3 Easy, Incentive-Based Tactics to Keep Your Clients Booking This Fall Into New Year

Is anyone else asking where this year has gone? What happened to summer as we welcome back to school cozy season? Whether we like it or not? As the holiday season is fast approaching, there’s no better time to keep your clients excited and engaged about your studio while you hit (and exceed) your goals before the end of the year. 

So, what are a few easy-to-implement strategies you and your staff can leverage to benefit your members and your bottom line? Here are three of our top tactics to eliminate outside distractions, showcase your studio worth, and entice your clients to book more (and even bring friends) while boosting momentum through the end of the year. 

The glory of guest passes: Show your members a little *extra* friend and family love 

It’s no secret: Guest passes are all about the perks, and they give your members a sense of feel-good accountability while introducing new, potential clients to your studio community. Word-of-mouth marketing at it’s finest! Why should you lean into guest passes (again)? It starts with gaining interest from outside individuals and allowing you to re-engage and nurture a different audience with attractive offers that will help them prioritize fitness and wellness, especially when they think of you when it comes to the new year well-being push! 

• Organic intros:  Guest passes allow members to invite friends, family, or colleagues to try out the studio. This can be a great way to share their positive experience and encourage others to join, fostering a sense of community within the studio.
• Buddy system: Everything is better with friends! Working out with a partner or friend can provide motivation, make the class more enjoyable, increase accountability—and turn post-class into a social activity! Who doesn’t love Saturday yoga followed by a seasonal PSL with their besties?
• Social connection IRL: Bringing guests to the studio can enhance the social aspect of fitness. Clients can bond with their guests over shared class experiences and build stronger connections within the studio community.
• Eliminate excuses: Life is busy, and as the seasons change, so do schedules. Also, is anyone used to it getting darker earlier? Knowing that they have a guest pass can help clients stay committed to their fitness goals—and they are more likely to use their membership when they have a guest scheduled to join them.
• Power of positive influence: Your studio is not just a business; it’s a lifestyle, right? Your clients can use guest passes to introduce fitness to people who may need extra motivation, instigating a positive impact on their social circle's overall health and well-being.
• New clients, more conversions: Guest passes = new contact information. With guest passes, you’re naturally eliminating a barrier to entry because they know the member who gifted them the guest pass is loyal to your studio. That means with guests, you have a new audience to segment and target with personalized messaging and special intro offers or introductory discount to membership specials. 

Seasonal specials: Increase urgency with limited intro offers 

From the new leads you capture on your studio website to all the new faces you see in the studio, thanks to guest passes, putting a seasonal spin on your intro offers increases purchases with limited-time deals. It gets your new clients to take advantage of a special that fits their studio journey. And if you create an intro discount to membership, you’re instantly increasing your chances of membership conversions. 

• That “hurry up” mentality: Fall into fitness. Winter wellness. Seasonal offers create a sense of urgency and excitement among potential clients. When people see that a special promotion is available for a limited time, they are more likely to take action to seize the opportunity.
• Sense of saving: This is obvious, but during this time of year leading up to the holidays, saving money takes on a new meaning in the spirit of giving. Offering discounted rates or special packages during a seasonal promotion can make fitness memberships more affordable for new clients—a strong, wallet-friendly incentive for individuals who might have been hesitant to commit to a full-priced membership.
• Committing to a routine: While some clients may start with a seasonal offer, they often decide to continue their memberships once they experience the benefits and results. Your studio can capitalize on this by providing a seamless transition from seasonal to regular memberships, and that’s where an introductory discount to membership can shine!
• Encourage member retention: Have you considered how your existing members can benefit from seasonal offers? Tailor these promotions as incentives for members to renew or extend their memberships to encourage sales and increase member retention.

Tap into challenges: Boost bookings, accountability—and reward your members 

They say that variety is the spice of life. And challenges? Well, they instantly showcase variety and are one way to engage your members by instigating a little friendly competition (and motivation). Plus, when there’s a season, it’s easy to create a challenge that applies to the time of year. You can also use challenges to engage new and existing members while leveraging different marketing strategies to promote your challenges, like app announcements, two-way texting, push notifications, newsletters, social media, and more! (This is another way to reward your clients with guest passes, too!). Challenges equate to diversity at its core, which positively impacts retention and revenue. 

• Switch it up: Seasonal challenges introduce novelty and excitement to the fitness routine. Members often appreciate the opportunity to break away from their regular workouts and try something new—and this sense of timely novelty can motivate them to book classes.
• Helping clients get after goals: Challenges inherently come with specific goals or targets, such as classes taken in a particular amount of time. These clear objectives can inspire members to book classes regularly to achieve their goals and keep them motivated at every juncture of their wellness journey.
• Eliminate second-guessing: Structure is good. And with a challenge? Even better. Because we all know your clients have a lot on their mind. Challenges often provide structured workout plans or class schedules tailored to the specific goals of the challenge. This structure simplifies the decision-making process for members, making it easy for them to book sessions that align with the challenge.
• Community, community, community: Challenges often create a strong sense of community within the studio—members bond over shared goals and experiences, fostering a supportive atmosphere. The feeling of belonging can motivate members to, yes, book more but deepen their connection to your studio community.
• Attainable benefits and rewards: Many challenges offer rewards or incentives for achieving certain milestones or completing the challenge successfully. These rewards can be powerful motivators, encouraging members to book sessions and stay committed to their fitness journey. Discounts, guest passes, swag—you name it!

Implementing these tactics and strategies can reward your members and entice new clients while your studio benefits from the new faces, increase in traffic, and connection to your fitness and wellness business as a part of their everyday life, regardless of season.