Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing refers to any type of low-cost marketing effort. Lead boxes, take-ones and flyer distribution are common examples. In addition to being low cost, most guerrilla marketing is done by the club's sales staff, who go out into the community and network with local businesses and organizations to find marketing opportunities.

In today's economic climate, guerrilla marketing is more important than ever. Clubs must find ways to directly reach prospects, and guerrilla marketing can accomplish that through joint marketing relationships with other local businesses that have similar customer bases.

The number and type of guerrilla marketing activities are endless (see the "Ten Guerrilla Marketing Ideas" sidebar for 10 simple and effective guerrilla marketing ideas). Although most club owners already have their sales staff do guerrilla marketing, they must take it to the next level and make guerrilla marketing an entire club culture. Ideally, every employee at a club — regardless of their position — should participate in guerrilla marketing.

Every employee can become a marketer because everyone in town probably knows the owner or manager of one or more business. It is much easier to approach someone you know about joint marketing opportunities than it is to cold call. Even if your non-sales staff just makes the introductions to a sales staff member, the process becomes much easier and more likely to turn into a joint marketing relationship. Furthermore, these other businesses are also looking for ways to reach more customers. They probably will be thrilled to discuss possibilities.

Finally, approach all guerrilla-marketing activities (joint business or otherwise) with the proper perspective. You are planting lots of seeds. Some will grow into beautiful plants and some won't, but the cost of planting those seeds was minimal. It's a numbers game.

If you have 25 guerrilla marketing activities happening every month and each brings in just one new membership, that's a lot of memberships for little or no cost.

Program Marketing

Program marketing is where you offer short-term programs or fee-based activities that non-members can purchase without a full membership to the club. For years, most club operators have shunned program marketing because they would rather get a long-term contract to bolster the monthly EFT and because they could shun it.  Even with a shift to month-to-month memberships, most clubs do not offer programs to non-members.

With the current economic situation, I predict that more club operators will turn to this smart, strategic approach for one big reason: the offering of short-term programs that do not require a large or long-term financial commitment will drive more prospects through the doors.

If you aren't convinced that consumers are scared to make commitments, then turn on your television during any NFL game and see Hyundai's newest marketing offer called Assurance. Buy a Hyundai, and if you lose your income in the next year, you can bring the car back without any penalty or credit risk. That may not seem like a short-term program to you or me, but no manufacturer in the history of selling cars has ever made such an offer.

This ad is an example of lowering the barrier to buying, and that is exactly what program marketing does. It makes it easier for the customer to say, "Yes, I want to give this exercise thing a try, and I don't have a lot to lose, so what the heck." 

Of course, the key to programs is delivering a great experience to the consumer and helping them achieve the goals they want from that program. Perhaps it is an eight-week weight-loss program, a six-week group personal training program, a four-week group exercise program to a specific class or an aquatics program.

Famous marketer Jay Abraham often talks about break-even marketing where you offer a product or service to new prospects knowing that you won't make a cent on their initial purchase. However, because you know that a certain number will continue with the service or buy another product, the marginal net worth of the customer warrants the seemingly unappealing approach.

As I have told many club operators of late, if you aren't getting as many prospects through the doors as you want, why not establish some program marketing? Short-term revenue streams are better than no revenue streams. Better yet, if you service them correctly, they can lead to long-term revenue.

A McGraw-Hill Research study during the recession of 1981-1982 found that companies that maintained (or increased) their marketing during that time saw an average sales growth of 275 percent over the following five years. But companies that cut their marketing saw paltry sales growth of 19 percent during the next five years. That's pretty compelling.

Now more than ever, club operators must aggressively manage their marketing mix, ensuring that the basics are being done well and looking for new, fresh strategies to pursue while others are immobilized by fear. Being budget conscious doesn't mean doing nothing; it means finding ways to market despite the situation. Take an honest inventory of what you are doing now, and use this article as one tool to analyze if you are maximizing every marketing opportunity. 

Casey Conrad has been in the health and fitness industry for more than 25 years. A featured presenter and columnist in more than 17 countries, Conrad has written and produced more than 30 books, audios and DVDs about sales and marketing. For free marketing resources, visit her site at www.SmartClubMarketing.com.

Conrad is a member of Club Industry's Fitness Business Pro Editorial Advisory Board.

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