How to Host an Open House for Your Gym

Successful exercise entrepreneurs are always looking for creative ways to raise the profile and the profits of their fitness businesses. The need for business owners to innovate and adapt their businesses to keep up with market trends and consumer desires has always existed and with the fitness industry becoming more and more competitive, this need for innovation and adaptation is even more pronounced.

One way to increase the visibility and profitability of your exercise establishment is to host an open house for your gym. A well-planned, well-executed open house event for your gym can excite current clients to renew their memberships and attract newcomers to join your community, generating greater income for your business.

(And with that increased attendance and attention to your business, it is imperative that you have access to robust and versatile gym management software that grows with your business. Book a demo with Exercise.com today to learn more about our gym software platform.)

What Is a Gym Open House? 

As a real estate professional, hosting an open house is a calculated marketing campaign designed to drive up interest in a particular property (or properties) for the purpose of an eventual one-time sales transaction. As a fitness professional, hosting an open house is a strategic and sentient advertisement for your business and services designed to create recurring revenue for your enterprise.

A well-done open house should appeal to both your workout regulars and prospective clients alike. If you are able to find creative ways to excite your staff, your current members, and newcomers through intentional, purposeful connections at your open house, then you will lay the foundation for a loyal fitness community, rooted in relationships and results.

How to Host an Open House for Your Fitness Studio or Gym 

But what are some good gym open house ideas? How does one go about hosting an open house for a fitness studio? The journey to successfully host an open house for your gym doesn’t have to be an arduous one; it need only begin with a single STEP: Showcase, Tour, Engage, Promote.

Showcase Your Staff and Services

Every gym in your city, county, and state is competing for the same potential customers—how are you going to distinguish yourself from the pack? Using a gym open house as a way to highlight the talented individuals on your staff and the unique services they provide is one way to differentiate your business from the rest of the crowd.

Every gym has elliptical machines and foam rollers and kettlebells, but only your facility has that hotshot personal trainer with innovative training methods and high emotional intelligence. Only your facility employs the fancy nutritionist whose meal plans are all the rage and the acrobatic yoga instructors in whose evening classes everyone is dying to reserve a spot.

By highlighting your employees over your equipment, you not only give potential customers real people and personalities with whom they can connect, but you also motivate and celebrate your team members to be all-in with their support and participation in the open house event.

Tour the Premises with Attendees

After you prioritize the people that help make your fitness studio special, take time to emphasize the physical premises of your gym with a well-designed tour of the facility. Strategically place photos of star employees and top-performing members on the wall and corridors so that those touring can experience firsthand the celebratory culture of your community. Set up various stations and activities along the route of your tours, such as a face-painting area, a hydration station, and a snack table, so that the experience is both informative and entertaining for your guests.

For newcomers and potential customers, a tour is practical because it gives them their first look at the lay of the land so that they know where and how to find what they’re looking for. For your seasoned members and regular attendees, the tour can serve as a walk down memory lane through the different rooms in which they achieved various personal fitness milestones. Giving them the opportunity to take a nostalgic victory lap can reinforce their sense of belonging and their loyalty to your community.

Engage Current Members and Potential Clients

We’ve all seen or been the victim of wireless phone companies and cable/internet providers falling over themselves to woo potential new customers with promotional rates and offers to the complete neglect and alienation of their current, loyal customer base.

Don’t be like the cable and phone companies!

Instead, your open house should offer promotions for both new customers and current members alike. Your agenda and activities for the day should elicit participation from both veteran gymgoers and first-timers.

Prior to hosting the open house, advertise it in your gym newsletter and bulletin board, asking current members if they’d be willing to share a story or profile of themselves on the day of the event. This will affirm to your current members that they are a valued part of your community, but will also serve as word-of-mouth endorsements to the potential new customers at the open house.

Have contests for new members (jump rope, pullups, situps, pushups, etc.) where they can win prizes like a free month of a gym membership or discounts to specialized classes. Give away custom-branded gym swag to encourage participation. Those in attendance will feel more involved and entertained, and you’ll have dozens of new walking billboards for your fitness brand.

Run separate 50/50 raffles: one for current members, one for new customers. In addition to half of the pot, the winner of the new customers’ raffle could get one-year free membership to your facility; the winner of the current members’ raffle could a one-year free membership and a coupon for 10% off all point-of-sale purchases and specialty classes for one year.

Building in opportunities that engage and excite both current and potential clients at your open house will ensure that your event maintains the energy and enthusiasm that will set your gym apart from your competitors.

Promote. Promote. Promote

When something or someone excites you, you’re not shy about getting the word out to anyone and everyone you know. That’s how you should feel about your gym open house ideas. Tell anyone and everyone you know that you’re hosting an open house for your fitness studio, and ask them to do the same.

Promote the event on your custom-branded fitness website. Send alerts and notifications about the event on your custom-built gym app. Partner with other local businesses and leaders in your community to advertise your event at their venues.

Do a Facebook Ad Promotion one or two months prior to the open house. Do a Google Adwords campaign. Share posts on all of your social media platforms and encourage your followers to do the same. And on the day of, consider live streaming part or all of the event.

The health and fitness industry is ever-changing and increasingly more competitive. It has become imperative for fitness professionals to have multiple streams of income and multiple avenues of engagement in order to adapt to the needs and lifestyles of clients and potential customers. If you’re running short on ideas to boost revenue and membership for your gym, you should consider placing hosting a gym open house at the top of your list.

To start taking advantage of easier member tracking, alerting gym members about new gym events, promoting gym open houses, and more, request an Exercise.com gym management software demo today.