Social media has created a lot of talk, hype and buzz in every industry, but what does it mean for the fitness industry? Despite initially not “getting” social media, I now understand the power today’s social media technology holds for enhancing the fitness industry.

Here are some interesting statistics about social media and the Internet that might help you “get it,” too:

• About 90 percent of retail buying for non-food items starts online with people researching products, comparing prices and checking for deals. Ninety-seven percent of Internet users find local businesses by going online, according to a June 3, 2011, article in The Kiplinger Letter.
• Of 1,166 consumers surveyed, 19 percent who had never purchased a coupon online from Groupon Inc. planned to try it in the next six months, according to a Bloomberg/YouGov Survey from last year. Ninety percent of respondents who bought a deal on Groupon in the past six months said they planned to do so again. Of 83.1 million Groupon subscribers, 23 percent said they planned to increase the number of deals they buy on Groupon in the next six months.
• Eighty percent of management and director-level employees in major metropolitan markets are using LinkedIn.
• The 40- to 50-year-old demographic is among the fastest growing segment on Facebook.
• Young people like to “check in” on FourSquare and reap rewards for being the “mayor” of locations where they live.

Considering these numbers, doesn’t it make sense that your members and prospects are talking about you online with or without your participation? You need to actively participate to round out the conversation and share your story.

Social media can help you identify the people who love your business (advocates/promoters) and those who do not (detractors). That knowledge financially benefits you because it allows you to leverage both of those relationships. Even members who are neutral to your club can benefit you if you convert them to advocates. Once you have identified these groups, you can use social media to reach these groups much as you do with traditional marketing, public relations, service and sales.

In traditional marketing, you put out a message that you hope is compelling and wait for the participants to act. In traditional public relations, you put your spin on a story and hope it gives you exposure and credibility. In traditional service, you make people find you and tell you about their issue so you can respond. In traditional sales, you wait for people to call or come in and then you show them how great you are. All are easy concepts to understand. Social media is just as easy to understand.

Once Facebook members become your fans (thus publicly stating that they love you), you have to engage them in a relevant conversation so they emotionally invest and participate in the conversation. You can do so through videos, photos, essay contests, question-and-answer sessions, online seminars, updates that matter and special perks just for them.

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