Last week I met with Dan from UFIT in Cardiff, Dan is a flexible dieting coach and vlogger who has created some great content for his own social media channels and website as well as for Ufit. I spoke to Dan about the marketing side of things at Ufit, managing it in-house and what it is that works for them at the biggest gym in Cardiff to get new faces through the doors.
There are quite a few gyms in Cardiff, what’s your biggest marketing channel that you use here at UFIT?
Social Media is our biggest marketing channel by far, with flyers and posters they’re ok but it’s like throwing shit at a wall.. it might stick it might not. It’s like throwing money away sometimes and we don’t like doing that in business! With social media I like that you can pinpoint certain people and certain types of people to show them the ads we think they want to see.
Of the platforms you use on social media is there a certain one that you use the most and works the best for UFit?
Probably Facebook was our biggest by far if you asked 6 months ago and it still has a strong following now but recently we have been using more and more of instagram.. but it’s still Facebook just in the lead with our Facebook page and our members group to keep everyone in the know about what we do.
You mentioned Instagram there and I have seen you use Instagram stories every day in and around the gym, are they working for you?
Definitely, they are reaching thousands of our fans and further than that too. We use them to advertise classes, profile members of staff or new developments at the gym as well as given some of our staff or members the chance to takeover for 24 hours. These takeovers profile members and show everyone that they are normal everyday people who use our gym, we help the members with the takeover but essentially it’s about them.
Your social media is quite fun and relaxed from the outset, is it something where it’s always been like this or have you slowly adapted?
We have always had that approach to social, even before I joined the team the social media and the general feel in the gym is to not take yourself too seriously, you’re here to work and that should have some fun element to it, otherwise you wouldn’t come back. Our marketing has always been out there, always been playing things quite close to the line but we think it works for us and suits us, we don’t want a corporate feel but know that we have to keep things professional in the gym and on social media. Ufit is all about community, we want everyone who comes here to feel relaxed and the same applies on social media. We have fun at Ufit and want prospective members to know that.
What’s been your best or biggest marketing campaign?
Last months campaign with a zero joining fee for sure, we had the most members join in one month, we pushed out the campaign on social media as well as encouraging people to spread the word to their friends and it worked. We like to split our marketing in half, to attract new members and also to keep our current members happy; it’s pointless to bring in loads of new members if current member numbers are going to fall off.
Is there anything new you’re looking to do in the future with your marketing?
We’re pretty happy with where we are at the moment with our marketing strategy, we’re doing the most and the best we can with Facebook and instagram and they’re working really well so we’re going to build on that. We’re always thinking of new campaigns we can launch so watch this space in the future.
Thanks for talking to me today and best of luck with the gym, we look forward to watching more of the instagram take overs in the coming weeks.
Here's a video from UFIT, if you would like me to come and speak to you and your business about what you do that stands out, or how you manage your business social media or marketing all by yourself then drop me a message - info@nutsaboutmarketing.com
