently doubled our amount of friends and am gaining more friends by adding incentives, such as free coupons and gift certificates, and the opportunity for friends to get important information first and be able to comment or ask me questions about anything. I also work with websites such as BuyWithMe and Philly Daily Deals in order to make some money. At these websites, people can choose to buy a deal that is usually about 75% off the original price and if enough people buy the deal, it goes through. We had success with this because the websites only take a small percentage out of the money made. This is a great way to get members to get their friends and family involved because if the minimum number of required buyers isn’t reached then the deal is cancelled and the buyers credit cards won’t be charged, so people want their friends and others to know about these deals in order to actually get them. Basically I have learned that the right attention grabbers include free stuff, impressive and informative flyers, and interesting messages/statuses that people enjoy reading. It is easier to promote social events that we have through facebook by making them “events” and it also gives us an opportunity to promote the venue where the social event will be taking place so they can promote us in return. Overall, social media is a great way to meet your specific target audience and everyone they know as well. Gaining friends is harder than it appears to be, but we now have friends that participate in our page and give us feedback about what is and isn’t working with the fitness center. I love the opportunity to be able to to speak directly with the members and prospective members who may have questions about the gym or anything else we are involved in.
